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Roger Smith, PhD.OCR Athlete / Prolific Authorwww.newbluefit.com

OCRkidsGavin CaballeroKid OCR Runner

writers

Nabilah FountainNASM Certified TrainerNutrition Coach

Mike MurphyElite RacerSouth East Region

Arnel Banawa OCR Athlete / Certified TrainerTeam Dynastywww.ocrtube.com

Whats inside this issue?

“Over the Wall”Roger Smith, PhD ........................pg 1

OCRkids Gavin Caballero ......................... pg 9 Athlete Spotlight Mike Murphy ............................pg 11

“Perfect Practice Makes Perfect”Nabilah Fountain ......................pg 13

Team DynastyArnel Banawa ............................pg 19

“Salomon Fellraiser Trail Shoe Review”Muddy Mommy. ...........................pg 23

Muddy MommyOCR Athlete / Bloggerwww.muddymommy.com

Why would you ever want to climb over a six foot

wall? Escape route after stealing fruit from your

neighbor’s tree? Running from your girlfriend’s dad?

A starring role on Cops (whatcha gonna do when

they come from you)? Raise your hand if you have

done any of these.

So how prepared are you when you come face-to-

face with a mud run 4’, 6’, or 8’ wall? Or the dreaded

quarter-pipe Colossus at Savage? Most people have

no technique for conquering these; they just throw

themselves upward and hope for the best. But there

are some really effective techniques that can make

the process more successful and less bloody.

To begin, you should know that it is ok to get

help from a friend to get over a wall. Many of these

obstacles are made specifically to build

camaraderie between runners

who need each other to

complete them. This emergent

teamwork is one of the

hallmarks of mud running that makes it so exciting

and attractive to people. So do not be shy to ask for a

boost if you can’t tackle a wall on your own.

4 Foot:

These small walls are meant to warm you up for

the bigger ones. They challenge you to pull, push,

and jump your way through. The way over is to put

your hands on top and pull while jumping one foot

to the top. Then swing the other foot up and hop

down the other side. One of these is not so hard, but

5 in a row can wear you down. As you become tired,

just slow down and be especially careful on your

landing. More people get hurt coming down than

going up.

6 Foot:

If you are six foot tall or more, you may be able

to get over this wall without any special technique.

You can just jump up, grab the top of the wall with

both hands and do a pull-up. From there you have

several choices. The most common is to pull one leg 1

sideways to the top of the wall so you are hooking it

with three appendages – you’re a monkey. Then you

pull with your leg and arms until your upper body

rolls over the top of the wall. There is no need to sit

up on the top unless you are posing for a picture. It

is less work to stay in your roll, take yourself over

the wall, reverse your grip on the top of the wall and

let yourself down the other side. Let at least one foot

slide down the wall as you descend. It takes weight

off of your arms, prevents knee scrapes, and lessens

the impact the ground at the bottom.

There is also “Parkour” approach to getting over

these walls. You can actually run part way up a

vertical wall. This is tricky to explain in words, so

you will want to watch it on some of the video links

provided. Run up to the wall and place your first

foot on the wall between knee and hip height with

your knee bent for a spring. Then push in on the

wall while your upper body energy is still closing

on the wall. When combined properly, these two

energies will propel you upward. When you get the

mix wrong your foot will just slide down the wall, or

you will push yourself backward away from the wall,

or your face will keep going toward the wall. Watch

the videos and practice, practice, practice. This

“walk up the wall” technique is essential if the wall is

too high for a boost or a jump to catch the top.

Pipes

Many races have a quarter pipe wall, usually

including ropes hanging from the top. These can be

15 or 20 feet tall and are usually the grand finale of

the course, such as The Colossus at the Savage Race.

These take a different approach. They combine (1)

running, (2) clambering, (3) rope scaling, and (4)

summiting.

Running. You start by running at the wall

specifically to get some momentum up a few feet of

the wall. Most people are just shooting to get high

enough to grab the first knot on the rope. But some

elites use this run to launch themselves all the way

to a top grab. It is a beautiful thing to watch. You

should arrive at a race early to watch the elite waves

do this because it won’t happen much in later waves.

