I cheated at the Spartan Sprint in Virginia. I’m probably not the only person that cheated at an OCR this weekend, but I might be the only one writing about it. And <<spoiler alert>>, I will probably do it again.
I did all my burpees. I didn’t cut the course (it was very well marked). I paid for premium parking, although they never asked me for proof. I ran in my assigned wave (and watched a Spartan official/volunteer ask a racer to leave the corral after he snuck in to run with friends a half-hour before his assigned time). I didn’t receive any assistance on Twister or the monkey bars. My bucket was filled up to the holes on the side of the bucket.
So, what did I do? I claimed that my 12 year-old was 14 so we could run his first big OCR together. For those that say “That’s doesn’t count” or “Everyone does that”, go ahead and skip to the next article. It is cheating and it is a big deal. And if we want the sport to grow, it’s something that needs to be discussed and addressed.
“I don’t care, I don’t have kids” – Just the fact that you know about ORM means you care about OCR. No sport will have sustainable growth without engaging children and teens in an appropriate manner, (except maybe Beer Pong. Hmmmm… “Milk Pong”?). Baseball has tee-ball. Football has Pop Warner. Soccer has a bajillion levels from 4 year-olds to over 50 leagues.
And let’s go ahead and get the “You’re a bad/unsafe parent” stuff out of the way – my son and I train every week at a Spartan SGX gym. I have run in ~50 OCRs from local mud runs to WTM with a healthy variety of Savage, Rugged Maniac and Battlefrogs along the way. I know my son’s ability and I have a decent idea of the types of risks that accompany the different obstacles.
Finally, yes – maybe I could’ve applied for an exception (google “Milla Bizzotto”), but I didn’t because I am lazy and the application would have tipped them off since I would’ve tried to sneak him in anyway if they said no.
This is an important issue because we need to challenge our kids in order to get them to love the sport as much as we do. If there’s any chance that OCR will be in the Olympics, it won’t be Hunter or Hobie or Faye or Amelia on the podium. It will be someone that’s probably 12 right now. And I don’t want to have to make the choice between telling the truth and sharing the sport I love. Integrity is a delicate concept with a very slippery slope – how do I tell him that lying about his age is okay but doing only 25 burpees isn’t? If you think this is all easy and it’s a simple matter of knowing right versus wrong, then I congratulate you Mr/Mrs Safe Driver for never going 27 in a 25 and for reading EVERY Terms and Conditions paragraph before signing.
Before I actually make some recommendations, I want to commend Spartan Race for doing a great job in this area. They do the best job of the more established brands of providing options and challenges for non-adults. (Although my son does NOT agree that his free post-race Capri-Sun is equivalent to my free post-race beer.) Also, the volunteers were AMAZING. They cheered him on as he ran through and gave him clear and specific obstacle instruction – I’m not sure if they were supposed to make accommodations for him, but they did. He was allowed/directed to the women’s Atlas stone, women’s herc hoist and only filled his bucket halfway (which still kicked his butt). The other racers also cheered him on. I am so proud to be introducing him to a sport where a 12 year-old can be passing a 30 year-old and hear words of encouragement as she/he is being passed.
Here’s the landscape right now: Grades are based on the variety and challenge of offerings from ages 6 to the “adult” race.
- Spartan Race – Grade: B+. They have a ½-mile race for ages 4-8. A 1-mile for ages 9-13 and sometimes a 2-mile for 11-14 year-olds. Then the adult races open up for you at 14.
- Tough Mudder – Grade: C. TM has Mini Mudder. A 1-mile race for 7-12 year-olds and then you can run the 5k and the Half Mudder if you are 14. At least I think so. They hide this information and apparently change it depending on venue. Want to turn a kid off of OCR? Tell your 16 or 17 year-old that they are running TM Kentucky with you and then you get a message 12 hours before the race saying that the venue won’t allow racers under 18. Yep, that happened last weekend.
- Savage Race – Grade: B. Savage Junior Race is a ½ mile course for those 12 and under. Then you step right up to the 6 mile course at age 13. So it’s pretty much like going straight from tee-ball to the minor leagues.
- Rugged Maniac – Grade: C. Only one race offering. Must be 14 to compete.
- Warrior Dash – Grade: B. Only one race offering. Must be 10 years old to compete.
How do I recommend we fix this without boring our kids or lighting our pants on fire? AND without asking companies to operate at a significant financial loss? Here’s some starter ideas:
- Parent/Chaperone Waivers – Have a special waiver for parents that want their kids to be allowed to race before they meet the age requirement. Maybe you even require the parent to run with the child.
