Mud Guts and Glory - A tiny bit of obstacle course racing history.

September 2017

Kings Domain was a summer camp near the village (more of a crossroads) of Oregonia in southwest Ohio.  For years, the camp was somewhat of a curiosity to me.  It was adjacent to the Little Miami Bike Trail on which I often rode, and it had an entrance of a one-lane road through a gateway similar to what you might find at a Rennaisance Festival.  By 2013, the only obstacle course race I knew of was Tough Mudder - so basically I knew nothing of the sport.  Talking to some people about it one day, I got a tip that there was going to be a new obstacle course race called Mud Guts and Glory at Kings Domain and I should check it out.  I decided to give it a try having no idea what to expect.

The first run of the course was about 5 miles marked out in five stages of approximately one mile each.  Each stage had at least one significant hill climb.  Southwest Ohio is basically flat, but the Little Miami River valley provides steep hills of about 220 feet from the river to the hilltops.  The MGG course was pretty much continual up/down hill, so an elevation gain of well over 1000 feet throughout the course was achievable.  I had no idea what to expect and I was not in great shape, but the course was laid out such that you could pretty much quit at the end of any stage without being too far from the shuttle (parking is a bit of a problem at Kings Domain).  As it was, at the end of each stage, I decided to just keep going, and eventually I finished the race.  I no longer remember my time, but it had to have been over three hours.  I remember at the start of the race, the announcer saying that they thought they had created the toughest obstacle course in all of Ohio and it was a reasonable claim (I believe there was a Tough Mudder in Ohio, but it was mostly flat).  Besides the hills, the obstacles were challenging, and included:

• The weaver (a military obstacle - Google it) which was usually near the end of the race and was almost guaranteed to cause leg cramps
• Sternum checker (another military obstacle) - In the first races before the bark had worn off the logs, it would usually take some skin off your chest.
• A unique set of V-shaped monkey bars
• A three story wall/tower that you had to climb over
• The first two races includes electified wire that you had to crawl under.
• In early races, there was a target at which you shot paintballs with a slingshot.
• And the usual carries - carry tires, carry buckets of sand, carry logs, and a wreck bag in later courses.  Oddly, the first race had a piece of wood on a rope that you had to drag some distance.

The course ended with about a 180 foot steep hill climb called Pinnacle Hill which was almost impossible without ropes.  This was followed shortly thereafter with a pretty amazing water slide, which I heard in later courses acheived speeds of 30 miles per hour.  In later events through added one more sternum checker at the end just before the finish along with a few inclined walls.

But the real greatness of the course was just the beauty and ruggedness of the terrain which includes lots of climbing and descending hills through creek beds and gulleys.

Eventually, the course was lengthened to 10k with a 5k option and they ended the stage designations. 

OCR World Championships

In 2014, following the inaugural year for MGG, it was announced that the OCR World Championship would be held at Kings Domain.  The course was similar to MGG, but longer and with more obstacles, such as a Platinum Rig.  Individual races were held on Saturday and Team races on Sunday.  I don't know for sure, but I can only assume that some of the same people who dreamed up MGG had a hand in created the OCRWC.  I believe MGG was always intended to be a non-profit event to raise money for the camp.  The first OCRWC was held at Kings Domain in October 2015.  The idea was that you had to qualify similar to the Boston Marathon.

The OCRWC was held again in October 2015 and I was able to qualify for this one - sort of as a fluke as they were still working out the selection criteria and they were pretty lenient with the criteria for MGG finishers.  I was happy to complete the race, but I really had no business running with that group of people.  The distance for the second OCRWC was about 9.1 miles as I recall - taking you across the Little Miami River and back, and adding a second Platinum Rig (and the Pipe Dreams obstacle from Savage Race).  Being late October, it was a cold race and most of the people who finished behind me had dropped out because of the cold.

For 2016, OCRWC announced that they were moving to a new location, in what I expect was a plan to regularly change the location of the race.

Battlefrog

In 2015, Kings Domain was the host for Battlefrog's Cincinnati race.  They used much of the same MGG course although they switched directions and changed up the order.  Battlefrog used many of the fixed obstacles, including the water slide, but they also brought in many of their own along with their notorious jerry cans.  I assume because of the Battlefrog and OCRWC in 2015, there was only one MGG that year (races could not run in the summer due to camp being in session).  Battlefrog courses were approximately 8K and they had an option where you could run multiple laps.

2016 returned with two MGG races on the schedule and one Battlefrog.  The second MGG for 2016 (which would be the last) changed the course significantly to keep if fresh.  For example, Pinnacle Hill and the waterslide were now in the middle of the course.  While the 2015 Battlefrog was quite a challenge, the 2016 race seemed much easier to me and my time improved by about 90 minutes.

End of the Era

Unfortunately, it was the week after the 2016 Cincinnati Battlefrog that Battlefrog announced that they were ending all races, leaving the race at Kings Domain to be their final race.  Later in December, I heard the rumors that MGG was also discontinued because Kings Domain was closing and was up for sale.  Thus brings an end to obstacle course races at one of the best locations in the country.  I am happy to have completed all seven MGG races, the two Battlefrogs, and one of the two OCRWC individual races, for a total of ten times up Pinnacle Hill and down the waterslide.

Mud Guts and Glory Pictures

With the first MGG, no one knew what to expect.  This unknown racer decided to wear white to a mud race.  Here he crawls through the mud pit under the electrified tape (which was omitted by about race 3).  Another bit of poor planning that was soon remedied was having a mud crawl just before the monkey bars.  The bars were soon covered in mud making them very difficult to grip.

With monkey bars slick with mud, high above a pit of water, some racers in the first event found creative ways to get across the obstacle.

The 2013 MGG was my first OCR.  Knowing nothing of the sport, it never occurred to me that there were actually top athletes who would come from out of state for the inaugural race of a purely local event.  I saw this amazingly fit woman making easy work of the monkey bars.  I found out later it was Amelia Boone.  As I remember, this picture would have been taken after she had already won first place for the females.  Top male finisher for the first MGG was Junyong Pak who would remain the man to beat throughout the life of MGG.

The elite men start the 2015 MGG.  Recognize anyone?

Junyong Pak heads onto the monkey bars at the 2015 MGG.

Top racer Rose Wetzel climbs the over/under logs at the 2015 MGG. 

Battlefrog

Adriane Alvord descends an obstacle at the 2015 Cincinnati Battlefrog.  As I recall, Adriane was a common visitor to Kings Domain (she was easy to spot because she is tall, good looking, and always near the front of the pack).  Because Battlefrog allowed multiple laps, I actually remember her passing me on the course.  In how many sports do chumps like me get to compete directly against the top athletes in the field?

Adriane Alvord negotiates the tire wall on the monkey bars at the 2015 Battlefrog.

A local OCR regular nears the finish of a 2016 Battlefrog.

OCRWC

A racer at the 2014 OCRWC demonstrates the common (and within the rules) way to negotiate the monkey bars at Kings Domain.

A Swede racer does a little showing off at the 2014 OCRWC team event.

A Swede racer sports a fresh headwound at the 2014 OCRWC.

The 2014 OCRWC finish line.  The double water slide is visible in the background.

An unknown racer makes a nice show of the water slide at the 2014 OCRWC.  Because of the rough ground under the tarp, riding the water slide on your stomach is not recommended for men.

Racers attack Pinnacle Hill in the 2014 OCR World Championships.

A nice shot of the "castle wall" at the 2015 OCRWC.

Topographic Map of the Kings Domain camp.  Parking was at the Fort Ancient Memorial museum area.  Shuttle buses took racers down the hill to the camp.