SPARTAN RACE RECAP
Super Spartan (8-9 miles)
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Marseilles, IL
10:00am Start Time
ARRIVAL
I arrived at the race with my good friend Mike Durkin around
8:30am. The temperature read off at 32
degrees when we arrived at the site. We
had about an hour and a half to kill before the race started. That was plenty of time to get situated and
ready. Check in was done by your bib
number rather than your last name. This
made the lines much easier to navigate.
They checked your ID and gave you your packet with your bib number. They also provided a timing chip that could
be strapped to your wrist or ankle. I
went with my wrist, stepped a few feet forward and got my number printed on my
forehead by a kid no older than 12. I
was about to leave when a voice told me I forgot something. I turned around and, much to my surprise, was
immediately stamped on the side of the face with a big Spartan helmet
logo. The kid laughed. I was too cold to think straight so I
meandered off into the event area.
The event area held the typical fare of food, merchandise,
and bathrooms. Fire pits were set up and
burning to help fight off the cold.
There were far less people at the Spartan race so bathroom availability
was not an issue. The unique thing was
the obstacles and side events. They had
various mini-competitions out and about that started at various times throughout
the day. Pull-ups, tire flipping, and
bench pressing. I chose not to
partake. But they did have some demo
obstacles set up for people to try out.
Spectator visibility was fantastic.
The course looped by the starting area twice on some very fun obstacles. Mike and I were getting pumped just
watching. We were able to see the top
three competitors finish before we started.
Sporting nothing but shoes and compression shorts, these maniacs blazed
a trail through the final obstacles. It
was an odd sight to behold yet slightly reassuring that this was possible. Undaunted by the task ahead, Mike and I
journeyed forth to the starting line.
RACE START
The race start was much like the Tough Mudder. A little cheesier on the announcer’s part in
comparison to the Tough Mudder. A lot of
yelling and screaming and then finally, a 1, 2, 3, GO! The first 2 miles were uneventful. I only knew it was 2 miles because somebody
told us it was. There were no mile
markers on the course. There was nothing
to encourage you that the end was near.
The terrain was never flat. The
longest flat section I encountered was about 100 yards long. Everywhere else was either a gentle grade or
up and down 10 to 20 feet on the hills.
There were no big hills thankfully, but there were some steep ones as I
found out very soon. The first obstacle
was a steep hill with several ropes thrown down. Shoes make a big difference on mud
courses. My Innov-8’s plowed ahead and
I shot out in front of my buddy
Mike. He had on the Vibram
Five-Fingers. He liked them, but never
again for a mud race. He slid everywhere
in them.
Water was abundant in the race. There were lots of creek crossings and
eventually an extremely long barbed wire crawl through uneven terrain. It was at least 75 yards long. This was the first total body exposure to the
cold wet earth. My legs didn’t like
it. I rolled where I could to save my
strength and finally I squirmed out of the abyss and straight along a narrow
ravine. Mud was everywhere at this point
until the end. Very few places where
actually dry. We looped around and came
back towards the spectator area. Along
the way, we had another obstacle. This
one consisted of pulling a block of concrete up about 20 feet using a rope and
pulley. Women had lighter blocks and the
wait time was minimal. They were heavy,
but manageable. Finally, we arrived back
at the spectator area.
The spectator area was watching a series of obstacles. The first we had was the cargo net roll,
followed by 2 short, 7 foot walls. The
walls were difficult in that the base was sloped away from you. It made getting down and easy slide but
getting up was hell. I had to hook my
leg over the top to pull myself over the slippery surface. After the two walls, a short run, and then a
15-20 foot tower. Straight up, then
straight down the other side. Very
minimal on the padding if you fell. Only
a bit of hay to cushion your fall so everyone was taking their time. After that, it was back on the trail again
for quite some time. Eventually we hit some monkey bars but Mike and I cruised
on through it. Eventually we hit a
unique obstacle. I had to wait a few
minutes until I could start. I was given
a 30-40 pound foundation block attached to a 6 foot length of chain. I then proceeded to drag it around a 100 to
150 yard course. Not too strenuous but
my hands didn’t like it. There were a
few hills to navigate as well. Back to
running. Eventually, we hit our first
snag…
RACE MIDPOINT
The first conundrum we hit was the over and under. Similar to the Tough Mudder’s obstacle, but
far more difficult. The logs forced you
to squeeze under, but the hard part was going over. There was nothing the help you climb. The logs were anywhere from 5 to 8 feet up
and were about a foot in diameter.
Jumping and grabbing was not an option.
