For those of us in the obstacle course racing (OCR) scene. This east coast mountain ultra might be best comparable to the Spartan Killington Ultra. With it’s steep climbs, high DNF rate, mileage and elevation gain. The similarities are strong.

The Tammany 10 event is small, capping out at 65 participants. But even so, this year we are seeing at least 5 OCR athletes making their way to the start line.

Luke Mercadante, who we’ve seen multiple times at World’s Toughest Mudder, Spartan Ultra’s and many other OCR & Trail events. Janine DI Muzio, out of New Jersey, popular in the Spartan 4-0 community and she hits up quite a few Spartan races throughout the year. Paul Henry, who has been running OCR races since 2012. And we have Justin Lewandowski, who looks to be a favorite in this race. Getting 1st place in the last two years on this course. Justin is primarily in the trail running world, but we did see him recently. He took third place Elite in the Spartan Killington Ultra last year, behind Elmer King and Joshua Fiore. In looking at Strava, the one key takeaway is that Justin likes running mountains. We’re not even a quarter into the year and he’s sitting at 164K ft elevation gain.

And lastly, we have Tyler Movsessian. Tyler has been running OCR for over a decade and also takes part in Hybrid, Trail running and Ninja events. We had a chance to chat with Tyler this week for a GEAR CHECK. Tyler recently did a big training block for hybrid racing and raced a HYROX event earlier this month. Definitely a quick transition to move into a trail ultra just weeks later. But Tyler has experience on this mountain (his second time at the event) and is getting after it.

Read more below on the race itself and what Tyler is bringing with him to tackle this course.

MT TAMMANY 10 COURSE OVERVIEW

The Tammany 10 race consists of 10 loops up and down Mt. Tammany in the Delaware Water Gap, on the border of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. By the end of this race, if a participant is able to finish. They will have hit almost 40miles and over 12,000 ft of gain on the most technical rock terrain you can find on the east coast. The race events website says, “this event is not for the faint of heart. Expect no PRs here! These will be the toughest and slowest miles most of you will ever cover”… but also, “probably one of the most satisfying ultras you will ever run”.

The course organizers say this has a 50-60% DNF rate and that finishing it in under 10 hours is equivalent to completing the coveted 100 miles in under 24-hour mark.

On top of the significant elevation gain and “nothing but rocks” terrain. We also have rain all day in the forecast. Many factors at play, for when it comes time to determine the gear you want to bring out that will best suit you and the course.

FUELING

This race can be anywhere from 8-12 hours and Tyler is ready with Berry flavored Tailwind Endurance Fuel and EndureElite Perform for his drink powders.

Tyler says his fueling strategy is to eat whatever his body wants when it wants. But generally, trying to consume something every 45 minutes.

He’s also carrying Strawberry Banana GU packets and Honey Stingers.

And then we get into the regular stuff that helps keep someone going, tastes good and boosts some motivation. Like, UnCrustables, Sour Patch Kids, Beef Jerky, Mountain Dew, Body Armor and Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Crunch bars.

FOOTWEAR

Best case scenario, Tyler goes out in his VJ XTRM 2’s and they feel good the full race. But in these ultra’s, on rocky terrain, you need a backup. So he’s also bringing some Topo Ultraventure 3’s and Altra Olympus 4’s.

CLOTHING

Nothing too specific here. The current forecast is showing rain all day and chilly temperatures. So lots of options is his plan. Rain jackets, hoodies, coats, winter beanie’s, long sleeves, gloves, etc. Anything that might be good to have when he gets a handle on the current conditions race day.

Tyler put in a big hybrid training block and raced a HYROX in early March. Transitioning quickly over to prepping for this mountain ultra. So it’ll be exciting to see how he does out on the mountain. Check out Tyler’s IG @tmovsessian_ocr