Its a little bit like Chrismas eve for me to present this girl! As we stood in the sun only short after I had finished my race in Lake Tahoe, there was the award seremoni for the elite at the big stage. We knew Lindsay had won…and we saw some of the other elite Girls standing there, but I had no idea who had the other two Places. Of course Zuzana had one of the Places, but when the 2nd girl was called this dark strange girl turned up. I looked at Superman, “Who is that?” Turnes out it was this girl, Rebecca, who started running OCR this year! WOW - just WOW! A real dark horse, and what a girl!! A month later I stood watching the elite Girls running past waiting for my turn to run in the OCRWC, then Rebecca ran past me - I was totally starstruck and blown away. This girl is just amazing, what an athlete, what a Physique! This girl is pure muscle, long legs and reminded me almost more of an animal there she ran past me. The long dark hair flowing, and she ran looking like she was just on a sunday stroll. Lucky us later that weekend we bumped right into her, and she was just as Nice as she was amazing, took her time to talk to the Girls, take Pictures - and now she has not only one mega fan in the Family, we are 3 Girls With a New rolemodel! …and Guess what - she is almost a little bit Norwegian…at least she has lived in Norway a few years ;)
Name, age and team/country:
Rebecca Hammond, 27, USA
Instagram/web:
@becchamm
What brought you into this sport:
I used to run mid distance (I ran for Idrettsklubben Tjalve for 2 years when I lived in Oslo!), but quit in med school because I got injured. I started rock climbing but missed the competition and endorphins of track. So I tried an obstacle course race and never looked back!
Favorite race
Spartan North American Championships in West Virginia! It was my first race >15km and was tied for the longest distance I had ever run in my life, so I really didn't know how it would go for me. As it turned out, I survived! And I loved the course - lots of short, steep, off-trail ups and downs made it so it wasn't boring even though it was longer than anything I'd run before.
Favorite obstacle/venue:
I loved jumping over the ditches at OCR WC this year! #simplepleasures
How is your training:
RIght now, I'm taking some time off from running and doing a bit of rock climbing. During this past season (my first OCR season), I aimed for three quality running workouts per week - one long run, one hill workout, and one threshold run. The other days I either did an easy run, crosstrained, or did no dedicated cardio. Later in the season I replaced hill reps with some track workouts (400 & 800 repeats) and added some carry workouts (bucket, sandbag). I also added a couple of lifting sessions per week.
Do you have a life motto you live by:
The best you can do is the best you can do.
Your goal for 2019:
Win World Championships!
