I returned to Overload Obstacle Race for the third time, running with the OCR Solo Mudders having a “fun” run. Overload, was incidently my third ever obstacle race and at the time was a 10km course. With new owners, Overload has evolved into 5km (ish) course, zig zagging across a number of fields with competitors allowed to run as many laps as they can within the time limit.
Overload has OCR in it’s veins, and what it lacks in budget for the big flashy obstacles, is made up in innovation, terrain and heart.
The Obstacles
- Cage crawl on your hands and knees with the added element of spectators being able to squirt you with water guns
- Ring Toss – Get 3 hoops and get them over a traffic cone (or random chinese person – see gallery)
- Cargo net crawl (possibly the longest crawl ever!)
- Tube crawl – Choose from large or tiny pipes
- Tyre Scramble
- Monkey Bars (in the shape of a W for an added challenge)
- Inverted Wall – Get over a wall which is tilted towards you by yourself, with the help of the stands or with the help of your friends
- Muddy Tunnel Crawl
- Muddy Cargo net
- Wall climb – A tall quarter pipe climb with the assitance of ropes.
- Weaver – a set of horizontal bars for you to “weave” your body under and over without toughing the floor
- Bar Hop – two parallel bars for you to traverse across
- Horizontal Ladder – a hanging horizontal ladder for you to scale and ring the bell
- Free style mud traverse – a huge open stretch of land for you to choose your own route
- Wall Climb x 2
- Balance Beam
- Water Slide – tall water slide into a pool of fresh (and bloody cold) spring water
- Full water submersion under cage x 2 – Once you have crossed the pool, you can choose to take a dip under beams and emerging under a cage. Very much a psychological obstacle
- Cotton Reel – Take a final dip in the pool whilst crawling over the reels
- Barrel Carry – Carry an empty keg
- Block Drag – drag a block
- Tyre Drag – Drag a tyre to you and carry it back to position
- Inverted Wall
- Tyre Carry – carry a tyre over obstacles and under a cargo net
- A frame x 2
- Sternum Checker x 2
- Climbing Wall
- Bubble Pit
- Finish / Next Lap
Conclusion
As you can see from the obstacle list, there was a huge amount of obstacles within the 5km course. The emphasis was definitely on “fun” – The Ring Toss being a perfect example. However there was also some challenges for competitiors – the W shaped monkey bars are surprisingly tougher than ordinary horiontal ones, whilst completing the full water submersions under the cage defintely “psyched” some competitors out. My only minor grumble was that between the Monkey bars and the first climbing was a long distance and could have been broken up with another obstacle. Due to the terrain being farming land for the rest of the year, you weren’t able to get in any “rhythym” and you always had to be alert because of the uneven ground
A very well laid out village for specators and competitors. All the obstacles were within easy walking distance for the competitors, whilst a number of obstacles were placed within the village for the specators to cheer competitors on. Car Park, Campsite and showers all within a few minutes of the start line, whilst a food stall and mobile bar were serving fantastic food at great prices.
Prices start from £30 (depending on when you have booked) with the race (run as many laps as you want within the time limit) T shirt, medal, photos and lap bands all included. This is one of the best value OCR races in the UK
The OCR Community always talk about supporting smaller, independent races and I feel that Overload is one that deserves a bigger audience and more support. With Alan at the helm, you can always be sure that the competitors will always be front and centre at Overload. The race is always over the August Bank Holiday weekend, so pencil it in to your diary and I hope to see you on course!
