XMan Race Sutton 2016 - new obstacles oh my!

It's the first weekend of June and look at that, my first OCR in warmer weather.

I could have done like others and done a Super Spartan in Stoneham, Qc, or perhaps the New Jersey Beast...oh wait a minute, there aren't any Spartan Races in my calendar! So what better way to kick off my season than with XMan Race!

The first of 3 in Quebec (there was one in Toronto), I have to admit Sutton is my favorite one. (Try it and find out!)

Most of you who follow my (mis)adventures have already read my rambling posts on XMan Race (this, or perhaps this post) so I am not really going to delve into too many details.

Once again the winner of the 3-Seconds' people's choice award, XMan Race had some teasers on their Facebook page (both photos and videos) of new obstacles, several of which I'll admit I'm not super thrilled to see but like anything else, might as well give it the old college try.

After Friday evening volunteering of handing out race packets, some of us find out that we are running in the first open wave at 9:30am in order to have us ready for afternoon shifts. Well, this is new - running early with relatively clean obstacles!

The course is advertised as 7.5km with 48 obstacles. I'm not too worried about endless hill climbs here, but typically before the first race of the season I always get a little anxious - did I train enough? Did I rest enough? Will I succeed at the obstacles? I also am not in complete running form yet, having spent most of the winter doing strength work.

I don't think I've mentioned the pre-race animation too much in the past - there's always an emcee getting the crowd pumped, a DJ cranking out some good tunes and Nic, the race's founder, will usually grab the mic and say a few things. Fittingly enough, as we count down to the start, "Thunderstruck" is playing (which happens to be one of my songs of the hour)

Thunder!
Thunder!

Off we go, and we wind our way up a gentle slope. It isn't too long before we get to the first set of obstacles (log carry, water jug carry, barbed wire crawl) including a new one that involves dunking my head in water under some low-hanging blue trash cans. The photographer of course is waiting at the end and the resulting shot makes me look like Swamp Thing.

I'm struggling to get a running rhythm. I know it'll take a bit of time to get my running legs back. I do feel a difference at certain obstacles (better grip strength, easier time pulling my body weight), but the lack of cardio part is bugging me. That, and (quoting a teammate), my legs feel like two stumps that I'm dragging behind me.

One of the newer obstacles is the Irish table, something I've never done before but the cheerful volunteer helps me up. Another one, the Kraken, involves belly sliding (or shimmying) across a large PVC pipe:

I mentally kick myself for failing the monkey bars again. I really shouldn't think too much.

I also find I'm a bit lacking in the dynamic balance obstacles, such as log hops.

The one I'm dreading is the sternum checker (see Battlefrog Xtreme post), and although it doesn't seem as daunting as the one last year, I end up doing the penalty loop. But the next part of techincal, steep trail leads to possibly my favorite obstacle, Indiana Jones (Sutton version), and it never disappoints.

Once I get through the last set of obstacles, collect badass medal and clean up, it's off to volunteer for the rest of the weekend.

Hitching a ride with Phil, one of the main crew members

Sunday is looking grey, I hope the rain doesn't dampen too many spirits. I am assigned to the sternum checker.

The first couple of waves get through their race without too much interference from Mother Nature, but after 11 or so it starts raining and never lets up. I'm hearing over the walkie-talkies of some obstacles becoming too dangerous to continue on (monkey bars, for one) and the lake rising rather quickly due to all the rain so Indiana Jones gets shut down as well. Emergency blankets are handed out in a jiffy and about 1 in 5 racers who come trickling in the afternoon have one wrapped around them. Some look cold and miserable (I'm pretty cold standing around), others are still in good spirits. I just feel bad for some of the participants who couldn't fully enjoy the whole XMan Race and the fun obstacles that got closed off.

My rain-soaked jacket drip-drying after my shift

Another great race weekend slightly dampened by Mother Nature, but most everyone is looking forward to the 2nd race in August, in Mont-Orford. 'Til then!