We got some pointers from a fellow racer and found the technique. One person would help another up. The man up on the log would then sweep his
feet over to the other side and then grab the other man’s hands below. The individual up top would cross his arms to
grab. On the count of three, the man
below would jump while the man up top fell.
This helped propel the other man up and over the log. Once we had the technique down, the few
remaining ones were very easy.
Immediately after that was a log jump. Several log ends were sticking up in water
and one had to simply jump across. I hit
a snag when our line of logs had one that was submerged and I abruptly fell
into the cold water. But this is where
Tough Mudder and Spartan Race differ.
Spartan Races punish those who fail an obstacle! THIRTY BURPEES. That was the toll for failure. Exhausted and having wasted 5 minutes of my
time, I pushed on to the balance beams.
Not wanting to fall off, everyone but scooted across. This took way more time than necessary but
the 30 burpees was too close in my memory.
After successfully navigating this obstacle, it was back to running and
my first big idiot moment.
I got to the tire flip section and hit a snag. They are supposed to be propped onto concrete
blocks. You flip them twice forward,
then twice back and land on the block. I
saw one that wasn’t in use and proceeded to struggle. It was stuck and heavy. Note that it was not on the block. Someone mentioned for me to get inside and
pull. Worked like a top. However, on the third pull from the inside I
didn’t get out of the hole quick enough and proceeded to flip over INSIDE the tire. My buddy Mike saw the whole thing and laughed
profusely at my misery trying to extricate myself from the tire. Finally flipped it the last time and was off
again. My legs were burning at this
point and the next obstacle sucked to say the least.
We arrived at a motorcycle track and was promptly handed a
40 lb sandbag pancake. I’m not
exaggerating on the pancake part. It was
about 20” in diameter and about 3-4 inches thick. We had the privilege of running around the
track, up and down. Again, the 30
burpees for failure if you dropped the pancake.
Women had a lighter one as usual.
The run with these was about ¼ to ½ mile. Not too bad but my legs were really burning
now.
Next up was a couple sets of 6 foot walls and windows to
jump through. Standard issue. Back to running. The next few obstacles were all back to back.
Water again. This
time, a rope bridge. One up top and one
below to walk on. Not too bad if your
hands were alright.
Immediately after that was the log hop part two. This time, the logs were stretched at waist
high, directly across the water. I thought
it was another over and under at first.
Turns out, once you got up, it was a stay up situation until you got to
the other bank or 30 burpees. Scrambled
across a few and then ran across the last 2.
They were spaced out about 3-4 feet apart so it was harder trying to go
slow than just getting up and moving.
Onward to the next obstacle.
Another balance beam.
Long and arduous compounded by the fact that everyone was butt scooting
across like a dog with worms on the carpet.
Not too pleasant but uneventful.
Back to running.
FINAL STRETCH
I could hear the base camp by now. I knew I was getting close to finishing. They decided to throw some deep mud pits in
the way and a bunch of random holes. My
adrenaline was getting the best of me and pushed me forward. Eventually, I hit the final stretch of
obstacles.
The first one by the spectators was the traverse wall. It was a 20-30 foot long section of vertical
walls with 2x4 blocks nailed in at various angles for your feet and hands. One would use these to move along the wall
and ring the bell at the end to signal you are done. I made it across easily but Mike fell off
halfway. I passed him on the way over to
the next one as he did his 30 burpees.
The spear throw was next.
Sounds simple. But it was an easy
defeat for me as my spear angled up and I was again pushing the earth doing my
30 burpees. Thankfully, Mike was right
back beside me after he missed his.
 |
| Just a small fire. Nothing crazy. |
Short jog. Fire Jump. Short jog.
Rope climbs are supposed to be fun. This one sucked. I waded through water up over my head. Okay, I swam to the knotted rope and began to
climb. My arms were tired but I didn’t
want to do burpees again. I struggled
and finally rang the bell, 15 feet above the water. Slid back down and climbed a hill to the
chute.
 |
| Finish Line! |
I call it a chute because that is what it was. Ten feet wide with barb wire above and some
of the nastiest mud I’ve ever been in.
The soil was mostly clay so it stuck like superglue. The spectators liked it since they had a good
view of the whole finish line. Eventually,
I made it too the giant plinko machine.
The plinko machine was about a 20 ft tall mound of earth
with telephone poles stuck out to resemble a large plinko machine. This obstacle was another that required help
to pass. I started to shiver as I waited
my turn to climb the mound. Mike’s lips
were turning blue at this point.
Stopping in freezing weather is not a good idea. Somehow, we made it over and ran to the
finish line.
AFTERMATH
Hoses are cold. Beer
was good. Change tents had awesome
heaters.
Great Success!
Remember...
Nothing is impossible. It just takes longer.
