Strength & Speed

Brian already started his race season a couple weekends ago at The Abominable Snow Race in Wisconsin. Brian is a regular on the AG podium and even has a solid number of overall podiums at events like Dirt Runner. Not just an athlete he has also worked on the support side of the sport including build crew, helping with race organization, photography and volunteering. He's a true representative of what it means to be part of the OCR Community.

Look for him at the following short courses in 2019: Indian Mud Run, Green Beret Challenge and Conquer The Gauntlet.

And our favorite...some long course events like The Ultimate SUCK 2019 and World's Toughest Mudder (Tough Mudder).

Strength & Speed was built on principles of stealing lessons from other sports....so we added a former Pro Mixed Martial Arts fighter to the team, Casey Johnson. With a background in both Brazilian Jujitsu and Boxing he had an amateur MMA record of 11-1 and a pro record of 5-5.

With MMA behind him, he is now focusing on Crossfit (strength) and OCR (speed). You might recognize his face from several team podiums with another S&S athlete, Conquer The Gauntlet Pro Team nutritionist Luc Labonte.

6/8/13 – Tri-State NY Spartan Sprint 3rd Place Elite Female
9/22/13 – Spartan Ultra Beast, Killington VT (2nd age group 5th overall Elite)
9/20/14 – Vermont Spartan Beast Sunday – 1st place Elite Female
10/25/14 – OCR World Championships, Ohio 1st in Age Group Winner
10/30/14 – Broken Skull Challenge episode was filmed Aired in Jan. 2015
11/15/14 - World’s Toughest Mudder 50 Miles (2nd age group 15th overall female)
5/30/15 – Ohio Spartan Beast 1st Place Elite Women’s Masters
5/31/15 – Ohio Spartan Spring 1st Place Elite Women’s Masters
6/6/15 – Tri-State NY Spartan Sprint #2 2nd Place Elite Women’s Masters
6/13/15 – Viking Obstacle Race 1st Place Elite Female
8/1/15 – DC Spartan Sprint 3rd Place Elite Women’s Masters
8/6/16 – 24-Hours Shale Hell 1st Place Female
9/24/16 – Virginia Spartan Super 3rd Place Elite Women’s Masters
10/2/16 – Lake Tahoe Spartan Beast Sunday 3rd Elite Female 1st Masters
11/12/16 – World’s Toughest Mudder (4th in age group)
10/6/18 – Tri-State Tougher Tough Mudder (2nd age group, 8th overall female)
11/10/18 – World’s Toughest Mudder (6th age group, 18th overall female)

If you are member of the #CTGFamily, you might recognize Josh as a regular of CTG as well as being a local of Tulsa, OK. Josh has killer grip strength and is almost always on the podium of the Conquer The Gauntlet Pro Team Takeover ninja courses. Josh’s focus in 2019 will be heavy on the short course and ninja side. With a big focus being qualifying for UNAA regionals by competing in competitions in Tulsa, OK; Springfield, MO; and Fayetteville, AR.

If you are looking for the female on the team that embodies both Strength & Speed, then look no further. Morgan Schulz, the newest member of the S&S Development Team, is a 10 on strength and 10 on speed on our criteria scale. Coming off her collegiate running career, she is ready to throw down at OCR events.

She’s not just an amazing athlete but a huge value added to the group on the intellect side. She graduates this May with a degree in exercise science and plans to attend Physician Assistant school soon after.

This North Carolina resident can bee seen racing any Spartan race within driving distance as well as some smaller brands like finishing 1st at the Legend Race in 2015, 3rd at Green Beret Challenge NC in 2018 and 10th at Savage Race Charlotte in 2018.

After some injuries in the past, he is ready to tackle 2019. Keep on eye on him at more Spartans in 2019 as well as possibly North American Obstacle Course Racing Championships (seriously…S&S plus friends of S&S dinner?).

