Saturday, September 2, 2017

Toughest - Oslo, Norway Sept 2, 2017

This was my first Toughest race. Consisted of 8km of pavement/trail terrain, with 2 steep recognizable hills which concluded 790m in elevation gain. Let me say first, in these obstacle races there are regular lanes and fast lanes. With completion of the fast hard lane, one can continue running. If you were to complete the regular lane, there was a crawl or an over under section that follows, and then you were able to keep running. If either lane was unsuccessful, you were to do a 200m penalty lap containing a 25 pound sandbag, and then proceed to the crawl or over/under which then follows the running. The great thing in this race was that the ladies did everything the men did, including same penalties, same weighted jerry can carries, same distances. The obstacles were awesome. The fast lane rig was tough, and I did a penalty loop there. There was also monkey bars, or the flying monkey in the fast lane. Also a choice betwen a high rope climb or the salmon ladder. The greatest thing, and my weakest , was the water obstacles. In 2 separate occasions we were supposed to swim 50 meters. This was not my strong point and I felt like I was drowning. I definitely took the longest to get accross as I can see people swiimming past me. Lastly, the last uphill was 350m of ascent, up the norweigean ski jump hill. It was a great photo finish! To add, the weather was positive and warm. The venue had a great atmosphere. There was also booths, giveaways, and competitions throughout the spectator area. I would love to do a Toughest race again!