But, back to your run. If you have practiced the

Parkour method above, it can be used to get a lot

more height on this wall as well. If you can combine

your forward momentum with the right push from

your foot you seem to defy gravity and just keep

running up the wall. You won’t be able to do it just

because you watched the video. This takes real

practice.

Clambering. Once you have a grip on the rope

you are ready to clamber. This is not a rope climbing

exercise. Get your feet under you and stand up on

the wall with your body making an L-shape with the

wall – legs out, body upright.

Rope Scaling. Using your hands and feet together

walk up the rope and the wall at the same time. It is

just a few feet to the top edge. This requires that the

wall provide some traction (like Savage). If the wall

is slick as glass (like Superhero Scramble) you will

not be able to walk up it because your feet will slip

straight out from under you. In this case, you need

to pull with your arms and hop outward with your

feet. Each hop will take you a couple of feet up the

wall. Hop-pull, hop-pull, until you are at the top.

Six foot walls are rare on courses. Most designers

prefer many four footers or a single eight footer.

Tall, springy people will use the same technique at

six feet that they did at four feet. Grab top. Pull up.

Jump. One foot on top. Second foot on top. Hop

down the other side. The only difference will be that

your hanging leg will want to bang against the wall

when you jump. You want to point your foot, pull

the toes back and take this bang on your foot instead

of on your knee. That will eliminate one bloody

scrape from your race.

For shorter people or those with little hop in their

step, this is where you get help. Ask another runner

for a boost. They generally offer this with a hand

cradle to step in. Another good option is for them to

put their back against the wall, bend their knees, and

let you use their thighs as a step stool. Occasionally

you will see someone get down on all fours and let a

partner step on their back. This is not a great idea –

too prone to injure the human footstool. If you need

a boost on the six footer, you are going to need the

same thing on the eight footer.

8 Foot:

The eight foot wall is where things become really

fun. You can get over it with any combination of

height, strength, and technique. The more you have

of one, the less you need of each of the other two.

Summiting. Congratulations, you have reached

the top of the pipe. It should be simple to pull

yourself over the edge and onto the platform. But

by this time you are probably exhausted. Summiting

is a real chore. There are at least four ways to get

up. First, the Parkour method. Switch your hands

from the rope to the top edge and hang back so

that your arms are straight and your legs are bent

under you. Then jump out with your legs and pull in

with your arms at the same time. This will put your

chest on the top of the wall. From there it is an easy

crawl to get the rest of your body up. The second

method is to switch your hands from the rope to

the top edge, pull up to your chest, and bring one

foot up to the lip like you did on the eight foot wall.

Use all three to roll yourself up onto the platform.

Third, all arms. Just pull yourself up, get your chest

up on the platform, push up with your arms, and

step onto the top. Fourth, reach out to the helping

hands of the volunteers who are right there ready

to make you succeed. Any of these will work and

all are acceptable. Even after dozens of races I have

occasionally needed those helping hands to finish

a course when I was too exhausted to do all of the

work myself.

That’s it. Now all you need is practice … and more

practice. So when you see the helicopter search light,

feel the breath of a uniformed officer behind you,

and hear “whatcha gonna do when they come for

you”, no wall is going to slow you down.3

Dr. Roger Smith is a researcher at Florida Hospital, author, and avid mud runner. He competes with the old guys in every mud run around Central Florida. This column was drawn from his book The New Blueprint for Fitness: Mud Run Edition, which is available at Amazon.com.

http://www.NewBlueFit.com/

Checkout YouTube for some great tips.

Camp Rhino 6’ Wall Climb: http://youtu.be/jiTZ57xfr5Q

Camp Rhino 8’ Wall Climb: http://youtu.be/bAkCrx1wwNM

Jesse La Flair Parkour 14’ Climb-up: http://youtu.be/08x3P2E122U

Simple Parkour Climb-up: http://youtu.be/wyvntz46-WM

Tapp Brothers Parkour Wall Climb: http://youtu.be/ckiiCmyK9QQ

4

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This magazine wouldn’t be what it is without the support of our partners. Please support them when choosing your next race.