I don’t think we need to say much more, her 2018 results speak for themselves:

The Abominable Snow Race 1st Place Female Masters
Bealuh 9 Hr Trail race 2nd female
Castlewood Cup Trail Race 2nd Place age group
Battlegrounds 3rd place Elite female
Toughest Mudder Midwest 5th Place Female
Dark To Dawn 6 hr trail Race 2nd place female overall
Green Beret Challenge 1st Place Female
Tough Mudder: Tougher Chicago 5th place female
North American Obstacle Course Racing Championships Team Event 4th Place team elite females
Chicago Spartan Beast 1st place age group
Warrior Dash KC 1st Place elite female
Green Beret Challenge Team event 2nd Place Coed Division
World’s Toughest Mudder 2018 13th Place female overall

Lisa, based out of Boston, is an endurance focused OCR athlete with a top 11 finish at 2018’s World’s Toughest Mudder. She is an Age Group podium regular with top three finishes at 2018’s WTM, Tri State Super, Tougher Northeast, Killington Spartan Ultra-Beast, Terrain Race Boston (also an overall podium) and Bonefrog MA.

Watch for her at races this year including Spartan Ultra-Beast, Tough Mudder's Toughest East, Northface Endurance Challenge and Spartan Killington Ultra-Beast as well as (we predict in the top ten) at World’s Toughest Mudder.

Justin Weisgerber

Pre Dev Team: Expect to see him on the courses of most of the Conquer The Gauntlet races in 2018, as well as The Battlegrounds, Rugged Maniac and Warrior Dash in the KC area. With a top 20 finish at two CTG races in 2017 he plans on improving this year so he is ready for OCR World Championships in the UK this Fall.  

Post-Dev Team:
KC Corporate Challenge 5k - 23:10 PR
Battlegrounds top 25
Murph WOD for Memorial Day - 53:20 (PR with 20lb vest)
CrossFit Level 1 Trainer Certification
Rugged Maniac KC - Top 10
Became OCR Director at my gym, host OCR classes Sundays @ 3pm

George Curtis

Pre Dev Team: Based out of North Carolina, his goals for 2018 include competitive racing at Savage Race, Bonefrog and Spartan in the NC area.

2017 Results include:

1st Place Age Group – Indian Mud Run

3rd Place Pro Team – Ohio Savage Race: Luc LeBonte, Patrick Gorby

7th Overall / 1st Age Group Competitive Heat – Ohio Spartan Sprint

Post Dev Team:

2nd Place Legend Race

3rd Place Terrain Race (cash prize)

Jake Diehl

Pre Dev Team: Jake is stronger on the speed side with a half marathon PR time of 1:29.

2017 Results include: 

6x AG OCR Podiums, 2x 4th Place AG Spartan Finishes 2x overall podiums at 10k road races and a 12th place finish at Rugged Maniac Atlanta. Formerly of Kansas City, Jake is ready to tear up the east coast in 2018 competing at races in and around North Carolina and Georgia including Spartan, Warrior Dash, Terrain plus a couple of Midwest favorites including Conquer The Gauntlet and The Battlegrounds.

Post Dev Team:

4th Place (1st AG) Bull Moon 5k
2nd in AG Whitewater Center Trail Race
5th Overall: Hawk Hundred(50 miler)- 10:14 - First Ultra

3rd Place  Male Team Green Beret Challenge Commando- KC

4th Place Terrain Race NC

5th Place Terrain Race VA Beach

7th Place Terrain Race ATL

5th Place at 3xLegend Races
24th Overall (11th AG) The Battlegrounds

25th Overall Elite Spartan Spartanburg Ultra

13th in AG Spartan Super Asheville

17th Spartan Charlotte Sprint (Sat)

18th Spartan Charlotte Sprint (Sun)

23rd in AG Spartan Fayetteville Super

Kevin Reiseck

Pre Dev Team: Kevin qualified for OCR World Championships last year at The Battlegrounds in addition to some solid top five age group finishes throughout the year. He’s a long time OCR athlete with a 7th place AG finish at 2014 OCRWC and a 14th place AG finish at 2015 OCRWC. 

Also has a history of top ten finishes including:

1st place at Colossal Crusher in 2014

2nd place at Sandmine Challenge 2014

4th place at The Battlegrounds in 2013

5th place at Mud Mayhem in 2012

Kevin is another athlete that not only brings a great attitude and dedicated athletic performance to the team but also brings his a solid knowledge base. He is a certified athletic trainer (ATC) and Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) in addition to owning a gym for 8 years.

Recovering from injury at the end of last year, he is motivated to crush it in 2018!

