Chicago 2017

Savage Race Participant Reviews

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• Best Obstacles, Good Race Fair, Flat Terrain

  By Ron Thery (2019-07-29, 13:46)

  Event location:

  Chicago 2019

  I have run the Savage Race twice this year and my experiences were fairly similar both times. I run more than a dozen OCR's (Spartan Race, Tough Mudder, Warrior Dash, Rugged Maniac, Abominable Snow Race, etc.) a year along with Trail Runs and Road Races. The Savage Race organization puts on events that are comparable with the best. Like any event, there is room for improvement. Savage Race excels in the quantity and quality of their Multi-rigs. No other OCR has more or longer. They are not quite up to the level of Ninja competitions like the UNAA but they are pretty good since they have to make them at least accessible to people who don't train on that type of obstacle weekly. Savage Race even manages to put a twist on some of the more common obstacles like a log carry where they made us carry the timber under barb wire with water spray. I really can't complain about the number and quality of obstacles on the 10K course. I just love doing the multi-rig obstacles and repeated all of them in the Chicago Race since I was not going for quickest time. The event venue was good. Easy to get to the event and there was tons of parking. It would have been nice if they allowed camping at the event since we drove more than 6 hours to get to the race and hotels were not cheap (at least for anything better than a rathole). Many people did both the Saturday Savage Race and Sunday Savage Blitz. Camping at the event would have made things more convienent. The event terrain was FLAT. I thought the TX event was flat but the Chicago event had even less terrain features. I remember at most two slope climbs which climbed a maximum of 13 meters. This made for a very fast race but little in the way of interesting terrain footing challenges. There was a nice view out over a small lake but little in the way of running through woods or over rocky terrain. There was a fair amount of running through corn fields which would have been kind of interesting if the corn was a more normal height for this time of year (it was only about 1.5 meters tall this year). As in the TX race in April 2019, the race day was warm. We alway try to sign up for as early a race time as possible but the Savage Race organization has always given us start times in the late morning. Better than starting in the afternoon but not what we wanted. I guess we will just have to pay the US$30 extra to run in the competitive wave in order to get an early start time. There were only a few water stations and they were set on the first half, or so, of the course. Nothing for the last 2-3 km. Others complained about using water bottles but they are no less ecologically friendly than all the plastic cups normally used at these events. The water quality is better too. You can also carry water with you to drink during the running phase and can drop the empty bottles off at the next obstacle. Personally, I like the water bottles instead of the cups. The obstacle positioning for both the Chicago and TX 2019 races were similar. The course layout was alos very similar given two separate venues. The obstacles are clustered in groups with many toward the end of the race. I believe that this is to allow maximum efficiency for the layout of the 10K Race and 5K Sprint. It does make for some longer running sections not broken up by obstacles. It does allow participants to get into a running groove and actually improves overall time. Overall, my wife and I really enjoyed the Savage Races, we already signed up for a couple more in 2020. The obstacles are the best of any OCR with running and the event staff was great. If they choose event locations that have more varied terrain features and put in some water stations in the last 2-3 km. of the course, it would make the event even better. t

• Boston Savage & Blitz

  By Jennah (2019-07-15, 22:32)

  Event location:

  Boston

  Did both races this year and loved every bit of both races. The courses were well laid out (with lots of mud) the staff and volunteers were amazing. Def the best race around for people of all levels!

• Boston 2019 was life changing

  By Amanda S. (2019-07-15, 14:59)

  Event location:

  Boston, MA

  This race will give you LIFE. Such great energy and so much fun, with fellow runners of all shapes, sizes, and abilities. If you're on the fence (or the hurdle, or the rope...) about doing one of these, jump in. You won't regret it. Looking forward to 2020!

• Boston 2109 was GREAT, but.....

  By Rachel (2019-07-15, 13:34)

  Event location:

  Boston

  Boston's race was so much as fun, per usual. Only complaint is that a lot of the obstacles aren't catered for shorter runners. I'm 5'2'' and couldn't reach a good handful of the obstacles. I ended up skipping them altogether which is a disappointment. They could easily adjust some of the obstacles for us vertically challenged folks!

• Pennsylvania 2019

  By Paul (2019-07-08, 23:38)

  Event location:

  Pennsylvania

  Ok listen up. SAVAGE RACE PENNSYLVANIA is the standard for Obstacle Course Racing for me. Let’s start from the beginning. Parking was easy and well organized. Sign in was easy and well organized. Staff are the best in the industry. The staff at the North American OCR Championships are a close second though. Festival, washroom, beer and food areas are great and plentiful. The food area even has a roof which is amazing. Bag check was easy and well organized. Now for the race, HANDS DOWN best and most enjoyable race ever. I’ve been fortunate enough to have raced most of the races out there including the Championship races and Savage is still the best. Championship races may be tougher but Savage is the most fun while still challenging. Pennsylvania has You running through rivers, dense forest, a paintball playground and even a road section. This year I actually injured 2 fingers on twirly bird and had to got to the medic tent once I finished and the staff there were great too! From start to finish Savage Race really knows how to put on the best race experience. Do yourself a favour and sign up for one. See you next year.

• Maryland and Pennsylvania 2019

  By Melanie (2019-06-22, 23:29)

  Event location:

  Maryland and Pennsylvania

  LOOOOVVVEEE these races so much! The staff is amazing and so helpful, the events are crazy fun, and it’s like one big family. So glad to be a savage!

• PA June 2019 Savage Race

  By Amber Kaminski (2019-06-22, 22:25)

  Event location:

  Albrightsville, PA

  By far the best obstacles race I have ran so far. The obstacles were challenging and thrilling. There was never a dull moment. I can not wait to run the course again!

• Ohio Summer 2019 Savage Blitz Race

  By Jason Wilson (2019-06-13, 13:32)

  Event location:

  Mad River Mountain

  This was my first ever OCR event. The race and obstacles were a lot of fun and also very challenging. The environment was friendly and enjoyable. My family was there and had a good time in the spectator areas watching the race. I ran by myself, but ended up running with two others I met on the trail. We encouraged/helped each other all the way to the finish. I will definitely be back next year, and hopefully do the full race as well.