Claytor Lake Ness Monster Obstacle Challenge 2018 RACE RECAP

As I was reviewing old blog post drafts I came across my race recap for this challenge I did in April 2018 with my family that I never posted. It wasn’t very favorable so I decided not to post it but as I was reviewing it again, I realized I should be posting my recaps-good or bad. Overall our family had fun and we got some great picture, although we would never do this obstacle challenge again.

My family of 4, my brothers family from North Carolina, and my parents try to pick a family race every year for us to do together. We picked the Claytor Lake Ness Monster Obstacle challenge because it looked fun, easy to do with kids, and was within an hour of where we live.

The State Park was easy to find but the race registration pick up table was not marked so we went to the welcome visitors building to ask around. That was a little frustrating that there weren’t any signs or registration tables. Another disappointing thing was that although we registered back in February and were guaranteed our shirt sizes, NONE of the 4 kids got their correct sizes. The kids were pretty upset by that because they had to get adult shirts which obviously they couldn’t wear.

The on site location and weather was beautiful! and there was plenty of parking! I had never been on the trails at Claytor Lake so I was pleasantly surprised. There were lots of obstacles and a good variety along the course. It was pretty hilly and is on trail, sand and on paved road so be prepared for that. and be prepared to get wet and muddy! I only took pictures at the beginning and end of the course because I didn’t want to bring my phone with me on the course.

We enjoyed the course but because of the varying ages in our group we got split up because some people wanted to go faster than others. The challenge was advertised 3-4 miles but it ended up being a 4.5 mile course which made it very difficult for the younger kids. We were one of the last waves to participate so by the time we finished, they were already packing up and most of the food was gone.

Speaking of post race food…it was also advertised participants would be getting a hot dig, chips, drink and cookie. Sounds great, doesn’t it?! Instead, we were offered a PBJ sandwich, fruit, bottom of chips from a big bag, and no drinks. HIGHLY DISAPPOINTING especially for my brothers family who didn’t pack a lunch because they were expecting post race food. They never had any of those items when I spoke with them after the race about it. Some of our family members couldn’t even have the sandwich due to PB allergies. We ended up going out to eat later and eating the snacks we had packed for the day. (I never depend on post race food! I always bring my own just in case)

I also spoke with the race director staff afterwards because I was VERY surprised that during the entire race I never once saw medical personal and I didn’t feel there were enough volunteers on the obstacles to help participants. For example, when we arrived at the rope climb obstacle, the girl ahead of us had just fallen and hit her head on a rock falling back down and no one was around to help. They said they almost cancelled the race due to low volunteers and being short staffed, but they assured me that there were medical people around to help even though I never saw them.

I spoke with Anne with TriAdventure regarding my experiences-good and bad-and was comped my race registration in exchange for my blog review and social media posts. Like I said, the course itself was beautiful (I’ve gone back to Claytor Lake several times since then) but we wouldn’t do this challenge again unless it was better organized with plenty of staff and medical help.

http://www.triadventure.com/claytor-lake-ocr/