Post Dev Team:

1st place OA The Battlegrounds 5K (OCRWC 2018 Qualifier) 

2nd place OA The Crusher Race 5K.

11th place OA Terrain Race St. Louis.

 Top 20 OA Rugged Maniac Kansas City.

4th place AG Green Beret Challenge Operators Course St. Louis.

NorAm Champs Finished with band in 3K and Team event.

Apple Harvest 5K 8th OA and 2nd AG while pushing 3 year old son

Phillip Andrew

Pre Dev Team: Our newest American Ninja Warrior Veteran!

2nd place OA finisher Black Diamond obstacle course Memorial Day Mayhem

2nd Place OA Viking Dash 15k Trail run

5th Place OA Mud Ninja, 2nd AG

6th place OA Conquer the Gauntlet- XTC Kansas City

7th place Ranking for the total race series Dirt Days trail run series

10th place OA Indian Mud Run

29th OA Savage OH

25 miles at Toughest Mudder Midwest

Not only a great athlete but we think he has the best beard in OCR right now. Whether you are staring at him flying through obstacles or mesmerized by his beard, we can guarantee you will be staring in his direction in 2018.

Post Dev Team:

ANW National Finalist
1st Place OA War X Arctic Fever
2nd place total series points Topo Trail trail run series
3rd place OA Black Diamond OCR
2nd place team War X Apocalypse
3 way tie for 1st Place War X jungle ops
24th OA Savage race OH
29th OA Spartan Sprint Indy

Alexis Buford

Pre Dev Team:  This ninja specialist is planning some big improvements in OCR in 2018 after her 1st place finish in the 3k Journeyman division of OCR World Championships.

2017 highlights include:

1st Journeyman at OCR World Championships

5th CTG-XTC

10th CTG Des Moines (1st in AG)

8th in AG at Arizona Spartan Super

Besides being great on obstacles, she brings another level of knowledge to the S&S team. She is currently certified in RockTape taping and IASTM techniques. In the next couple of years she will graduate from chiropractic school in addition to learning other recovery modalities such as myofascial release, dry needling and dynamic neuromuscular stabilization and sports screening for injury performance. Not to mention she is a great ambassador for the sport since she teaches weekly at Apex Climbing Gym in Kansas City where she teaches OCR every Thursday.

Post Dev Team:

1 AG Savage Houston (first AG podium)
4th AG North American OCR Championships- 100% completion (lost band last year at worlds for 15k)
4th Place AG Spartan Phoenix
13th Place AG North American OCR Championships  

Jacob Stone

Pre Dev Team: He’s an obstacle expert that has been working hard to improve his running. With lots of top 20 finishes last year, we think this is the year he breaks into the top with more consistency 10 and walks away with a couple of podium finishes. Here are his results from 2017:

     6th CTG Little Rock

     10th CTG-XTC Kansas City

     16th CTG Tulsa

     17th CTG Wichita

     18th CTG Des Moines

     19th CTG OKC

     21st CTG Atlanta

Expect to see him at lots of Conquer The Gauntlet races along with a couple of other Midwest races including Big Red Challenge in Lincoln, Nebraska, Terrain Race Tulsa and the final The Battlegrounds race. Keep an eye out because this truck driver is going to go over the top in 2018.

Post Dev Team:

Luc Labonte

Besides being an OCR athlete Luc is also a registered dietitian, personal trainer and wellness coach. A true S&S Athlete Luc's background also includes some competitive bodybuilding!

Post-Dev Team:

Ohio Savage Race (Savage Pro Heat): contributor to 3rd Place Pro Team Award (team “Kent Touch This”), 15/55 Age Group (27%), 62/307 Overall Pro (20%)

Ohio Mud Ninja (timed/elite heat): 2nd age group, 26th overall

Ohio Spartan Sprint (competitive heat): 2nd age group, 12th overall

OCRWC:
• 15k (with DQs taken out): Males 25-29: 140/248 (56%), Overall Age Group/PRO: 841/2263 (37%)
• Strength leg of Open Male Team heat (team “Kent Touch This”),: 46/144 (32%)

Serra Riley

Pre-Dev Team: 