- Skill Requirements – Does your 13 year-old want to run with the 14 year-olds? Fine, here’s a special area with three obstacles they must safely complete before they can be allowed to the starting line.
Race Progression – Underage? No problem, just successfully complete the course that’s appropriate for your age first. (i.e. do the 2-mile kids before you are allowed to do the Sprint). - Scalable Obstacles – Let kids fill the bucket half-way, make it half-way across Twister, stand 5 feet closer for the spear, or push the atlas stone across and back.
The best answer is likely to include many of these – special waivers, obstacle tests, and scalable obstacles. Of course it would be better to have 5 levels of different courses and different obstacles, but that’s not financially feasible for companies that don’t even have enough money to sponsor a college football playoff game.
In closing, I am comfortable with what I did, but I hope I didn’t open Pandora’s Box. We’ve had some good conversations about this topic and I think he is happy that I am writing this article to bring some awareness to the age/challenge gap in OCR. He had a TREMENDOUS time at the race. He is hooked on OCR and is already asking about other races this summer. Sorry, buddy, no WTM for you this year. You’ll just have to be happy as my pit crew again.
Patrick Guzik
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I think your first three ideas are good, but “scalable” might be a mistake. I actually saw a 14 year old running at the Ohio Beast this year. Kid couldn’t get his Atlas stone up. I was trying to coach his technique, but it was too big. After about 3 tries, he looked at me and said. “I’m 14, if I do burpees because I can’t lift a stone that weighs as much as I do, I guess I’ve got something to work on for next year.” DIdn’t see him again till the finish line, but that’s an attitude that’s going to take that kid far.
i completely understand your point. My kids (4 and 8) are addicted to OCR as much as i am and we do races almost every week. What they point out to us is that it must be worth their while, and 1/2 a mile simply is not. They especially enjoy the races that take longer, 3k to 6k, and want to do what i do. They want to be challenged in the same manner, and i think they deserve to be. (come on, 1/2 a mile when you are 8? really?) We live in the Netherlands and here we can do these things, as we can accompany our children often on the courses. The family runs are the ideal way to make your children enjoy OCR. Our kids don’t do races yet, but when they start doing them, they will know how, and they will be fast.
No judgments here, I was tempted to do the same thing on the Va Sprint. My 13 year old son is my size, works out with me(with lower weights) and runs cross country. He thought the 1 mile Kids race he did last year was too easy(he was right), but after requesting thru email for an exception that was denied I signed him up and he ran the 2 miler. Still too easy, but I applaud Spartan for trying. The great part of the whole experience is that he didn’t finish first in his race, he was third I think – he was fortunate(IMO) to be born to parents who don’t want things to be too easy for him. Made him realize he needs to step up his training if he wants to run with the big boys and he will after his next birthday.
Thanks for your comment. Hope we run into each other sometime when our boys are out there in front of us. 🙂
Haha I totally saw you guys at the multi rig when you came through where I was volunteering. There’s ways to let your under age kids race the adult race, you’ve just gotta ask the staff about how you can do it. Last year a 9 year old girl ran at Palmerton and the cameras were all over it. Despite what people say I think that is awesome he’s able to run the adult race.
Thank you for taking the time to write this. It is an issue I struggle with but it also reminds me the level of fitness I work towards my son would also have to achieve before I would even flirt with a little fib here or there. TM is in my hometown this weekend and there’s no way he’s ready for something like that. Maybe for us I spin the age restriction to be another data point where we set goals and skills over the next two years and the timing works out beautifully. He’s strong and big but not the kind of fit your boy is. Will see you at worlds. Molly
The immediate “solution” is to scale up the kids races. Even if a race is only 2 miles, it should be loaded with obstacles that are challenging for kids under 14. The kids races are lame for the most part. The positive with them is be able to run multiple laps. If you are going to sneak your child in, just make sure he’s fit and prepared to do alot of burpees!
Integrity matters & I have lacked in this area myself. Very happy to read your post about it.
How about a family wave? A specific start time where the underaged (8-13) run chaperoned by their parents. And where teamwork is allowed in order to help with completion if necessary). My 8 year old runs 5ks with us all the time. And has done the kids races. But he is ready for a new challenge.
I don’t see how insurance and liability are a factor in determining ages allowed, when you’re forced to sign a waiver that absolves the OCR company of ALL liability, even in the event of gross negligence on their part. If an obstacle collapses, does it matter if it kills a world champion or a minor who registered as an adult? Same for pulled muscles or sprains. Accidents can happen to anyone (and it seems like we have no legal recourse), but I think most parents know the abilities and limits of their children, and wouldn’t sign them up for something that would put them in harm’s way unnecessarily.