367. Garfield Griffiths on Cigars, Bacon, and His History of Race Directing!
Release Date: 01/15/2024
Obstacle Running Adventures
Another huge milestone of the show, hitting 400 Episodes! Don't quote me on it but I can't think of any other OCR podcasts that have made it this far (other than Obstacle Racing Media) ... yet! We celebrate with a live recording of the intro, some Q&A, audio clips that Katelyn had sneakily asked for congratulating us, some more Q&A, a compilation of times we were mentioned on other shows, and a live outro! Thank you to everyone who has supported us over the past 7 years and 8 months, everyone who watched this live recording, sent in audio clips, guests who have been on the show,...
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Lots of events happened this weekend so it was difficult to figure out which event to focus on and which particular athlete to have on the show. I try not to have the same guest on for their own episode too many times, one of the big events had a lot of issues and I'd want to have more of the dust settle before we consider having an athlete on to talk about it. Then Mike saw that won Toughest Mudder Chicago! He first met her at the end of OCR America 2 during the KC Timber Challenge coverage. He was severely sleep deprived from a full week of traveling across the country...
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The came back to Barre, MA and it felt good to be back! Most are pretty familiar with the ~10K Super and the ~5K Sprint so those don't need too much description. In addition to taking on both of these events though, we also completed the which is a 7am wave where adults crawl the kids course to earn a kids medal and kids could bear crawl it to earn a Sprint medal! This event is free but it is recommended to make a donation in order to help purchase teddy bears for kiddos in a local hospital! Mike was able to talk to 25 different people on the mic and countless people off the mic...
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After interviewed Mike to talk about OCR in the Northeast on (), Mike pulled an uno reverse and asked to come on our show! We have heard of some events that take place in the center of the country but to have a much better idea of the state of the sport in that region it takes someone more local to the area. With living there for the majority of his OCR career, he was the perfect guest to talk about these events. We discuss 29 different events that are either still being put on today or left an impact in the time that they were still functional! The events discussed were: , , ,...
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It's that time for New England to get savage again! Mike woke at 6:15am and drove to Carter and Stevens Farm in Barre, MA to cover the and as always he didn't regret it! He interviewed a bunch of elite athletes as well as the vendors who were there to support the event! has been one of our favorite OCRs since before they even came to New England with us only missing their 2021 and 2023 events. After doing interviews, Mike went out to do the Blitz course for a sweet green medal! 0:00 – 4:31 – Intro 4:31 – 12:48 – Quick News 12:48 – 13:42 – Content Preface...
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We drove the 3 hours to Greenville, NY to cover the ! The race director has been a prominant member in the OCR community here in the northeast so it was a big blow that he announced that his last event would been this year. Known for very difficult and historic obstacles, interesting penalties, and excellent medals the loss of this race will have a large impact on the sport. There was also a night trail race that we ran and covered that event as well. Apologies for the audio issues, Mike is looking into whether or not we need to invest in new equipment, if you recognize the...
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There was the final race in the Spartan USNS Series but there was also an athlete who ran Savage Chicago who I wanted to have on the show. Mike put it up as a poll and Savage won with 62% (67% at the time he reached out)! Due to this Katelyn reached out and interviewed who just won Savage Chicago! You may be familiar with 's name due to us reading podium results in quick news and honestly this was a big factor in wanting to have her on the show. Technically but she seemed like she deserved her own episode! We talk about her being a role model to her family and other women...
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We had the winner of on the show, ! We talk about his background in the sport, his thoughts on being one of the best climbers in the sport of OCR, his other races that he focuses on, how the Spartan Ultra World Championships went, how he feels being both a World and a European champion, what is next for him, and much more! Be sure to to keep up with his adventures and consider giving his sponsors some love! 0:00 – 5:44 – Intro 5:44 – 8:31 – Quick News 8:31 – 9:04 – Content Preface 9:04 - 33:00 - Interview 33:00 - End – Outro Next weekend we may have someone on the show...
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This week Katelyn talks to , the first place female finisher at . talks about her life on her cattle ranch, the evolution of her training, becoming a runner and what her experience was like taking first place at last weekend (Spoiler: It was her first ever first place finish). She talks about the importance of having her mom’s support at her OCR events. also talks about Mothman and the weather phenomenon of Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds. If you’re ever in the White Sulphur Springs area, make sure you check out ! 0:00 – 4:40 – Intro 4:40 – 13:30 – Quick News 13:30 – 14:02 –...
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A few weeks ago Italy hosted the ! While it can be difficult to have European athletes on the show due to frequent difficulties such as time zones and language barriers, the effort is worth it due to the abundance of talent that they have overseas! This time we had the privilege to speak to Dutch athlete ! He is no stranger to doing well in elite OCR events but this he took first , but , and which is a first in that event's history (along with who also achieved that honor this year)! We talk about his history of , his , their , how the style of sport varies depending on where...
info_outlineWe are very proud of the number of guests that we have had on the show over the years. A big name in the sport of obstacle course racing that we hadn't gotten around to yet was Garfield Griffiths though!
With the news of him no longer being a race director over at Spartan Race, effectively ending his 12 year old career of race directing for brands such as Battlefrog, Savage Race, OCRWC, and Spartan itself, we figured that it would be a good time to reach out and have him on!
We talk about the changes that he has seen in the sport over the years, lessons learned in race directing, favorite race venues, his love for cigars and bacon, and how his position in the company has changed.
We also discuss fun facts like him being the creator of Savage Race's "Wheel World" obstacle and what he wanted to call it, his history of spinning recorrds at the first ever Ultra EDM show, and how he started a Facebook group for dad jokes that now has 45 thousand members.
0:00 – 3:27 – Intro
3:27 – 4:58 – Quick News
4:58 – 5:37 – Content Preface
5:37 - 1:00:30 - Garfield Griffiths Interview
1:00:30 - End – Outro
Next episode will hopefully be an athlete who we have had an eye on for months!
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News Stories:
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Related Episodes:
I Am A Spartan Podcast's Episode 154 with Garfield Griffiths!!
The OCRWC's Podcast's Season 3 / Episode 10 – Garfield Griffiths
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