Thursday 9/29 Squaw Valley, Lake Tahoe. T-minus 27 hours until the Spartan Race World Championships and a relative calm has settled over the venue. A handful of Spartan Race employees darting this way and that knocking out some last minute prep, the occasional gator racing back and forth through the festival area, but absent are the main players in this drama: athletes. Tomorrow, they will arrive en mass to take over the ski resort-transformed into a battlefield and grab their bibs in preparation for the ultimate challenges – Spartan Race World Championship Beast followed by the Ultra Beast on Sunday. Because this is Spartan Race, Gaea will make an appearance, and be sure that Mother Nature will leave her icy fingerprints all over the course – especially the water crossings and immersions – and especially the athletes.
Margaret was lucky enough to grab a few minutes with the man behind it all, Spartan Race Founder Joe De Sena – simultaneously the most loved & hated, respected & feared individual in all of the sport of OCR. M covered the new obstacles, new rules, and the difficulty of the new course criss-crossing the ski trails of Squaw Valley.
Rope Climb Rule Change
Update on the Rope Climb rule “change” as Joe says in the video, this is how it's been on the books, just not enforced unilaterally at all events – until now:
Right after this interview, we received a few questions regarding whether a rope change was allowed – a situation Ryan Kent found himself DQ'd for earlier in the year – once you've “committed” to a rope. Joe's response:
“[an athlete] can change ropes from the ground, they may not do so in mid-air.”
Download a copy of the Official Rule Book Updated 9/30/16
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yes the rope climb can be tough. and changing ropes is a great thing if one of them is extra slipery or muddy. But te main thing for me is the consistency in the carry items, logs are not even close to same weight and cut lenght and width. I suggest someother type of item that is weighed and all same size and shape Sand bags at world were very difficult 2 you had to carry. one of mine opened up 1/3 way up the hill. lucky for me it was double wrapped and nothing spilled. the bags had duct tape wraped around the. I saw ia guy i compete with in my age group using his duct tape as a handle while he flew by me. I could not use it like that cause mine was wrapped differently. If this is EVER to be an olympic sport we need to find consistent carry items and lets have AGE GROUP AWARDS