Obstacles on the Course and in Life Part Three: Off the Course

January 19, 2017

When the Race is Over… Spartan racing has had some unexpected but very positive side effects for the couple. They say they have always had a strong relationship, but training and racing together has made them even closer. “It cemented our relationship,” said Patti. There have been many times when Eric was her coach, her […]

Fighting My Way Back

“I’m tough, rough, ready and able To pick myself up from under this table Don’t stick no sign on me, I got no label I’m a little sick, unsure, unsound and unstable But I’m fighting my way back” —Thin Lizzy The Chelmsford Sports Club (now closed) was located in an old industrial building off the […]

Society and Trauma: Or Why I’m Doing This

January 17, 2017

One weekend…. In October of 1995, while working at a small New Hampshire daily paper, I was given my first “weekend duty.” This meant that anything that happened between Friday and Sunday night, for all of the Lakes Region, was mine to cover. I was given a pager (it was 1995, after all), a police […]

“Everything Doesn’t Happen for a Reason” Commentary on the Tim Lawrence Essay

January 16, 2017

A Tempting Thought Everything happens for a reason, some will say. God, it can be a tempting thought, can it not? Some terrible thing just comes from out of nowhere, rips you out of your current life and slams you into a new one where everything is recognizable but nothing is what it once was. […]

Obstacles on the Course and in Life Part Two: Beating the Beast

January 12, 2017

The Trifecta The Spartan “Trifecta” is a goal of many OCR racers. The Trifecta means completing three races whose names just seem to get more and more menacing: “The Sprint,” “The Super,” and “The Beast.” According to the official Spartan web page, http://www.spartan.com, the Sprint is three-plus miles with 20 or more obstacles. Eric and […]

Obstacles on the Course and in Life Part One: Knee Deep

January 8, 2017

MERRIMACK, NH – An obstacle course is usually associated with military training, not with something done for fun. And yet, a corner of Eric and Patti Pharo’s kitchen in Merrimack, NH, is covered in lists of schedules for obstacle course races and best times, medals, and inspirational quotes about community, and never, ever, giving up. […]