The Spartan Sprint Race - A Recap

Each year, at the start of the year, I make goals for myself especially in fitness. This year was no exception. One of my main goals for 2014 is to complete my Spartan Trifecta and this past weekend I started that process. What is the Spartan Trifecta? The Spartan Trifecta members are those that in just 1 race year complete the Spartan Sprint, Super and Beast.

On Saturday, July 5^th I completed the shortest of the three; the 5k, 15+ obstacle Sprint, in Edmonton. I even finagled my husband into completing it with me. It was so much fun to run it together and to jump over the fire in the end as a team. We were nicknamed Mr. & Mrs. Superman before we even left the hotel.

 

 

We had a big thunder, lightning and rain storm the night before the event so needless to say the terrain was very muddy. I found it muddier and the trail harder to run on then the Super I completed in Red Deer last year. The weather, the morning of , was a little chilly and overcast but the perfect temperature for running.

Overall the event was well laid out. Shuttle buses ran from the host hotel which was very convenient. Registration, bag checking and body marking were all very organized and easily accessible. The event started on time but not before a few repeats of “I am Spartan….AROO, AROO, AROO!” to get everyone excited, pumped and ready.

 

 

 

We ran in the 9am heat and it didn’t take long before we were muddy. We encountered a number of obstacles some of which included balance beams, tire flips, monkey bars, inverted walls, straight wall, traverse wall, the crawl under barbed wire, mud walls, spear throw, sandbag carry, brick pull through a mud puddle, rope, etc. I, personally had to complete burpees twice; once for the spear throw which I can never seem to get and again for the rope which I can never get a grip on to pull myself up. My husband also had to complete two sets of burpees; once for the balance beams and again for the rope. I was so proud of him for getting the spear throw. We finished with a jump over the fire, a high five, a kiss and were awarded our medals and t-shirts of completion. We finished in a time of 1:13:29 not great considering I completed the Super in 1:58:50 however the terrain, as I said, was much more slick and you really had to watch your footing more here.

 photos from the event itself

 

What matters most is that we completed it, we had so much fun and we helped each other and others as a team. Isn’t that what Spartans are all about?

Up next, in September, is the Spartan Super in Red Deer and once again I am trying to convince my husband to do this one too. I think he will as he truly enjoyed the Sprint. He was nervous to start as he didn’t know what to expect; just as I was when I did the Super in 2013, but he performed fabulously and I was thrilled to have him with me. Following the Super and also in September is the Beast in Sun Peaks, British Columbia; apparently a very difficult course to run with a lot of uphill climbs. I guess we know what I’ll be training in the upcoming months—hill sprints and more hill sprints.

It was a wonderful, thrilling, fun weekend. We are Spartan…..AROO!!!

 

 

If you want to learn more about Spartan Races, please visit their website at http://www.spartan.com/

Until next time,