City Challenge Obstacle Race

I had a terrible experience with the race owner, Elvi Guzman. 2014’s event was disorganized and started late.

A ton of fun! I was lucky enough to compete in the City Challenge Obstacle with my fellow teachers and fifteen of our middle school students from Paterson. Even better, Elvi (the founder of the race) generously sponsored our kids to run the race, and recognized them during the event.
Parts of the actual race was more challenging than I thought it would be (or more accurately, my upper body strength is not what I thought it was), but we all had a great time pushing ourselves and enjoying the gorgeous view. Our kids had the time of their lives, and I hope we can make it a yearly tradition!

The race was next to spectacular city views. I was impressed by the upbeat and cheering course helpers. This race is a perfect entry into the world of obstacle racing as the obstacles are fun and challenging. I came away with a feeling of deep gratitude that a venue like this is available for teams that are racing for a cause, go team spirit!!! There were some amazing teams out there. And to round up, massage therapists were available for free! Thank you City Challenge for inspiring people to get off the sofa!

This year I decided to finally do an obstacle course race and I am soooooo glad I did. Not only did I have an awesome team to do the challenge with but it definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone. Not only did I do 1 but 2 this year! Hopefully, more next year! The only downfall I can say… try to stick to the schedule times of the races because it can be a really long day if it isn’t. Other than that, love the massage tables nearby! Love the free giveaways!

10 STARS!!!
City Challenge Obstacle Race is a well-​organized event. It is a lot of fun and I recommend everyone to give it a try. It is not an extremely difficult course but pushes you out of your comfort zone. The run and obstacles are spaced out well in the urban environment. The volunteers are very knowledgeable and helpful as well as great cheerleaders to cheer you on along the course. The race provides water, bananas, medal and t-​shirt as well as other venues (sponsors) at the finish line. The free pre and post massages are great as you relax and get stretched out while listening to the DJ spins.
I have completed my first race last year with my dojo and we had a blast. This year, 2014, we signed up for Jersey City and Hoboken races and had even a greater time! The views along the waterfront of the skyline were just beautiful, gave great energy to be alive. I was able to win two free entries from a contest and will be running the next City Challenge Race in NYC 2014 with my training partner. I will be able to get my first «Trifecta» of City Challenge Race (lol). So excited.
The race also raises awareness for Susan G. Komen which is a great benefit.
Along the race you get to meet great people and make new friends and develop positive energy. You receive help along the way if you are having difficulty with an obstacle and if you cannot do an obstacle, its fine. But you need to do 30 jump squats. Everyone is there for the same purpose– to have FUN. The pricing for the races are very reasonable and the organization keeps you informed via email of race information up until race day. You are never left in the dark with questions.
If you have not tried this event or are thinking about it, just do it and sign up. Trust me you will not regret it.

Ran this joint in JC last weekend. It was a blast. Lots of fun. Also very challenging. There were many barricades, walls, and ropes to climb. Heavy bags of sand and jugs of water to carry. Best of all, we got to CRUSH the hood of a Port Authority Police Car, straight action flick style. My only suggestion is that they need water stations!!!

I volunteered for the 4 AM shift and then ran at 11:30 AM. I will try and make sure this doesn’t affect my review.
Try.
Next month I will be going to Toronto for my first Spartan Race and decided to pop my obstacle course race cherry beforehand via the City Challenge. Not just to gauge my cardiovascular endurance or strength level, but because the concept just sounds so ****ing ill and I love Jersey City and this was the first time this race was being held in mah city.
You can kinda tell the race is in it’s infancy. I’m not basing this on the lack of organization I saw at 4 AM either. I’m sure the Hoboken one will be 10x better since they’ve done it there before already.
I wish the volunteers along the course were a little more enthusiastic. My friend who has done several obstacle course races was pretty bummed on the lack of fanfare at the end of the race.
I told him the medals were on a table and you just went and grabbed it. I corrected myself seconds later because THEN I recalled the two girls who put the medal around my neck.
I totally forgot about them because they weren’t even cheering us on lol they were talking about personal matters or something. At least the two girls who gave me my medal did anyway.
There were some cool people at the kettle bells though. And I ran into a cop who was pretty awesome and gave me my second wind with her «you look like you’re in shape comment.» I had been walking for like a block and she was trying to get me to run.
Maybe that was my first wind.
It was cool running the course and seeing the guys I worked with during set up. Those guys were awesome. They wouldn’t let me slide on obstacles though just because «I helped put this up, can I skip it?»
I was gonna give this a 3, but I’ll give ‘em a 4. Especially since I just noticed that normal registration is not $ 90 from day 1. Early bird is $ 50 and I think that is a good price for what you get.
For $ 40 more I would do a Spartan Sprint or Tough Mudder or something instead of paying for the normal fee here.
It all comes down to how in shape you are I guess and what you wanna do (have fun, be a tool, do the run but no obstacles, vice versa, show off, try it out, etc.).
Some people complained about the lack of mud… I was 100% ok with that.
But there should have been Poland spring sports bottles instead of the jugs. I always Go Green, but not when I gotta re-​hydrate a ton of folks.
I MIGHT do it again for the scenery. But minus the 4 AM wake up time. And to run with the Unilocal Team. I was off by 30 minutes. I was running late because I got into a really heated chess game lol Team Unilocal was looking like fiiiiiiire.
Oh…and if the medals look more badass.
Put a skyline on that thing.

Was not sure what to expect going into this event but it totally exceeded my expectations. Incredible event that was well run, a great workout, and a lot of fun. Would definitely do this and probably will do it again.
PS — Big shoutout to Unilocal for allowing me the opportunity to win a free entry into the race!

Won an entrance ticket though a Unilocal drawing, this was a great race for a beginner like me! Friendly crowd running. Obstacles are not too hard but still take some muster to complete. Great views of the city and convenient location. Completion medal is a beer opener, which I think is appropriate for a race in Hoboken! Also some of the proceeds from this race went to the Susan Koman Foundation for Brest Cancer, so Yay for charity!
BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG thanks to Unilocal for making this race happen for me!

This was a very well organized obstacle race. I had so much fun. They had almost 15 obstacles spread across 4 mile stretch. They were volunteers at each obstacle and it was pretty easy to check in at the race.
They provided water, energy drinks. Got a medal and city challenger t shirt for finishing the whole stretch. I would definitely do this next year.
Goodtimes!