The RiverHawk Obstacle Course racing team kicks off the season at the Portland Spartan Sprint, at the Washougal MX Park in Washougal, WA. Three OCR athletes and Coach Richardson ran the 5k Spartan Sprint on Saturday, August 7th, just one week of fall training under their belts.

The course was a muddy motocross course, with steep hills (over 750ft of elevation), and an additional 20+ obstacles. The Hawks each started at 8am in their respective age group heats distinguished between men and women. It was a tough battle from the time the announcer said "go!" until they each crossed the finish line. Their first obstacle was rolling, muddy hills with water pits, and their final obstacle was an A-frame cargo net climb. Other obstacles included a spear throw (30 burpees if you miss), rope climb, invert wall, atlas stone carry, sandbag carry up a very steep hill, and many more.

The four Hawks each found their way into the top 10. On the men's side, Noah Retherford cruised through the course and finished 7th overall. Closely behind him was teammate Keith Sorenson, who finished in 8th place. On the women's side, Pamela Decko dominated the course and pulled through with a podium finish of 3rd place. Behind her was Coach Richardson with a 10th place finish in her age group.

The RiverHawks will be joined by two other team members when they compete at the Epic Series Obstacle Challenge on Saturday, August 21st in Grants Pass, OR.