Sunday, November 11, 2012

Savage Race - Little Everglades Ranch

Well, the boys at Savage Race have done it again. Each event has eclipsed the last and on October 20th at Little Everglades Ranch in Dade City, Florida, they proved to 4,000 adrenaline junkies that they're the official peddlers of pain in the mud race community. In a span of only six miles they built 25 brutal obstacles including the three-story "Colossus," a twisted half pipe which leads to a swallow-your-stomach water slide and the innovative "Evil Bars," which is the silverback gorilla to other races' playground jungle gyms.

Starting line stampede - Photo ©Savage Race/Mac Stone
Again this year, I was assigned to shoot the race and was stoked to know the participants would be slogging through a mini version of my favorite stomping grounds, the Everglades. As always, it was a tough shoot accounting for a large area, harsh light, and of course, high intensity mud-slinging. All throughout the day I was climbing atop obstacles, chest-deep in water, or waist deep in mud. By the end I felt like I had run the race several times over.

Walkers on the "Nutt Smasher" - Photo ©Savage Race/Mac Stone
My approach to shooting these events is to make sure I get right in the middle of the action, or sometimes right below it. I've found that if I'm not physically engaged with course, then my photos will feel detached too. This philosophy can be dangerous for equipment, but much like wildlife photography, the safest option usually produces "safe" images and the Savage Race crew wanted edgy. So I tried to give them edgy.

Diving over the fire pit - Photo ©Savage Race/Mac Stone
Here's a handful of some of my favorites from the day as well as a few shots just to show you some of the obstacles. If you're into mud races and a day of fun with your friends, then you need to go and register for one of their upcoming events. Savage Race is creating the new standard for obstacle racing.

Starting line - Photo ©Savage Race/Mac Stone
Hay Stacks - Photo ©Savage Race/Mac Stone

Championing the Hay Stacks - Photo ©Savage Race/Mac Stone

Captain America helping a friend up "Colossus" - Photo ©Savage Race/Mac Stone

Nutt Smasher - Photo ©Savage Race/Mac Stone

Not quite up the Colossus - Photo ©Savage Race/Mac Stone

Grinding the Evil Bars - Photo ©Savage Race/Mac Stone

Colossus half pipe - Photo ©Savage Race/Mac Stone

Tazed N Blazed - Photo ©Savage Race/Mac Stone

Gettin Tazed N Blazed - Photo ©Savage Race/Mac Stone

Priceless face before getting shocked - Photo ©Savage Race/Mac Stone

Fire jump - Photo ©Savage Race/Mac Stone

Evil Bars - Photo ©Savage Race/Mac Stone

Shriveled Richard - Photo ©Savage Race/Mac Stone

Colossus - Photo ©Savage Race/Mac Stone

Scaling the 96'' Stiffie - Photo ©Savage Race/Mac Stone

Nuff said - Photo ©Savage Race/Mac Stone

Greg Stone hangin on the Evil Bars - Photo ©Savage Race/Mac Stone
Davy Jones' Locker - Photo ©Savage Race/Mac Stone
Backflip off Davy Jones' Locker - Photo ©Savage Race/Mac Stone


Savage Race founder Sam Abbitt trying his Wicked Bars - Photo ©Savage Race/Mac Stone
Air Force team looking for their keys - Photo ©Savage Race/Mac Stone

And my favorite photo of the race: the Air Force team breaking into their own car to get their keys out.

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