24 Hours of Shale Hell Review

So for those of you who do not know, Shale hill is a top nitch upper body destroying ocr course in vt, well worth the trip. Not just for the obstacles, but the owners are awesome as well, they get to you, and your name very quickly, which is amazing! This course is also the reason that when somebody tells me be careful that race is hard, upper body heavy obstacles, I usually chuckle, I have yet to be on a harder course, but it is also a world of fun. Don;t let the difficulty scare you away, you don;t need to be elite to go there, however, if you want to complete every obstacle, then yes, you need to be elite. But they have journeyman division so you do not have to feel bad about not having penalties, it is there so you try your best, and sometimes you just can not get across the great wall (think traverse wall on steroids, 5 panels, longer than spartan, strung together with balance boards and overhead grip boards. It will tear open your hands, trust me, it happened on both my hands at this race), the difficulty is the point though! For example, almost every race, you get the discussions about what obstacle you were able to complete but could not before, It feels great seeing nt only your own growth but that of everybody else's as well.

 

So this particular event is just as it sounds, as many times as you can make it around the course from 9am saturday morning to 9am sunday morning. They very kindly let us camp out fr free the night before, right next to the start line, which is great if you wanted a nap inbetween laps, or did not want to walk to far to do so. Parking as always is a short walk from the start/finish line, and you could bring your car up to drop off gear, then park at the parking lot. They had a giant bonfire at night, which was great, because even in the summer with 90 plus temps it was pretty cool at night when you stopped running. The penalties were different for each lap: first 2 were 30 spiderman push ups (50 at the tarzan ropes), third was half so 15 (25 at tarzan), 4th was 7 (14 at tarzan), 5th was penalty free, but still had to try everything as much as possible. They had different penalties for 6 and up, but I only got to lap 4, and did not expect more than 6 anyway. There was also an 8 hour version, which was the same thing, run as much as you can in 8 hrs, if you were not back by the cut off, or only a few minuets over then the lap did not count, that went for both times. They also had a relay team, only one person per lap counted, the team could run with but their time would not count (and the Canadian team really kicked butt out there, so jealous). You could also have a crew with you, but for each person crewing they had to fork over some money, I usually go alone on these kinds of things, plus knew enough people I could ask for help if needed. The support crew could not help you on any obstacles, they could carry gear, give advise, and run next to you at night when it is dark, and that was cool, also with those fresh legs they helped pace people to move a little faster, and it was nice to see everybody helping each other. Racers were allowed to help each other on obstacles, and man did that come in handy as the laps racked up. There were no timers, just a race clock, and a white board that you recorded your own times.

start of fireman's tower

Second half of fireman's tower

(see picture to the left) I only got 4, I really wanted to make it an ultra and get 5 or 6, I like several of my friends could have done it (I may beat myself up for a bit, reguardless of knowing I made the right call with a long drive back to ma from vt) but considering how my calves felt, I knew it would be better for the healing process to stop at 4, even though I just missed the penalty free lap, so bummed. Speaking of which, as I write this my : forearms, triceps, biceps, calves, and core are beaten down, been a wile since my whole body has been beaten like this, and it just proves that I had all the fun, with so many friends. Friends who were awesome to run with, and chat with before, during, and after the race. Doing a night lap with one of my friends, realizing that as I ran with another that the balance beam around the herb garden was not getting done easily alone that lap, and another lap that I would not have made nearly as far on the great will without being pushed. That is not normally how I run, but it can be just as fun, and it was needed on a course like that. The only real things that could have made it better was reflective trail markers for the night time laps, for the bucket carry (bucket brigade for you spartan folks) was hard to stay on course, we did a bit of wavering on and off course, but it was mostly on course. Also there were a few places were tree branches were blocking the course, ad one of those walls on the anaconda with the 2 metal bars moves a lot, but those are all I really noticed for things that need improvement. They really take care of everything up there, and it shows when you run the course, and I could not be any happier, I mean unless  actually got that 5th lap that is. But the whole running with the best ocr team, New england spahtens makes things like that more palatable.

zig zag of awesomeness

zig zag of awesomeness

The two that run this place are always checking in, going around course, seeing how you are doing, I know Rob has given me pointers wile on course more than once. And they know their course, and what it does to its racers. At one point I got to the fireman tower, about 2/3 of the way through the course. There was a volunteer hanging out, and said hey, and asked what lap I was on, I said hello, and blanked on the lap question, then like 30sec later, realized he asked a question, apologized for ignoring his question. His answer you may ask? "That's ok, Rib said people would be delirious around lap 3 and 4" so good job on them both!

This is also a great idea if you are training for worlds toughest mudder, as they also do the 24hr event for that as well, but if you are not, it also helps with endurance and just a real fun weekend! think in 2 to 3 hours for each one, just amazing!

Tips for the future:

• gallon sized zip lock bags are great to store each change of clothes in for each lap, and when doing something like this, you will want to change a few times, you will be covered in mud!
• you will want a second pair of shoes (or more if you have them) you can quickly hose off and dry them wile you are running, it makes a world of difference
• changing socks at least evey other lap is highly recommended, if not every lap, take care of your feet or you will regret it!
• Trail toes, or some kind of foot care lube is a great idea, it really helps when you are putting down milage in this kind of terrain
• when you rip your hands on an obstacle (lets say the great wall, because of my 3 new rips on my hands) vitamin e oil, as pure ass you can get in liquid form helps shave a day or so off healing time, and helps speed up the initial barrier to prevent the raw skin feeling. and use glove to keep it on, at night it is perfect, and helps if you can get away with gloves during the day as well
• Work on your spiderman push ups, you'll need to know em!

Bottom Line, like I have posted about shale hill in the past on my blog, it is really hard, and really fun. Definetly a must for ocr enthusiests of all abilities. Unlike the big names you get way more of a challenge, more fun obstacles, they greet you by name with a smile, and are always thinking of new things to do. If you have not been here stop slacking, you don;t even need to wait for a specific race, they do training as well! which I will probably take advantage of before the ultra beast, because I need to work on some things!

Also for information there cite is here, check them out, it is worth the trip

Until next time
Stay active
Stephen