3rd Elite Spartan Sprint Boston Sunday
5th Elite Spartan Super Boston Saturday
7th Elite Spartan Super Boston Sunday
8th Elite Spartan Sprint Boston Saturday
8th FIT Challenge
22nd Elite Spartan NJ Beast

Post-Dev Team:

1st place female F.I.T. 5 hr multi-lap (FIRST ULTRA-OCR WIN)
1st place Tougher Mudder VT (FIRST CASH PODIUM)
1st place Tougher Mudder NH (PR FOR OVERALL WINS IN A YEAR)

3rd female F.I.T 8 hr multi-lap

5th place Tougher Mudder East Coast Champs NJ

10th place NorthFace challenge trail marathon

11th elite female Dallas Spartan UltraBeast  

12th elite spartan sprint
12th elite spartan super
18th elite female Spartan Beast VT

Leah Sandel Hensley

Pre-Dev Team: 

1st Battlegrounds Spring Sprint Course
2nd All Female Team Green Beret Challenge in St. Louis
50 miles at World's Toughest Mudder
6th Elite BattleFrog Chicago
9th BFX 24
10th Battlegrounds Spring Race

Nathan Thiel

William Shell

William is a 5x NCAA All-American, USATFCCCA Central Region Athlete of the Year and NCAA D2 Track and Field Academic All-American of the Year. In 2016, he finished 2nd at the USATF Outdoor 400m and 10th at the indoor 400m.  He has also run an Olympic qualifying time in the 400m....no big deal.

Post-Dev Team (FIRST YEAR DEDICATED TO OCR):

Crusher 2- 1st OA

Warrior Dash KC 10th OA
CTG Little Rock 12th OA 5 AG
Rugged Maniac KC 13th OA
Battlegrounds 27th OA 8th AG
OCRWC 3k 32nd AG

Kat Ratcliff

Post-Dev Team:

Rookie season racing OCR and ninja:

Ninja:
American Ninja Warrior Season 9- San Antonio (FIRST ANW)
Rockford Ninja Warrior- 5th Female Overall 

OCR:

Conquer the Gauntlet- 3rd place Elite (FIRST CASH PRIZE AND ELITE PODIUM)

US OCR Championships- 2nd place Age Group (FIRST NATIONAL PODIUM)  

OCRWC- 10th place overall co-ed team relay

Spartan Sprint- 1st place Women's competitive (FIRST SPARTAN RACE)

OCRWC- 5K & 15k- 13th in both for Age Group

Strength & Speed fielded a team for the first ever Conquer The Gauntlet Team Race in Tulsa, OK.  A team made up of Conquer The Gauntlet Pro Randi Lackey, Link Endurance/24hr Terrain Relay athlete Miles Keller, Freddie Thompson and Trevor Zimmerman had a strong showing finishing 2nd overall.  To hear about the event, check out Strength & Speed podcast Episode 27 with Randi Lackey.  

Miles Keller

Miles Keller is a competitive OCR athlete whom resides in Keller, TX but is from all over the south. Miles started out to get fit and then evolved into pursuing OCR podium dreams with a passion, drive, and burning desire to keep going that he can't explain. When Miles Keller isn't competing for the podium in the first wave of the day, he enjoys going back through the open waves to take pictures for race reviews, and most of all helping everyone along the way. First two podium finishes were last year at terrain ft worth, and an external trail run. If you ever ramped off a guy's back to get over the wall, that was probably Miles' back. Miles Is an Obstacle Warriors pro team member and regularly competes in ninja competitions. Miles Keller also co-hosts the Link Endurance podcast. With the words "yell at me" usually in sharpie on his chest and back he truly is an OCR addict

Chris Polito

This father of two and endurance enthusiast training with Yancy Camp is ready to crush the course. His motto of "always chasing the win and never giving in" Will be needed this weekend.

Recent race highlights include:

2016 Rugged Maniac 3rd place finisher

2017 OCRWC Pro Qualifier

2017 11th place 50k Aravaipa Coldwater Rumble 50k finisher

Ryan Owen

This up and coming OCR athlete is still young but already has a couple of podium finishes to his name including Rugged Maniac and Terrain Race.

Check out the 2017 announcement video with S&S Ultra at around 2:18 and 2:22 into the video. 

