Obstacle course racing is an up-and-coming sport, growing exponentially in popularity. The competition is fierce, but the activity is enjoyable and accessible enough that any fitness-minded person who wants to can sign up and spend an afternoon leaping walls, swinging from monkey bars or crawling through mud beneath barbed wire. In 2011, one million Americans participated in an obstacle course race of some type and the number has grown from there.
With that in mind, The AIM Companies is proud to announce our newest sponsored athlete: AIM Member Sue Phillips-Leclerc, an obstacle course racer from New York State. If she looks familiar, that’s because she’s a long-time Red Rush athlete who was also featured in an article alongside her obstacle-course-racing daughter. Sue’s positive attitude and dedication to fitness and nutrition made her an ideal candidate for sponsorship.
“Nutrition has always been very important to me,” she said. “I find that balance is the key. I try to make healthy choices for most of my meals but definitely like ‘treats’ that aren’t the healthiest. I had to stick to a strict diet for figure competitions, —Sue is a former professional bodybuilder—and it was very hard for me. The great thing about obstacle course racing is I find that I don’t have to obsess about my diet. The training keeps me pretty stoked.”
In 2016, Sue has her sights set on the Master’s podium at the Battlefrog Racing series and the Spartan Races, but she’s most excited about the Obstacle Course Racing World Championships in Toronto. The OCRW is only two years old, but it’s already Sue’s favorite due to the variety of obstacles and the chance to meet and run with elite athletes from all around the world. She’s spent the winter months training hard for the upcoming season.
“I’m currently on a running program to increase my mileage and trying like heck to get faster. I’ve never been a good runner or very fast, so this has been challenging for me. I’ve also continued with weight training and exercises to help increase my grip strength. I live in upstate NY, very close to the Adirondack Mountains, so trail running and hiking are a big part of my training as well.
“My husband has renovated our garage into an awesome OCR ‘Torture Chamber.’ There are uphill monkey bars, hanging items (nunchakus, rings, cones, ropes, balls, etc.), a rowing machine, weights, incline trainers, climbing walls and various other apparatus to build grip strength. The climbing rigs are getting longer and more challenging at OCRs, so I am making sure that I’m prepared.”
Another way that she’s preparing for the races is through AIM nutrition and Red Rush. “The only supplements I take are protein, greens and Red Rush. After taking Red Rush for the first few workouts, the difference was considerable! Some mornings I wake up with muscle soreness to the point I don’t think I can train, and then I drink a Red Rush. It’s remarkable how it gets the blood flowing, and I can get a great workout in. I have never used another product so convenient and effective!”
The AIM Companies 