Savage Race Maryland! An OCR (obstacle course race) unlike any other race I’ve done! I have grown to love OCR’s and wanted to branch out to see what other obstacle course races had to offer. I had just recently placed as 4th overall female in the DC Spartan Sprint competitive division and was eager to compete in another OCR! A friend told me about Savage Race so I signed up for the pro division.

Savage Race features 25+ obstacles with an average distance of 5.9 miles. Savage Race Pro is a lot tougher than your average OCR. The rules for the pro division are to have a 100% completion rate on EVERY single obstacle. For Spartan races, you have the option to do 30 burpees as a penalty, but not for Savage Race Pro. If you fail to complete an obstacle you have to sacrifice your wrist band and you are downgraded to the open division *gulps*.

This race really forces you to take your time to ensure full completion of the obstacles.

It was a cold and gloomy morning at the start of the race. The pro division was the first wave to take off.

Seen above are people warming up just before the race.

The obstacles in this race were very different compared to what I was use to. There many obstacles that were water based, so if you’re not a swimmer then this race is not for you.

One of the major obstacles I struggled with was called Sawtooth. Oh the dreaded Sawtooth… with a completion rate of 40%.  This obstacle features a 35 foot span of monkey bars that include deep dips over a 10 foot drop of water! I tried this obstacle many times and felt so defeated every time I fell into the cold water below. The dips in the monkey bars really got me and my arms were too fatigued out from the amount of times I attempted the obstacle, so I was forced to drop into the open division *sighes* (boy was I so disappointed in myself!).

Another obstacle I was really impressed with was called Davy Jones Locker (Completion rate: 65%). This obstacle really challenges your fear of heights by having to jump 15 feet into a pool of muddy water below! My stomach definitely quenched a little with this one!

Other obstacles included submerging in ice, crawling in the mud, climbing sideways on fences, sliding down the collossus slide with a near vertical drop of 24 feet and more! To find out more about the other challenging Savage Race Obstacles, Click Here to learn more!

The very last obstacle called the Tree Hugger  with a completion rate of 58%. Some of the obstacles did get backed up with people, but this race was made more for completion rather than time!

That post race photo! One thing I was really disappointed in was the lack of photographers on the course. Unfortunately this was my only photo during the entire race! The travesty!

Savages!

And the post race beer!

Despite taking my time to try and complete the obstacles, I still ranked 2nd in my division!

Savage race definitely opened my eyes to other forms of obstacle course racing. I actually got a little waterlogged during this race which was not very fun at all, but I still continued to push myself to the fullest. I was a little disappointed in myself that I was not able to make the 100% completion rate, but did not feel as bad when I heard that many other people struggled to meet this criteria as well, (there is always next time!). Definitely a race more obstacle intensive and I am glad I was able to participate, so if you’re ready for a tough challenge then Savage race is for you!