I have run several Savage Races before this weekend. However this was the first time I tried their other format: the Savage Blitz.

Savage Blitz is a shorter version of their normal race. It’s about 3 and a half miles and 24 obstacles. It was on a farm so it was a very flat course. There is some technical running in the trails but not much. There was almost no elevation gain.

There was also no strength obstacles or carries. This race is meant to be fast. Definitely a runner’s race. I was signed up for the Pro wave. That means you have your regular timing chip as well as a Pro Wave timing chip. You must complete all the obstacles at least once. You can try obstacles over as many times as you want, but if you are unable to complete an obstacle, you must take off your Pro Wave band and place it in what they call the “Fail Pail”.

Keep in mind for this race it was pouring most of the day before the race and the day of the race. So race conditions were not great, especially for the many obstacles that require grip strength.

Instead of going over each obstacle I’m going to instead talk about the Pros and Cons of this format, as well as the venue itself.

The Venue was setup well. Easy to find registration. Bag check was right next to Merch tent, and the Syndicate tent was on the other side. Lots of tables and chairs to hang out with friends.

2 issues though. Shower and changing area was a long long walk from the venue. Not a lot of fun after a race. Also there isn’t many obstacles for spectators to see from the venue, I think there was only 2. The rest they would have to walk around to find.

Also only 1 food vendor, although that could have been because of the weather. So I won’t hold that against them.

Course itself was well marked. No confusion about where to go next. There wasn’t many volunteers out at obstacles, probably because it’s hard to get people to want to stand out in the rain.

There were lots of photographers which was nice. Think I counted 6 or 7 which is pretty awesome. They were mobile too, not sitting down, so they got some great action shots!

All of the obstacles were very sturdy. They were able to handle several people on them. One that I had an issue with is the high walls. They are very thin and shake like crazy. Would be better if they were more solid, because when multiple people are on them, I could see someone getting knocked off from the shaking. Also the fire jump obstacle is dumb because they aren’t using it as a photo op, just had it in the middle of nowhere for no reason.

Not sure if this is standard for the Blitz, but there were no water obstacles, or obstacles over water. Which was nice because one of my pet peeves in OCR is when they have you jump into water for no real reason. That’s not an obstacle imo. But I know some may disagree. So having none in the Blitz was cool to see and I will do this format again if that’s how they all are. Not a fan of having so many grip obstacles all at the end and none in the first half of the race, but these races are all about testing your grip strength.

My verdict for Savage Blitz

Pros:

Great format. Lots of obstacles in a short distance so it really pushes your speed and technique with the rigs. They are very tough and unique, which also makes them fun to do. The volunteers and staff were very helpful and friendly, and the price of the races is quite affordable, especially since they always seem to have a discount. This is a tougher OCR than others, and really requires you to be able to hold up your body weight for a lot of the obstacles. If you’re running Pro this can be a big difference, as you can’t just do burpees to “complete” an obstacle. The finisher shirts and medals were cool, and they had a lot of good merch for sale at the race. Having lots of photographers was awesome, and the photos being available the next day was amazing! Also the announcer singing the Star Spangled Banner was a nice touch.

Cons:

Race bibs. Get rid of them. No one wants to put holes in their expensive race gear. Fix the high walls and make it so they don’t feel like they’re going to fall over every time someone jumps to climb them. More vendors would be nice as well.

One thing I’m not sure of: I saw they give out age group awards for top 3 who completed all the obstacles and some people got one even though they didn’t. So my question is: once you’ve surrendered your band at an obstacle, what reason (except personal pride) do you have to attempt any more obstacles? Wouldn’t the goal then be to race to the finish as fast as possible to get a good finishing time and just bypass them?

Thank you for reading this post. If you have any questions or comments, please message me!! 🦁👍🏽👍🏽