Cody "Manbun" Peyton:

2015 Highlights

Conquer the Gauntlet Tulsa: 2nd
Conquer the Gauntlet Little Rock: 3rd
Mud Run Guide's Summer Splash: 3rd
Rugged Maniac Kansas City: 6th
Conquer the Gauntlet Wichita: 6th
Spartan Race Chicago: 8th
Savage Race Ohio: 8th
Battlefrog Cincinnati: 18th

Devin Roberts:

Qualifications:

Conquer the Gauntlet KC

Conquer the Gauntlet Wichita

Master's in Exercise Science

NCCPT- Certified Personal Trainer

2014  AFPA Heartland Championship- 1st Novice Lightweight Bodybuilding, 1st Overall Novice Bodybuilding, 1st Novice/Open Men’s Physique Class B

Erin Brooks

2015

2nd Mud, Guts and Glory

5th Spartan Stadium Sprint Tampa

7th Florida Savage Race

2014

World Championships

Warrior Dash- 8th

OCRWC- 15th

1st Warrior Dash Ohio

1st Spartan Super Ohio

3rd Mud, Guts and Glory

Barbara Bass

Ashley Samples

2015

2nd Spartan Super Austin

3rd Battlefrog New Jersey

Currently ranked 4th in the Battlefrog Point Series 

Jordan Smith

193 mile Run Across Michigan in 3 days

3:10 Marathon PR

1:30 Half Marathon PR

7th Mud, Guts and Glory

25+X Tough Mudder

65 miles at World's Toughest Mudder 2014

Adam Baylor

2015

2nd Rugged Maniac Southern Indiana

63rd Spartan Beast Ohio

2014

4th Rugged Maniac Southern Indiana

4th Spartan Sprint Indiana

Icebug-OCRGear Sponsored Athlete and 2014 Strength & Speed OCRWC Athlete Kevin Righi

See below for previous race highlights.

Evan Perperis:  See highlights in the S&S Founder Section.

Paul's 2014 Individual Race Highlights

2nd place age group finish in Waikiki Swim Club Biathlon Series 2014
7th place overall (3rd in age group) XTERRA Kauloa Ranch Trail Run 10K 2012
5th place overall military heavy Bataan Death March 2007
Numerous top three age group finishes in Olympic triathlons, sprint triathlons, 10k runs and 5k runs
Finished Inaugural Assault on Pikes Peak 2010 (bike ride up Pike’s Peak), Warrior Dash Colorado, MCBH Swamp Romp and Little Creek Mud Run

Eric's 2014 Race Highlights

The Munson Mayhem duathalon (5K 10mi bike, 5K), overall winner
The Spirit race 5K, overall winner
Double double road race (10k, 5k in the same day), Age group winner 35-39
DOT to DOT 10K, overall 3rd place
Great Escape Run 5K, overall 2nd place (beaten by S&S team member Juantonio)
Plaza 10K PR 38:43, 61st out of 3325

Rusty's Race Highlights:

6th in Age Group at OCRWC

For more race highlights see his profile below under the OCRWC team.

Rimas:  1 Goofy's Challenge Completed (Full marathon on Saturday and Half Marathon on Sunday)

6 Marathons Completed
7 Half Marathons Completed
1 Tough Mudder

Evan Perperis: See highlights in the S&S Founder Section.

Rusty Palmer (Follow him on Facebook here)

Messerfit/ Crossfit Lebanon Sponsored Athlete
1st place overall Mudocalypse
2nd place overall Heaven and Hell Gravel Mine Challenge
3rd place age group Tampa Spartan
6th place overall, 1st in age group at Mud Ninja
8th overall Warrior Dash
3x Tough Mudder Finisher

Kevin Righi:  1st place SuperFit East Coast Championships 2014 (male/female scaled)
1st place team scaled SuperFit Roanoke 2014
2nd Overall Spartan Citizen Bank Sprint 2014
2nd place Team 2013 Summer Capital Affiliate League
2nd in Age Group Smith Mountain Lake Sprint Triathlon 2014
6th place at 2013 CMC race at Bryce Resort
9th overall August 2014 Mud Guts & Glory
Countless obstacle races including 3 Tough Mudder finishes
Crossfit Level 1 Coach & certified ISSA Fitness Trainer
Collegiate Lacrosse Player