JULY 2013
VOL 1 ISSUE 1
Geelong Obstacle Racing Club
And were off
Welcome to GORC. We are a group of people from all walks of life with one common trait; a love of obstacles and mud! From beginner to obstacle enthusiast to professional athlete- we come together to train, laugh and most importantly get involved with obstacle racing across Victoria and sometimes further- we are the GORCAs (Geelong Obstacle Racing Club Athletes) Here at GORC, we are all volunteers, donating our time to help nurture a culture of camaraderie and mutual obstacle enjoyment. Any input; suggestions, criticism, donations of time or expertise, will all be welcomed with open arms!
Train Hard. Have Fun.
So far this year, the GORCA group has had training sessions at Buckleys Falls, the You Yangs and the Dell. The Dell (Clifton Springs), as pictured above. Our most recent group training session was hosted by Steve, Sadistic Steve to some. On a freezing Saturday morning, there were only 5 brave souls that made it out to the Dell. Steve took as through stair climbs, burpees, rock scrambles, commando crawls, a very cold wade in the icy Corio Bay, carried rocks, threw rocks, pushed rocks then threw the rock some more! Great work out, punctured with plenty of laughs and grimaces. The next training session is planned for th Ocean Grove on Sunday 16 June. For more details, check out the Facebook page. All training sessions are open to everyone and free of charge- just remember to fill out a waiver!
Committing? Getting the committee started.
Crazy hats and beer. What better way to start an obstacle racers committee? The GORCA committee met for the first th meeting on 17 May at the Sporting Globe. Silly hats were worn to identify the crazy mud-loving folk amidst a sea of normality. Without boring you with too many details we discussed the frequency of training sessions, the possibilities of family friendly sessions, how best to spread the word amongst our fellow OCR enthusiasts and beginners alike and the possibility of running some competitions and getting some awesome looking training tops (so we can identify the cool kids!)
GORC: when exercise and fun collide!
JUNE 2013
VOL 1 ISSUE 1
More Mud, Sweat and Beers
Whats been happening?
Our first training session was held on 9th February at the You Yangs. We started at 7am, but unfortunately the gates were still locked. So, carrying up all our gear from the cars was a fantastic warm up exercise. There were tyres, ropes, slam balls, weights and sandbags. After a small intro by Jase & Tim, everyone mingled and we paired up for our workout. We had a beautiful morning to train. The sun was out, the birds were singing and the GORCAS were grinning.
Buckley Falls river crossing.
PLACE PHOTO HERE, OTHERWISE DELETE BOX
The training consisted of several trail runs, some sandbag burpees & bodyweight exercises, numerous tyre drags, weighted carries and culminated in a tough team rope carry. Our last task after carrying all the gear back to the cars was to push Jases car out of the massive hole, he had managed to bog the car in. A bit of grunting and huffing and puffing and lots of muscle (mostly from the girls) and our final obstacle was conquered. (Much to the amusement of several onlookers!) The 19 GORCAS all had a great workout, we all managed to drench our shirts in sweat and have fun at the same time. The team spirit was alive and it was an awesome start for the clubs first get together. Training session number 2 was held at Buckleys Falls in late March with 16 GORCAS attending. This session was a little bit different to the You Yangs session, in that it involved more technical obstacles such as a river crossing, stone wall run and a rocky cliff descent. We also had 2 sets of stair climbs. The first was a blue stone set of stairs that provided an unstable footing, where good core strength was needed. The second involved sandbag carries that quickly raised the heart rates of all the GORCA'S. We utilised the Barwon River track and added a trail run, as well as inclined tyre drags and jumping on and over the picnic tables, parkour style! Everyone really enjoyed the different training venue at Buckleys Falls and the variety of the technical parts of the course. All 16 participants definitely gave this session the thumbs up!
Sand bags are a great way of increasing the heart rate! And the You Yangs was a perfect location for a pumping heart rate!
I AM TOO POSITIVE TO BE DOUBTFUL, TOO OPTIMISTIC TO BE FEARFUL AND TOO DETERMINED TO BE DEFEATED!
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Or something like GEAR WE LOVE reviews of
JUNE 2013
URBANATHLON REVIEW
After meeting up with other gorcas at the event we head to our start groups. Im standing at the start line next to a team in orange lycra, boy do I stand out! We're off, amidst a blur of colour and I get to grips with my breathing. After a few minutes I'm settled in and the first set of road blocks are dealt with, feeling pretty darn good right about so I open up and give the legs a workout. We hit the three km mark and most around me hit the brakes like they've hit a mental wall, I yell out some encouragement and press on. Because I've got my nick name textered on my back I hear Mad Pom being yelled out and hands are being high fived regularly, a great atmosphere out there! Over a mound of grass prefect for picnics and we're at the cargo net crawl. Wow! No barb wire and they've laid out the grey carpet! Smooth crawling! We press on with a sandbag carry and a wall climb. Pretty soon I see the monkey bars in the distance damn those things! I decide to hit them hard and not think about it- I make it! Many around me weren't so lucky. Around the corner we meet the 100m sprint I take a deep breath and give it everything. Next I see the ramp (which is the only obstacle Ive seen on internet before starting) cant be already?! then I see the 9km sign next to it- clever that, making me think Im there already! We come into a big empty parking lot; all thats here today is a row of skip bins including a big one at the end which I land heavily in and ricochet off the walls! Once I stop bouncing around I'm back out and on my way to the finish line where the ramp awaits- these need to be tackled with commitment from the outset and so I raced up to and over it! No muddy shoes equals grip, woo hoo! I am at the finish line and feel great. Meeting up with other club members at the finish line is a great way to wind down and soak up the atmosphere.
VOL 1 ISSUE 1
Member photo
Written by: Steve Kelly. An avid Obstacle Racer and the self-confessed Mad Pom (pictured top left)
Whats on next?
Melbourne 27 July: Greatest Athlete Challenge and the Winter Warrior Challenge 24 & 25 August: Operation Blackhawk 14 & 15 Sept: Tough Mudder 6 October: Spartan Super Sydney 16 June: Urbanathlon 29 & 30 June: Tough Bloke Challenge 13 July: Greatest Athlete Challenge Brisbane 22 June: Spartan Super 6 July: Greatest Athlete Challenge
TOUGHNESS IS IN THE SOUL AND THE SPIRIT, NOT IN MUSCLES.
For more information, head over to the Facebook page: www.facebook.com/geelongORC
PUSH HARDER! YOU WONT DIE. AND IF YOU DO, WHO CARES: YOULL BE DEAD. Fact.