Do you have an event you would like to partner with MudRunFun Magazine?

Contact matthew@mudrunfun.com

9

11

I am Mike “Blaze” Murphy 42 years young and I

am an OCR Addict! This sport has become the new

passion in my competitive life. I ran competitively in

High School and College where I was an NAIA All-

American in the 3,000m Steeplechase in 1993. After

college I coached college athletes for a couple of years

while trying to finish up my degree and working full

time. Then life kept pitching me curveballs and I got

away from anything outside of working hard to feed

my family.

In February of 2000 my life changed forever

and with that a new fire in my belly started to rise

again. That’s when I got hired by the Sanford Fire

Department and was introduced to the testosterone

fueled brotherhood of professional Fire Fighters. One

thing you should know about me is that I am one of the

most competitive individuals you will ever meet. In

the fire service there is never a shortfall of challenges,

challengers, obstacles, or competition. From pulling

hose in the station, intestinal fortitude food challenges,

rope rescue competitions, Guns-vs-Hoses sports

events, extrication competitions, stair climbs, and the

fire fighter Olympics we have everything. Eventually

this all led me back to my roots of running.

I did my first OCR in 2011 at Warrior Dash

in Tampa. This race was actually just a

social event my Track Shack training

group and coach wanted to do for

fun, but that all changed when a

very well-known competitive tri-

athlete told one of our members

that we “runners” would not beat him on an obstacle

course. To make a long story short he ate his words

three times over when a high school runner, my coach

and myself (who won it) all beat him. I loved the race

and especially loved the after party and camaraderie of

the runners as it is much different than the road race

circuit. Still after Warrior Dash I wasn’t sold on OCR

events so I did the road race circuit for a couple of

years and concentrated on my 5k PR and qualifying for

Boston Marathon.

Now fast forward to summer of 2013 and my

new addiction to OCR. I needed something to get me

going, something that was different yet challenging

but that would still keep me running so that I could

re-qualify for Boston. I found it on Facebook… “The

Intimidator” at Rock on Adventures. I knew Jonny,

and how intense he is from Track Shack and I was

keeping up with the progress of his signature race

The Highlander. So I knew he wasn’t blowing smoke

when he marketed how grueling and challenging The

Intimidator would be. Nobody knew I was entered

for the race or knew who the heck I was when I got on

the starting line but those 11+ miles, and the people

I met at the race made me an addict. I busted up my

feet on that course and remember more than once

thinking “when is this race ever going to end”. I loved

the challenges it possessed and the satisfaction I got

from beating back the demons in my head the last four

miles. To top it all off I met Quentin, Troy, Jose, and

OCR’s most humble genuine down to earth champion

David “Der T Runner” Blanchard that day and it

sealed the deal. That night after talking to those guys,

sharing war stories, a couple of brews, and a few laughs

I signed up for the Tri-Fecta (HogWild, Monster

Challenges, and Highlander) plus this little race called

the Mile of Pain. Then the next day I got a message

from Damion to become a member of MRF Elite and I

whole heartily accepted.

The next month was a blur of facebook messages,

call-outs, and just good competitive fun with a bunch

of guys and gals from MudRUnFun. I actually started

writing down goals and keeping a training log again.

My passion for competition started coming back

and it grew stronger and stronger the more Troy and

Dave would tell me this guy or that guy is going to be

there to challenge you. I did very well in those races

aside from a disappointing DNF in the Mile of Pain

and along the way I forged some great relationships

with some of the greatest people I have ever had the

pleasure to be around. Oh and I did re-qualify for

Boston 2015 in October thanks to OCR getting me

back on the horse. Now I just need to get healthy so I

can forge ahead and conquer new goals.

In closing I can say that I have competed

against Olympic athletes, ran on national stages in

cross-country, track, and on the roads but I never

felt like my heart was in it until I started competing

in OCR. Thanks to the MRF family and your

OCRGrinders you will see me toeing the line at an

event near you and as always MURRUNFUN will be

my chant!

