It's happening. You are going to do a Spartan Beast. When you clicked the "complete registration" button, did a wave of panic set over you? Are you wondering what your next step should be? Check out these top ten tips for completing and conquering the Beast!
Following an epic race weekend in 2017, modern Spartan athletes will journey back to the ancient ruins, rivers and mountains of the legendary city of Sparta when the world’s largest obstacle race and endurance brand hosts the inaugural invite-only Trifecta World Championship, November 2-4, 2018. Offering a $20,000 prize purse, the weekend’s series of events will test the strength and endurance of athletes from around the globe with the three signature races of Spartan’s coveted Trifecta.
This weekend we did a double race weekend. Saturday the RAM run and Sunday the Spartan Race Beast Windsor. This was going to be my first ever Spartan Trifecta, so I was really excited! My knee got a bit worse overnight, but I felt up to it! We were on a tight schedule, having to return the car at 7 and fly home at 8, so we were happy to be able to start just before noon. At the starting area, we met up with two RAM friends volunteering there.
The most common mistake that new endurance runners make is blowing themselves out early in the race. Without practice, it’s hard to know how hard is too hard. We’ve all gone through variations of this thinking: “It’s a race, right? So I should be in front, right? Okay!” Unless you’re superman, that thinking inevitably leads to that painful feeling near the end of the race that you’re dying and somehow can’t keep on going. For 100 milers, 24+hour events and other big endurance events, this thinking is what causes a good deal of Did Not Finish’es (DNF’s).
This is the race SO many of you have been waiting for since the season kicked off. While Saturday racers had to rely on the insanity of the course itself, Sunday racers were treated to proof that Norm Koch has indeed made some dirty deals with a particular underground entity. Rain, wind and cold took out many a racer on this already incredibly challenging course, and even without all that on Saturday, when it came to numbers on the UB, over 800 started, but less than half finished.
Spartan Race brought a new obstacle to South Carolina this year – the freezing cold! As I approached Carolina Adventure World where this race is held every year, my dashboard thermometer read 31 degrees. Seriously. 31 degrees. In South Carolina in November.
In the quest to complete my first Spartan Trifecta, I knew there was only one race worthy of the accomplishment. Thankfully, living in New England, we are close enough to head up Vermont, the birthplace of Spartan Race, for the always challenging Killington Beast. I attended last year's race and barely survived the 10-hour ass kicking that it delivered.
Wrapping up the results and news from the weekend. Hobie Call retires as a professional obstacle racer. Spartans Rule the east and Midwest over the weekend.
I started the last wave of the day at 2pm for the Spartan Race Tri-State Beast with mostly volunteers as this was the volunteer wave. It may have been the end of the day, but Spartan pre-race announcer Dustin Dorough was able to recite his pre-race speech without missing a beat and faster than ever.
The final stop on the Spartan Race Triple Crown took place outside of Dallas Texas. This year's race came earlier than last year’s “Winter Wonderland” which was considered by many to be the coldest Spartan of 2013. Spartan split the races up by staging the 13.2 mile Beast on Saturday and the 4.8 mile Sprint on Sunday. Many came out to try to claim a piece of the Triple Crown prizes.
