Welcome to your Weekly Tuesday OCR Newsletter.

Our Main topic of the week is focused back on Spartan New Jersey, coming up in just 18 days 🤯
So it’s a great time to do a little Q&A with Spartan & OCR Elite athlete Mike Strobel.

Plus, Redditors went off on Spartan shoes - so let’s see what the people saying… ⁉

And let’s not forget about what else popped up this passed Easter weekend.

Spartan put on two races in the US: Charlotte, NC and a big trifecta weekend over in San Jose which stood as the 1st National Series - West Coast race. Where some new names popped up, that we didn’t see in the past couple NS races over in Jacksonville and Palm Beaches.

That West Coast series starts out with a Men’s & Women’s Top 3 of:
Jhovany Mendoza
Jeff Shady
Vadzim Yauseikin

Kaci Calaway
Rebecca Cerra
Kassidee Bur

For these athletes, and the ones the make up the rest of the Top 10 and want to chase the Series Title, their next races are:
May 16th for a Big Bear Beast and July 11th for a Utah Beast.

Two Locations & Courses that are WAYYYY different than a San Jose Super.
So things could switch up a good bit with that Series!

Your OCR Energy Boost
Shoutout to our Friends at Intrachew for keeping us powering on.
Their little gummy bears are packed with all the goods to help you in Training and for your next big RACE.

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Grab some here.
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Mike Strobel @wildboystrobe has been around OCR for a while now.

He’s done the short fast stuff in Spartan, but he’s also gone deep into the long, crazy side of the sport too, including multiple trips to World’s Toughest Mudder. Last year he pushed that number up to 95 miles, and you can tell that 100-mile mark and orange jacket is still sitting there in the back of his mind!

This spring, he’s also been absolutely everywhere.

He went 5th in the Jacksonville Super, then came back Sunday and won the Sprint 🥇 After that he grabbed 2nd in the Atlanta Beast and 3rd in the Super. And just this past weekend in Charlotte, he put up a 3rd in the Super and 2nd in the Sprint.

So yeah… Mike has been racing a bunch already this year.

Now the next big test is Vernon, New Jersey.

Totally different animal.
No flat, fast Florida-style running.
No gentle rollers.
Just a Beast course that is going to ask way more from the legs and lungs.

I sent Mike five quick questions to get a feel for how he’s thinking about Vernon and what he’s doing to get ready for one of the tougher mountain races on the schedule.

1.) You have any specific workouts to help you feel prepared for the Mountainous Beast course in Vernon, New Jersey?

Mike said that because of where he lives, he has to get creative.

Living in Virginia, he’s not exactly surrounded by long mountain climbs every day, so a lot of his prep has been weighted lunges, stair repeats, and incline treadmill work.
The goal is pretty simple: build the strength and durability now, even if the terrain around him doesn’t match what Vernon is going to feel like.

He knows it’s not the same as actually being out on a mountain.

But it’s still a way to make sure the legs are ready for a long day of climbing.

2.) You feel like you have your fueling strategy nailed down? What’s that look like for a New Jersey Beast?

Mike said the fueling starts well before race morning.

The full week leading into Vernon is about hitting his nutrition goals and bumping up the carbs so he shows up with plenty in the tank. Then on race morning, he keeps it pretty simple: sunflower seed butter and a gel before the start.

Once the race gets going, the plan is one gel every 30 minutes.

Nothing fancy.
Nothing complicated.
Just steady fuel and a plan he trusts.

3.) What hurts more? Uphill or Downhill running?

He didn’t hesitate on this one.

Mike said uphill, no question.

He’s in Virginia Beach, basically living below sea level, so those long climbs hit him way harder than the descents. Downhill might beat you up in its own way, but uphill is the real grind for him.

Which feels like a pretty important thing to admit when Vernon is the race you’re heading into.

4.) If you could be the BEST uphill or downhill runner of the day, which one you picking?

Mike said he already feels pretty solid on the downhills.

So if he could steal one superpower for the day, it would be being the best uphill runner out there. That’s the piece he thinks would really change things for him on a course like this.

Because on a mountain Beast, if you’re crushing the climbs and not bleeding time there, you suddenly become a real problem.

That’s the difference-maker he wants.

5.) If you beat Brent Trail, how do you think it happened? On the Flats, Hills, Obstacles?

Mike laughed and said obstacles.

On a mountain course, he said he’d probably need Brent to miss spear twice to really have a shot. On a flatter course, maybe just once.

Either way, he’s willing to accept a little help from the spear gods.

And honestly, that was kind of the perfect answer.

Confident, but also very real about what it takes to beat Brent who was the GOAT on the Jersey & Killington mountains in 2025.

ONE THING THAT STOOD OUT

Mike isn’t pretending you magically become a mountain runner in a few weeks.

He’s just trying to show up stronger, more durable, and with a simple plan he can trust once the course starts punching back.

That’s probably the best takeaway for the rest of us too.

You might not have mountains nearby.
You might not have the perfect training backyard.
But you can still prepare honestly for what the course is going to ask from you.

For Vernon, that means stronger legs, steady fueling, and being ready to suffer a little on the climbs.

Saving CASH means you can sign-up & travel to more races 🤘
Use these codes, Support the People & Brands that Support us.

“As ultra legend Kilian Jornet says about fueling:
‘Normal food is not a problem… but gels give that quick boost when you need it most.’

More coming in 2026 😎
Check it out HERE.

And Redditor’s did what they do best.
They sent a mix of Praise and Shit-Talk, but it’s always a good “no holding back” type of forum to check out.

So I got all the answers nicely summarized. Let’s take a look about these Spartan shoes:

What people LIKE 👍

What people DON’T LIKE 👎

Neutral or Mixed Takes

Bottom Line & Other Recs 👟