Before I go into the 2012 Boston Ruckus held at the Marshfield Fairgrounds, let me thank my extended racing family for joining me in our second year of running Ruckus. Whether it be the Neighbors who came in full force to show their obstacling prowess, or Mid-Life Crisis and Just Out of Diapers who vanquished the course with mighty aggressiveness, or our virgin obstacle racer who, after admitting that she really enjoyed getting muddy during the event, will forever now be known as Likes It Dirty (hope that doesn't tarnish her crystal clean reputation), they one and all deserve accolades and foot massages for their triumphant completion of the Ruckus. Well done!!
And now for the Ruckus...
If you have been aggressively following me you would know that I had a few complaints about last year's Ruckus: registration, gear drop, and some damaged and/or ineffective obstacles. Now, I don't want to take full credit for the changes Ruckus made in their 2012 event but they made minor improvements with registration and gear drop, and vast improvements to their obstacles, almost like a little Illustrious told them they needed to be improved upon and you're welcome.
No one really cares that much about registration and gear drop as long as they know it goes smoothly, so there it is. It was much smoother than last year. The registration was much more registrationy and the place for our gear was droppier. Kudos!
Everyone cares about the course and Ruckus, you done good! The array of obstacles were top-notch. You had your basic mud pits and dirt hills, your muddy water crawls and mud-thick single-track trails, your cargo net and tall wall climbs, your monkey bars and low hurdles, etc; but it was the improvements to typical obstacles and the overall layout of the course that had me at hello.
So let's talk improvements, shall we?
1. Rope Rings: Last year your rope rings, to be polite, sucked. The contraption you built for us this year became one of the crowd favorites. It was doable, but challenging. Fun, but troublesome. It allowed us to laugh at ourselves while we swung back and forth trying to get to the next rope, and swear under our breath at the people in front of us who were taken too damn long trying to get to the next rope just let go and fall in the mud already you're slowing us down and now I feel silly just swinging back and forth and back forth and I probably don't look like Tarzan swinging here and now I'm stopping while a wait so a little push would be great. Aside from my impatience with others, massive improvement from last year's Ropes and I look forward to swinging on it again. Apparently this obstacle was a showcase for Ruckus because everyone had pictures from it, like this:
2. Course layout: The layout last year was good, not great, but good. Last year the vendors were ostracized from where all the fun was, but this year Ruckus let them be a part of the fun. This year's course was around (and under) the spectators, the vendors, registration, and bag check; all conveniently packed together for our enjoyment. There were multiple places the fans could go to watch your amazing feats of total aggressiveness. Or they could watch you fall and get muddy. The mix of obstacle to running ratio was good. Never felt like you were running too long and there was just enough running to separate the masses, which lead to no waits at the obstacles. I think they added more trail running this year, too, but I can't be sure. Additionally, Ruckus placed the end of the race by the Kids Ruckus course, which was a boon for those who had a friend or family member running but also had kids to entertain. You could do both. Witness your friend in all his/her glory as they pass the finish line while simultaneously watching your (or their) kid ruin that brand new outfit he just got last week and will never, ever get all the mud out of it; which is OK because dirt is temporary, clothes are replaceable, and the joy you have as you turn over a muddy child to their owner is sheer bliss.
3. Ruckus Tower: We can't talk about the layout or new obstacles without mentioning the Tower. Ruckus built a multi-leveled obstacle with rope ladders, cargo nets, and a slide that, depending on where you were in the Tower, could see other racers over and under you as you and they scaled this obstacle together. Also, the kids course wove in and out of the Tower but never interfered with the adult course. Big time props on the construction of the Tower. To make it even better Ruckus placed the MC at the top of the tower to announce who was coming up and over for their final slide to the finish line... yup, big steep slide to the finish line. Big obstacle, big improvement, big way to finish a race!
