Moonlight stables in Dallas, Georgia set a majestic scene for truly one of the most Savage courses I have ever done. While racers froze in ice baths and freezing cold water and challenging their frozen limbs on insanely difficult obstacles, the rest of the crowd enjoyed the vendors and festivities.
The parking was orchestrated incredibly well and they even offered a VIP parking area to be closer to the event. Score! I had no idea how huge this race was going to be. There were over eight thousand people at the Savage Race that windy day, but the event was so well done that you couldn’t even tell until you got out on the course. If you happened to get a later morning start time like I did, you were met with some pretty long lines on obstacles like Teeter Tube, Sawtooth, and several walls. If you plan to run for time, make sure you register early for your next Savage Race to get the earliest wave time possible.
Obstacles
Oh man. There’s something for everyone here. Savage throws you right in the mud out of the gate with Thor’s Grundle. Your fitness was the first thing to be tested during the first three miles as Savage sends you along with your muddy, weighed down shoes through hilly trails with steep inclines with only a few obstacles. If you can keep up on the trails, you’re met with some pretty difficult obstacles after the third mile. Still catching your breath from the hilly run, you’re tested with two new obstacles back to back, the Battering Ram and Pedal For The Medal.
First, you expend upper body energy making your way across the ram, then you pedal as fast as you can to reel in a tire attached a spindle. My legs were jello as soon as I stood up. Then there was the Savage Race staple, Sawtooth, whose transition from the 15th rung proved to be problematic for even some of the most athletic racers. And man was that water cold!
As if that wasn’t difficult enough the rig was right behind Sawtooth, really testing your upper body. Aside from testing your grip strength, the Savage is a great way to get over your fear of heights, with obstacles like Davey Jones’ locker room, a 15ft jump into the bone-chilling water. Speaking of cold, Shriveled Richard tests your mental kahunas as well, containing 60,000 lbs. of ice.
It was hard to think when I got out of that one. Luckily a volunteer told me which direction to go and I snapped out of it. It just so happened to be a nice windy spring day with a little chill in the air so I felt a tad bit frozen the rest of the race.
The latter half of the race had more demanding grip obstacles such as Twirly Bird, Wheel World, and Holy Sheet. The toughest part of the Wheel World was the horizontal rope at the end. Without the ability to use your feet to get there, it proved especially difficult. Holy Sheet is new to Savage and a lot of racers had a problem staying on the sheet, let alone moving from the sheet to each new grip.
Final Thoughts
It’s obvious why this race is so popular. It is well-organized and caters to everyone from your group fun runners to elites. Hands down, Savage proved to be one of the most fun, yet toughest grip races out there with its mix of brutal obstacles to test your grit with an epic finale, Colossus. As the name suggested, Colossus is a giant ramp with the giant slip and slide on the other side that dumps you right into a final pool of water before stepping out into the finish. Once the race concluded, participants enjoyed their beer and OCR comradery. I truly enjoyed this race and look forward to getting that syndicate medal.
Photos: Savage Race
Jennifer Wade
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