-Blaze

http://liveintheskinny.wordpress.com

When it comes to exercise, form is everything. I see it

all too often, people picking things up just to put them

back down with no real rhyme or reason as to what they

are doing. What they fail to realize is the more times they

perform at that level they are putting unnecessary wear

and tear on ligaments and tendons they shouldn’t be

straining in the first place. Eventually over time, this will

result in muscular imbalances that will lead to dysfunction

and ultimately injury. There are many common reasons

people perform a less than perfect rep. Let’s take a look at 2

and see what impact it has on the body.

Excessive rep count: Performing too many reps of one

exercise does not only lack in efficiency but it’s downright

reckless. Believe it or not the body has its limits and

needs time to recover before performing again. THE

RECOVERY IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS THE WORK.

With that being said, when performing an exercise

muscles are being recruited to execute the movement.

Over repetition will result in fatigue of the primary

muscles forcing the body to rely on the smaller muscles

around them to perform the exercise. These muscles are

simply not built to take on the brunt of the work. Over

use of these smaller muscles increases your risk of injury.

Instead, try for a challenging but manageable number to

ensure a killer workout that doesn’t beat down your joints.

Improper progression: Sadly this is a major factor in

a lot of gyms today. People walking in that have never

worked out a day in their life doing Olympic lifts before

they learn how to perform a functional squat. It’s common

sense to master something before you move on to the

next level. This is why babies learn to roll over before they

crawl; crawl before they walk; and walk before they run.

It’s part of our progression. You cannot perform a perfect

rep with weight if you haven’t performed it without. Your

best chance at perfecting any exercise is to start from the

origin of the movement then work your way up. Jumping

right into an advanced move will increase your chance of

spending more time recovering and less time working.

Workouts aren’t just about

difficulty; they are designed to

increase performance safely

and effectively with proper

technique and form. Practice

doesn’t make perfect. Perfect

practice makes perfect.

Perfect Practice Makes Perfectby: Nabilah Fountain

14

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18

www.fb.com/teamdynastyocr

Before I even begin to tell you what Team

Dynasty OCR (Obstacle Course Racing) is all about,

I have to first tell you where it all started, and how it

all began. I remember the day when I finally decided

to start my fitness journey back in September of

2010, I would have never have thought that my first

day of P90X would eventually lead to becoming a

Beachbody Coach and helping thousands of people

all over the world reach their ultimate health and

fitness goals, but to also test those results out on

a plethora of obstacle course races from Florida,

Canada to California, and everywhere in between.

Here’s something that a lot of people do not know

about us, but Team Dynasty OCR wasn’t always

about Obstacle Course Racing. Our team first got

the name from our original Beachbody Coach Team

back in 2010, which was called the BOMBSHELL

DYNASTY =). The Bombshell Dynasty (based in

Tampa, Fl) was founded by my very good friend,

and Coach Lindsay Matway. Our main focus was to

help people achieve their goals, and live a healthy

and fulfilling life and that goal remains the same

till this day! As more men joined our fitness team,

we decided to come up with a general name to

fit not just the women on our team, but also the

men “because let’s face it, what type of guy wants

to be called a Bombshell” =), so thinking about

our options, we decided on a name and Team

Dynasty was born. As OCR started to gain massive

popularity, more and more of our fitness coaches

were getting more involved, and saw this as an

opportunity to help motivate the people who wanted

to not just look good in front of a mirror, but to also

get outside and really test their fitness abilities, and

what better way to do this by participating at one

of the most, if not the best overall fitness events in

the world….Obstacle Course Racing! And again…

we came up with an OCR specific group to do just

that - Team Dynasty OCR! Our exclusive coaching

team has grown from 5 coaches in 2010 to over

9,000+ coaches and growing faster every day! The

Team Highlight

most amazing part is that this number doesn’t include the countless numbers of people who run with us because

they are inspired by our mission. And again, our team is not just about Obstacle Course Racing, we do not pride

ourselves with being the most hardcore competitive team out there, it’s NOT about that, it’s about helping people

in all aspects of their lives whether that be fitness or financial, and that’s why I believe that we are growing so fast.

