After each mud run or obstacle race I compete in, you'll get my review and grades for each event to help you decide which ones you might want to sign up for. The following categories will be discussed:

1. COURSE- the design, venue, and setup of the race itself- how creative/ adventurous/ difficult the obstacles were, and obviously... how was the MUD?!?

2. FESTIVAL- all the fun beyond the actual race- the social atmosphere which usually includes food, beer garden, dj/ music/ concert, contests, vendors, and more during the after-party

3. SWAG- the included goodie bag and prizes up for grabs- all the "free" stuff that comes with price of entry and the quality of awards, shirts, and other giveaways

Feel free to use the search box to read up on any past topics you might be looking for.

TERRAIN RACE (5k), Brooklyn NY, 5/6/17

Only two reasons exist why I went back to probably the worst OCR venue in America, Floyd Bennett Field at Aviator Park, Brooklyn:  1) I already paid for the super cheap $30 registration last year, when the race was actually supposed to be held in September but got postponed due to low registration numbers, and 2) I had a score to settle with their finale "Monkey Balls" obstacle that got the best of me back at their NJ race in August 2016.

1. COURSE-  I really don't want to hear the "well, it only cost $30 so what can you expect" argument that is already on the tip of some people's tongues.  The fact is, the two Terrain Races I have done so far, have been so poorly run and incredibly disorganized that the fee was almost worth it more for the comedic amusement of watching them trying to put on an event.  I realize they've only experimented with East coast events starting last year, but whoever thinks this is a good quality race has so much more ahead of them when they check out the mainstay OCRs in our area.  This is supposedly a major series further West, and I'm pretty sure thats the best its rep will stay.  Not much to even discuss about their obstacles save for Force5's challenging rig with various ninja obstacles.  And the one obstacle I was looking forward to, Monkey Balls, wasnt even there this time.  The rest of the course looked like heavily recycled wood structures, or completely random (and poorly explained) exercise stations, with the majority done on Aviator's flat concrete airstrip lots. And although most of us weren't big fans of the cold waist deep pools to stand in at the start line, at least it was actually something different. I'm being generous with this, on hopes these are growing pains and will learn from their two tri-state disasters... GRADE = C

2. FESTIVAL-  Unless I missed it, the half dozen small vendor tent booths don't really count as a festival, do they?  I could have probably set up my own table their and no one would have even noticed.  Granted it was a chilly Spring day, but there was nothing going on in that area.  Pretty sad ("but you only paid thirty"...blahblahblah).  GRADE = D

3. SWAG-  A little better on the giveaway score, since at least this year their shirts didn't have the logo upside-down on the majority of them!  I was lucky enough (had to look twice) to make sure I did get one of the correct medals, as half of finishers this time were given ones that were labeled for the next week's race in New England. I do like the medal, even though its not as fancy as last year's spinner version.  GRADE = B


OVERALL GRADE = C


Previous year events:

2016: http://mudmanreport.blogspot.com/2016/08/terrain-race-5k-englishtown-nj-8616.html