Discussing OCR: OCR Podcasters Round Table #1

This week, I invited Matt B. Davis of Obstacle Racing Media, Josh Chace of the New England Spahtens podcast, and Mike Stefano and Katelyn Ritter of the Obstacle Running Adventures podcast on the show for a round table discussion about a whole host of OCR topics. We start by talking about Spartan's addition of age group podiums: what Spartan's goal was, whether or not they acheived it, and how they affected the competitive field. That leads us to discuss the addition of numerous race series within Spartan, and their championship series. We move on to talk about Tough Mudder's Tougher series, and then we talk about the two-loop format Tough Mudder tried this year (and why it failed). That leads us into a discussion about the breakneck speed with which companies are adding race formats and making changes. We talk about the Spartan trail race series, and speculate on whether or not it will be successful in 2019. We also have a quick talk about the festival areas and where or not they're getting better, and why that's important. Amidst unrelated banter, we then talk about OCR-related TV shows, and what they do or don't do for OCR. We then go off on another tangent about podcasts and which ones we listen to, complete with plenty more banter. We end our discussion by stating our goals for next year, both with podcasting and racing.