Team Dynasty OCR (www.fb.comTeamDynastyOCR) believes that everyone was born to be athletes. It doesn’t

matter how slow you are, if you have a disability, or if you are in shape, out of shape, from a different country….

we welcome you as part of our family. We actually welcome first-time OCR racers to run with us because we

know how nervous people can be, because we’ve been there =). And what’s always accommodating to the people

who run with us is that we NEVER LEAVE ANYONE BEHIND. Team Dynasty OCR does run competitive at

some races, but it is never about being the BEST, it is always about trying to help other people become better

than we are, which brings us back to what we are all about, and what our mission is “Helping People Achieve

their Goals and Live a Healthy and Fulfilling Life”.

This is only the beginning for Team Dynasty OCR. We are all about giving back, and we are currently working

on projects such as UAR Global (www.UrbanAssualtRun.com), which is focused on “charity based” Global

Strength Running events. This project was started to help build “strength” around the world,

and and to help end the trend of obesity. Our team consists of people from all walks of life and

backgrounds. We take pride in building a team based on integrity and positivity. If you are

passionate about health and fitness, want to start a fitness journey, and love helping others, than

we welcome you to run with our team. For more information, please contact Arnel Banawa:

www.fb.com/arnelbanawa or any member of the Team Dynasty OCR group. You can also check

out our OCR Challenge site where it is focused on Fitness Challenges to help anyone train for

life, as well as OCR. See you at the next race!

22

23

Product Review: Salomon Fellraiser Trail ShoeJust a few months back, while slipping and sliding

through an awesomely muddy course with a few

friends, I made the comment that I really needed

to invest in a good pair of trail shoes. As much as I

love my Mizuno Wave Rider‘s for training and road

races, they just don’t provide the grip that I’d like

to have when tackling slick hills and slippery, wet

obstacles. I needed something that was made for

mud, that would give me the traction I needed while

out on the course; It was time to make a change in

footwear.

The mud running shoe genie must have heard

my lament, because I arrived home later that day

to an email from a representative of Salomon, a

company specializing in hiking and trail running

shoes, offering to send me a pair of

their Fellraiser trail shoes to test

out. I immediately agreed, and

eagerly awaited the arrival of

my new shoes.

When my shoes arrived, I fell instantly in love. I

even wondered initially how I’d ever bring myself

to get them dirty! They are rugged and sturdy, yet

still girly enough to make a momma who runs in the

mud in her spare time feel fashionable. The purple

and mint green design is visually appealing, yet you

can tell from holding them that these are shoes that

mean business out on the course.

The Fellraiser’s are lightweight and very

comfortable. The shoe itself fits like a glove, and

provides cushioning that makes your foot extremely

comfortable while not adding additional weight.

They are specifically designed to provide quality grip

in both mud and snow.

Since receiving them, I have had the opportunity

to test them out in several different style mud and

obstacle races, and also took them out for a 10 mile

trail run. Each race they have impressed me, as their

performance is stellar. Their grip while climbing

muddy slopes and shimmying up ropes has been a

godsend. After slogging through water, they drain

http://www.muddymommy.com

24

quickly and efficiently to prevent heavy, sloshy shoes

that weigh down running on dry ground. During

trail running, they maneuver turns and attack hills

with stellar performance. And if that’s not all, they

are incredibly comfortable.

Long story short, I love these shoes. And now

that I’ve been spoiled with such a fantastic trail shoe,

I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to go back to simply

running in my recycled road shoes. So if you ever

find yourself shopping around for a trail shoe that’s

not just dependable, but also sturdy, comfortable,

and good looking, look no further than the Salomon

Fellraiser, I guarantee you won’t regret your

decision. A huge thank you to the folks at Salomon

for providing me the opportunity to test out such a

great pair of shoes! It is greatly appreciated!

~Holly

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