Obstacle Mud Runner - issue 13

01732 452404 ForEliteAtheletes toFunRunners 17 RACE : TRAINING At the beginning I mentioned the OCR Athlete progressing nicely and the sport having a fair way to go. The athlete is now working on all areas of obstacle racing in preparation for such events as the OCRWC and the OCREC but what events are there out there to hold the quality of ‘races’ needed by the athlete? This is tough as there is no financial incentive for events to put on high standard ‘races’. These companies put on fantastic events but are unable to put on the standard of ‘races’ the athlete needs in order to progress on a national and international level. This becomes even more apparent with the standard of Junior races with events either throwing them into a fun run or sticking them in distances far further than they should be doing at a young age. Spartan Race offers good middle ground and you find that it always gets top competitors’ interest due to a fairer adjudication system and better consistency of the events. Hopefully with the introduction of UKOSF and The OCR Junior Development with Dave Peters this can start to build back up and we can be competing at the level needed. It is clear that even with better quality of training the competitors will still need the higher quality of racing. Looking at the last 5 years of OCR it is apparent that the athlete blagged it for too long which resulted in a lot of injuries including more upper body Injuries due to the new technicality of the courses and the need for a strong and mobile upper body. You had athletes blaming courses being too hard rather than doing their winter training and becoming stronger. I honestly could not tell you just how many people had previously asked me to teach them Stairway to Heaven but could not do a pull up or wanted to use the gibbon techniques but couldn’t hold their body weight from one hand. Obviously, this is tough for the athlete due to the lack of races requiring such skills and strength. A lot of coaches were telling athletes to slow down and start from scratch but of course with an ego type sport like OCR people were more concerned with beating their mate on Strava or who could do the most gruelling races back to back. After previous successes over the last 4 years where fairly normal competitors have become big names on the OCR circuit athletes are starting the listen and things are falling into place. Not only are athletes getting stronger, more balanced, mobile, etc. they are also looking to make training more functional with race simulation style training sessions including areas that commonly cause issues out on the course such as weather conditions, wet handed drills, pre-fatigued skills, etc. We are really excited for the OCRWC and can’t wait to see you all out there. I know just in Team R2W we have 5+ serious podium contenders and we have also worked with other big contenders from Team UK. I really feel we have our strongest athletes yet and that will show in the results. Moving forwards to 2020 and it is going to be really interesting to see just how far Team UK can go! With more availability to quality coaching and training facilities the technical side of OCR will continue to progress. The athlete has a clearer understanding of training structure and what is required not only for performance but to keep the body functioning throughout what is a long season. As for Road2Worlds 2020 it is going to be the best one yet! We have sold out 3 years in a row and with the introduction of our ‘Improvers Courses’ we know we are going to be working with our best athletes yet! We will be running 4 courses again and a similar format to this year which will mean just 64 spaces. The course runs over 9 months and includes 4 training days as well as loads of online training content. If you are interested in R2W 2020 and would like to know which course is best for you then get in touch and we will be happy to assist; [email protected] . Tickets will be going live very soon. We wish you luck in getting a space and hope to see you with us next year. We also just want to say just how proud we are of our athletes and thank them for trusting/investing in us. They are a great group who not only get great results but are brilliant role models and support all abilities. Arguably our ‘Improvers’ Course has been our biggest success and has seen those who lacked in confidence really shine. From myself, and the rest of Team R2W we would like to wish Team UK the very best of luck at the OCRWC! Coach Scotty You had athletes blaming courses being too hard rather than doing their winter training and becoming stronger