4. Me: There are many things I enjoy about these races and you would know what they are if you've been reading this blog, mainly: muddy stuff, climbing stuff, swinging from stuff, running through stuff, and stuff that looks good in muddy spandex. I need to put another one on the list: Fellow Obstaclers. These races are growing in popularity, which is great, and the familiar faces I see at the races always make it more memorable. I don't know if I can say the same for them as they have only seen the Captain, never the mild mannered man underneath; but I think the feeling is mutual. Lots of love to be had at these races... but only by other guys.... no girl love... why is there no girl love... no muddy spandex girl love... I thought girls loved a man in uniform!
Final Results: (There was a lot of great competition out there but I managed to, once again, make it into the Champion's Heat.)
Overall Place Division Age Group Place Time Pace
89 Ruckus Challenge 70 39:48 9:57/M
14 Ruckus Champion 12 38:13.9 9:35/M
 |
| Minus "Just Out of Diapers", who may have been taking this pic |
If you have been aggressively following me you would know that I had a few complaints about last year's Ruckus: registration, gear drop, and some damaged and/or ineffective obstacles. Now, I don't want to take full credit for the changes Ruckus made in their 2012 event but they made minor improvements with registration and gear drop, and vast improvements to their obstacles, almost like a little Illustrious told them they needed to be improved upon and you're welcome.
No one really cares that much about registration and gear drop as long as they know it goes smoothly, so there it is. It was much smoother than last year. The registration was much more registrationy and the place for our gear was droppier. Kudos!
Everyone cares about the course and Ruckus, you done good! The array of obstacles were top-notch. You had your basic mud pits and dirt hills, your muddy water crawls and mud-thick single-track trails, your cargo net and tall wall climbs, your monkey bars and low hurdles, etc; but it was the improvements to typical obstacles and the overall layout of the course that had me at hello.
So let's talk improvements, shall we?
1. Rope Rings: Last year your rope rings, to be polite, sucked. The contraption you built for us this year became one of the crowd favorites. It was doable, but challenging. Fun, but troublesome. It allowed us to laugh at ourselves while we swung back and forth trying to get to the next rope, and swear under our breath at the people in front of us who were taken too damn long trying to get to the next rope just let go and fall in the mud already you're slowing us down and now I feel silly just swinging back and forth and back forth and I probably don't look like Tarzan swinging here and now I'm stopping while a wait so a little push would be great. Aside from my impatience with others, massive improvement from last year's Ropes and I look forward to swinging on it again. Apparently this obstacle was a showcase for Ruckus because everyone had pictures from it, like this:
and this:
and this:
and this:
and this:
3. Ruckus Tower: We can't talk about the layout or new obstacles without mentioning the Tower. Ruckus built a multi-leveled obstacle with rope ladders, cargo nets, and a slide that, depending on where you were in the Tower, could see other racers over and under you as you and they scaled this obstacle together. Also, the kids course wove in and out of the Tower but never interfered with the adult course. Big time props on the construction of the Tower. To make it even better Ruckus placed the MC at the top of the tower to announce who was coming up and over for their final slide to the finish line... yup, big steep slide to the finish line. Big obstacle, big improvement, big way to finish a race!
4. Me: There are many things I enjoy about these races and you would know what they are if you've been reading this blog, mainly: muddy stuff, climbing stuff, swinging from stuff, running through stuff, and stuff that looks good in muddy spandex. I need to put another one on the list: Fellow Obstaclers. These races are growing in popularity, which is great, and the familiar faces I see at the races always make it more memorable. I don't know if I can say the same for them as they have only seen the Captain, never the mild mannered man underneath; but I think the feeling is mutual. Lots of love to be had at these races... but only by other guys.... no girl love... why is there no girl love... no muddy spandex girl love... I thought girls loved a man in uniform!
 |
| What's not to love? |
Overall Place Division Age Group Place Time Pace
89 Ruckus Challenge 70 39:48 9:57/M
14 Ruckus Champion 12 38:13.9 9:35/M
Illustrious
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