MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Fall 2018

FALL 2018 ML BLUE 67 The sport of obstacle course racing is a unique blend of things kids inherently love: running, climbing, sliding, swinging and getting dirty. Red Bay sisters Keira and Sydney Snelling are following in their mother Barb and father Matt’s footsteps, both of whom have completed multiple OCR events. While Keira and Sydney originally watched from the sidelines, that didn’t last long. They started out in the kids’ races at each event, quickly asking to be signed up for the competitive kids’ classes. This fall they ran their first full 6km Mud Hero event in Caledon, where organizers let them complete on the longer and more technical adult course. Keira also ran the Shore to Shore race last summer, a 13-km road run from Oliphant to Wiarton. She finished third in the Under 19 category, narrowly beating her mom’s time. Keira and Sydney Snelling AGES: TEN AND EIGHT SPORTS OF CHOICE: OBSTACLE COURSE RACING, GYMNASTICS, SOCCER, RUNNING It’s easy for the family to prepare for obstacle events as the Snellings have built several obstacles at their home including a rope climb, rings, incline/decline monkey bars and several kilometres of hilly trails for training. It’s a kid’s paradise out there. Add in a trampoline, a slackline and a Lake Huron pier to jump off just a short bike ride away, and these girls have it made. When asked what they love about OCR, Sydney explains: “We get to have fun. We get to run and you get to pick your own pace and how you want to do the obstacles. You always have a certain way you want to climb the wall in your mind. Once, there were these monkey bars in the rain and I had a really tough time. I wasn’t really tall enough to reach them. After when it was a bit drier it was easier. It feels good when you figure it out. After the race, we went back and did them over and over.” Barb says the girls set their own goals for each race; they choose between chasing a higher goal or running for fun. “Sometimes my goal is a top 10 and sometimes I want to be on the podium or sometimes I just want to have fun,” explains Keira. “I’ve actually decided to do Mud Hero with Sydney for fun. I’ve done lots of races this year where I’ve run really hard but for that one I’m just going to be like, ‘doot de doo’ and enjoy it.” Barb laughs in agreement, “Yep, they said ‘don’t worry if we take a long time on that one—we’re going to do some of the obstacles a couple of times just for fun.’” The sport has also provided the girls with some great role models, like top-level OCR athletes Ryan Atkins and Lindsay Webster, as well as Jesse Bruce and 14-year-old phenom Bailey Stonham. “We stole Jesse Bruce’s warm-up one day,” says Keira. “He let us join in. He said, ‘I’m going to do my race and then do my best to cheer for you.’ He won his race and came back to run with us and cheer us on.” TOP Keira makes her way across a set of incline/decline monkey bars her parents built at their Red Bay home. BOTTOM The girls work on hill training in their own backyard. ALLISON KENNEDY DAVIES