"O-C-R" (Obstacle Course Racing) what does it mean to you?

What do the letters O-C-R mean to you? Yeah everyone would typically say “Obstacle Course Racing” because that’s the correct answer but deep down, deep inside of you what do those letters Together stand for? And don’t just say the first thing that comes to mind really Dig Deep.  You run with your Heart, you run with your Mind and some how your legs magically follow, THIS IS OCR. 

We don’t just get up and decide to sign up for a race, something inside of you initiated this desire, this curiosity.  Some may have experienced life changing instances, emotional times, the lowest of the low but during these dark times or maybe even the good times this inner fire that is brewing in us all, Prevailed. What do those letters mean to you?  OCR is bigger than just three simple letters combined together, OCR is a Passion,OCR is a Family, OCR is what drives us to be better individuals. OCR taught me something that no classroom could... this “Inner Fire of Confidence”, this isn't something you can study this is something you must feel deep inside. 

OCR isn’t just a race it’s a community of individuals who strive every day to make sure they live their life to the fullest. Or if not for themselves then for a loved one, for a friend, or for a fellow stranger. Life is an extraordinary privilege and this community of athletes whether it’s your first race or your hundredth will do what ever it takes for there lives to exemplify this privilege every day No matter what.  If it’s out training or at the start line of a race we will do what ever it takes to see that finish line, that Glory that we all strive for. OCR is Love, you’re not just out there running with strangers once your at that start line you immediately gain a family.  It not only brings out the inner beast in yourself but also others, OCR instills this new found confidence in people who at one time didn’t think they could and all of a sudden like a new found cure they are liberated from this malignant mental block.  OCR instills that inner fire in people.  

Us OCR athletes don’t know how to quit, we just keep going no matter what, no matter what Obstacles we face, pain will always be temporary, OCR is about overcoming the tears, the blood, the pain from your muscles screaming for you to stop but something inside of you keeps you alive, keeps you moving forward. OCR helps motivate us to rise early in the morning and sweat, sweat out our frustrations, our inner goals to be the best we can be. We are designed to be great, we are designed to break through mental barriers and rise to the top because we know as an OCR community that Limits do not exist.

OCR “Obstacle CourseRacing” liberated me from the dark, unleashed this inner passion that was dwelling in me all along, Some people ask me why I do the things I do, why I run for so long, train so hard,why I eat the way I do. Some people think I’m to young and that I’m just hurting my body for the future by doing so much. I do it because I can, I do it because life is to short, I do it because the human body is capable of extraordinary things, I don't believe in limits. But unless you go out there,unless you're at the start line feeling those nerves, running next to fellow athletes, running side by side with people who share that same passion as you,unless you have been in the middle of a race where your body is screaming for you to stop begging for you to quit, to sit down but you find that inner strength that mental toughness and you keep going, finding every bit of energy you have to sprint to the finish line. If you have never experienced that, then any words I have to offer will never be good enough, you have to want it, you have to want itSO bad, and once you reach that desire, that inner passion, you will at that moment understand. OCR changed my life and I Promise it will change yours to. What does O-C-Rmean to you?

-Amanda Ricciardi (Manz)