The RiverHawks Obstacle Course Racing team qualified four (three athletes and coach) for the OCR World Championships hosted at Stratton Mountain Resort in Vermont to race in the 100m 8 obstacles, 3k 16 obstacles, and 15k 40 obstacles on Friday, September 24th and Saturday, September 25th. The OCR World Championships is a first for UCC team history, so qualifying four was quite impressive. While there, the Hawks discovered the nearby Rugged Maniac New England (elite course, 5k and 25+ obstacles), which was Sunday, September 26th and added that to their list of races to compete in over the weekend.
On Friday, Keith Sorenson competed in the men's 3k age group 13-19 and with a time of 30:12 he was able to complete every single obstacle and keep his 100% completion band making him eligible for the podium, and securing 3rd place in doing so. Sorenson placed 3rd in the world in his age group, which will get him free admission to the 2022 OCR World Championships to defend his 3rd place title and potentially better his placement. The 3k course started with a tough uphill climb, many challenging obstacles, and the added element of rain during the race. Sorenson also competed in the men's open 100m and took 35th of 259 overall.
On Saturday morning, Noah Retherford, Pamela Decko, and Coach Renate Richardson competed in the 15k race with 40 obstacles, each of which also competed in the 100m Friday night to get practice on some of the obstacles they'd be facing during their race. Retherford competed in the 18-24 age group, and fought hard to keep his 100% completion band through the end of the race, which he was able to do. Retherford placed 8th in the world in his age group. Decko celebrated her 18th birthday by competing in the 18-24 age group, and Coach Richardson competed in the 25-29 age group, both starting in the same heat together. Decko and Coach Richardson put their all into keeping their 100% obstacle completion bands, but wanting to make time they had to make the tough decision to keep moving. Together, they were each able to still do an impressive 35/40 obstacles and finish the course (Decko leading Coach Richardson) ahead of many others within the time cut-off.
The 15k course included mostly upper body obstacles, a start with an uphill climb, plenty of mud from rain the previous day, and a total elevation gain of 4,094ft. Less than halfway through the course the Hawks were at the base of the mountain (elevation 2,130) and had to charge straight up for 2 miles to reach the top of the mountain (elevation 3,850) and continue on through the rest of the race and second half of the obstacles.
On Sunday morning, the Hawks drove to the Southwick Motocross Course in Massachusetts to compete in the elite heat of the Rugged Maniac New England at 9:45am, less than 8 hours before their flight back home to Oregon. The Hawks once again faced a challenging course with plenty of quad burning hills, wall climbs, and mud pits to crawl/run through. They also added 3 new obstacles to the race, making it the largest Rugged Maniac in the nation. Despite the challenges of the course, and being beaten up from their previous races over the weekend, the Hawks were able to secure 1st and 2nd places on both the men's and women's sides. On the men's side, Noah Retherford took off fast from the start with first place in mind and destroyed the course, which secured himself the top spot overall. Closely behind was Keith Sorenson, who conquered each obstacle quickly and paced himself to the 2nd place finish. On the women's side, Pamela Decko edged her way to the top spot less than a mile in, and held her position along the entire course to secure a 1st place victory. Coach Richardson kept Decko in her sights and held off the runners behind her to match the men's finish of 1st-2nd. The RiverHawks were awarded their medals, just in time to head to the Boston airport and make their flight back to Oregon.
The next obstacle course race the full Hawks OCR team will see is the RISE Troops Challenge, an obstacle course and tactical event, with a 3mi course and 7mi course held in Bend, OR on Saturday, October 9th. As well, the Hawks will be hosting another home obstacle race on Saturday, October 23rd, where Halloween costumes will be highly recommended at their Haunted Hawk Dash (5k and approx. 25 obstacles).
Congrats and Go RiverHawks!
