OCR King Compound Review

In a quiet neighborhood in Dallas, GA, one might not expect a chance to get their butt handed to them by an obstacle course. However, dropping by the new permanent course built by a group of racers from the Georgia Obstacle Racers and Mud Runners (GORMR) led by Justin Rose, David Yates, and property owner Cody King, will do just that!

Over the past six months the group has steadily put together an impressive collection of obstacles which combine the usual suspects of OCR (8 ft wall, rope climb, traverse wall, sternum checker, spear throw, etc.) as well as some unique and/or creatively intensified others (pipe traverse wall, 65 lb jerry cans for men, and cable-hung monkey bars) all squeezed into a limited space of just over 1 acre with a ¼ mile trail run around the perimeter. The creative use of the space available to them along with the quality build of the obstacles has turned this location into the best obstacle training facility in the greater Atlanta area, at a minimum. The organization of the obstacles in the constricted area doesn’t allow a simple path, though.

The dilemma of the random order of the obstacles is what led to how they organized the King Compound Trials, otherwise known now by the competitors as “The Toughest Mile in OCR”. The course goes as such: One at a time, racers take a lap around the property (1/4 mile) then enter the pit for 4 obstacles with a timekeeper directing you. After completing the obstacles (or doing 10 8-count bodybuilders for a failure) racers then head back around for another lap then return to the pit for 4 new obstacles. By the time a racer finishes, they complete 4 laps and 16 obstacles. The event was run with three different timekeepers sending runners out individually to make sure there wouldn’t be any waiting for obstacles, due to obstacles only having the capacity to accommodate one competitor at a time.

The top male and female times of the day were awarded with a log plaque and $50 cash. Atlanta local Andy Kalber won for the men with a late day run of 20:01 and OCR newcomer Rachel Watters posted a blistering 19:38 for the female and overall fastest time. This course was very humbling to many racers, including myself. I have competed in races ranging from 20+ miles during multiple laps at Battlefrog Xtreme while on the other hand partook in the long forgotten, obstacle heavy 1.5 mile Extreme Nation event, and I can agree with the repeated statement of “The Toughest Mile in OCR”.

“The course was just for us to get better at obstacles, and it wasn’t until we had about half a dozen or so obstacles that we thought we could put on some sort of event.” explained Justin Rose. The course still has a primary goal of functioning to train racers rather than hosting official events. This particular event was aimed to get people out to experience the course and elicit interest in joining. Everyone that tried the course absolutely loved it and was raving about how they can’t wait to come back. Although an actual website is currently unavailable, you can learn more about the King Compound and when you can take a shot at the course through their Facebook or Instagram.