Rocket Race – Obstacle Course Race

My friends, Allan and Becki, invited me along to Rocket Race “The South-West’s Obstacle Fun Run” and I certainly wasn’t disappointed!

Parking was easy and only £3 (a donation to the local Scouts for their new Scout hut).  It was very close to the event village so you could easily get to your car.  Bag drop was manned by the local Scouts and just required a donation.  Registration was very quick – it took seconds as there was no queue!

The Race

We started with a nice warm up in the starting pen with some squats, sprints and of course, BURPEES!  As we set off I noticed how relaxed everyone was, no one pushing to the front or sprinting ahead, just smiles and chatter.  It was quite a chilly day but everyone was so cheerful, and you would strike up a conversation with everyone – the runners and the marshalls.  There were runners dressed up, solos, big teams, runners racing for charity.  I saw a few familiar faces who were marshalling (Trudy, Kyra and Lesley) who gave me a nice warm hug at their obstacles!

All the marshalls were just fantastic, so encouraging and helpful to everyone, willing to offer you their shoulder and hand to get you over that obstacle.  We were offered sweets and cake by some of the marshalls (which I never refuse).  There was even a nice shot of rum and ginger beer to warm you up halfway around the course.

The obstacles were a mix of easy and some more technical.  There were some high walls requiring assistance if you didn’t have the strength or technique to get over it.  Some familiar obstacles but also some very original ones – a nice rig with cargo netting to hang from which was harder than it looked!

You had the option to run more than one lap if you wished, which is ideal for those who like to run the longer distance.  Each lap was 5 miles (8km).  It was a very smooth course, and the whole event was very well organised.  My only negative comment is that at some points in the course there were queues for a few of the obstacles.  This was mainly Draco’s Tail (dragon’s back) and The Cube (vertical maze filled with foam).  It was no surprise as you could only have a couple of runners on them at a time and there were some LARGE teams out on the course!

Let’s talk goodies.

The medal – one of the nicest medals I own, it’s so sparkly!

Free rocket race buff/wrap/scarf (whatever you want to call it).

It was £12 for a finisher t-shirt, and they also sold patches.

So all in all, I found it the most friendly and supportive OCR I’ve done.  Everyone was willing to help you, whether you asked for it or not and there was such a great buzz throughout the whole course.

The next Rocket Race is Apollo on 27th April 2019 (my birthday!). Rocket Race is in Somerset but worth travelling for if you aren’t local.

Are you in?