REVISED EVENT REVIEW: Ram Run 8km OCR

****REVISED THIS A WEE BIT BASED ON A RETHINK - MAY HAVE DONE RAM RUN A SLIGHT DISSERVICE ****

The Christmas “rush” is over, all the mince pies have been eaten and the cupboard is empty of chocolate – except in our house but I try not to open that cupboard if I can avoid it!

The first OCR of the year has been and gone, and a cold one it was too. Hard to believe it is almost a year since Rick and I embarked on Pandemonium which was our first OCR together. He has got fitter, I have not – work must be done to catch up!

So anyway, it is now time for the latest part of Team MUBU’s "Seriously, How Good Was That?!" Obstacle Course Race Review. The scoring criteria and categories are covered in a previous post which is somewhere on this blog (see bottom left in the Archive).

RAM RUN

8km Obstacle/Mud Run

January 2015

Warwickshire

January isn’t the best month for OCRs – particularly for someone based in the North West of the country. Ram Run was the only one that we could find that was less than 4 hours drive away! A couple of OCR newbies joined us (and hammered it) but this wasn’t one of the better ones.

General Event Organisation

It was pretty easy to sign up and go through the online process. Plus the t-shirts were sent out in advance so you had them if you wanted to run with them. Nothing was sent through the post but to be honest when we turned up we didn’t need anything so that wasn’t a real problem. A point has been lost though for the shambles on the day in terms of starting the race before the advertised start time while some of us where having a pre-race wee!

7 – Good

Event Facilities

A single stall selling bacon sandwiches and soup but nothing else. The base was a permanent structure so there were toilets and places to stand to keep warm but very little else.

5 – Average

Registration

Considering there were less than 1000 runners the registration was painfully slow and badly organised. Some people were running in the trophy race at 11:30am but nearly missed the start as it took so long to process. Once you get there you didn’t need anything except your name so I have no idea why it took so long.

4 – Below Average

Location

Pretty easy to get to and find. The park at Stoneleigh is perfectly set up for OCRs but I feel they could have made more of it and had a few more stalls and a better organised “finishing” arena. Just felt a bit undercooked.

7 – Good

On Course Facilities

A water station after a few km and a coffee station after you climbed out of the River Avon kept you hydrated and warm-ish. Plenty of marshals around but no distance markers and in some places the route wasn’t too obvious.

7 – Good

Warm-Up/Pre-race briefings

Didn’t see them.

0 - Absent

Variety of obstacles

A decent mix of going over things and under things. A few signature ones but this felt like what it was, a small race realising that the bigger ones are pulling out all the stops and this is falling behind a bit.

7 - Good

Obstacle/Run mix

Too much running to be a classic OCR. I know you have to run at these things and the running sections are a good way of stretching the field out, but the early bit was full of queues and the middle section just a variety of hills and fields.

6 – Above Average 

Terrain

Not the hilliest place but they managed to use the terrain well enough. Good use of the river and the general surrounding areas.

7 – Good

Post-Race

The t-shirt arrived beforehand which was great (and it is a nice t-shirt too) but there was no medal for the 8km racers (nowhere in the sign-up pack or anything did it mention that) and I didn’t see hide nor hair of a post-race pack. No-one greeting you at the finish line, just felt like they didn’t really have any interest in the 8km racers.
**UPDATE** - apparently a medal is on the way!

6 - Above Average

Difficulty

This wasn’t really a difficult course, just a bit tedious. Certainly the running bits should cause no trouble for anyone with a decent level of fitness and the obstacles were easy enough for the most part.

Course: 5 out of 10

Obstacles: 6 out of 10

Overall Thoughts

Well it finally happened, after over a year of OCRs I finally found a which was a bit disappointing. I didn’t like this from the shambles at the start and it was difficult to get into the groove and find some enjoyment out of it. Yes I’m not fit and that meant I struggled to get round but there was nothing driving me on and wanting to make me complete it.

Overall Score

6.0 – A small event that is going to struggle to compete with the big boys of the OCR world – both in terms of the organisation and the challenge it offers. Glad I did it as it has been on the radar for a while and I’d always wondered what it would be like, but doubt I’ll go again.

A reminder of the new system

10.0 Nothing will ever get 10.0, you should always strive for better

9.5 Sell organs AND children. And everything you own. About as good as it gets

9.0 Sell organs and/or children to do this event every single time

8.5 Highly recommended indeed, this gets booked as soon as it is released

8.0 A very good event, only money or illness would stop this being  a yearly thing

7.5 Definitely one to recommend. Not much would keep me away

7.0 On the list for another go, though not necessarily an automatic selection

6.5 Would do this one again if the stars aligned, but wouldn’t break the bank for it

6.0 Was fun but only a very cheap deal and a free weekend would tempt me again

below 6.0 Not for me for one reason or another.

EVENT REVIEWS SO FAR

7.5 Reaper Day Race

7.5 Yorkshire Warrior

7.0 Tough Mudder North West

7.0 Survival of the Fittest Manchester

7.0 Spartan Sprint Yorkshire

7.0 Total Warrior Lake District

6.5 Mighty Deerstalker

6.5 Pandemonium Iced

6.5 Stockton River Rat Race

6.0 Ram Run

Next up was supposed to be Tough Guy on 1^st February but I’m not fit enough for that one and can’t do the cold weather acclimatisation training in time. So instead I’m taking a 7 week break and returning at Avalanche – Chase the Yeti on 28^th Feb. Hopefully fitter, stronger and with my enthusiasm back.

Till next time,

DT