The Spartan Sprint was one for the records. Having been used to 5k length obstacle races, I approached it with my limited experience. I used the same training strategy as I used with the others (Moonshine Mud Run, St. Claire Scramble) which led me to a great 1:06 time, but sheesh, a sprint it was not. I quickly learned to take this one a little slower than my normal obstacle race pace.
My friends and I drove the approximately five hours from Huntsville, Al to Conyers, Georgia getting there just early enough to have a good night sleep. I awoke three hours before my event, had a great breakfast with my buddies and headed for the Spartan Race Atlanta 2014 event.
We found the location with no problem and were funneled into the arrival and parking line by helpful volunteers. After following well laid out directions, I paid $10 for car entry, parked where directed and walked the approximately one mile to the race venue.
Since we printed out our liability forms, we could walk right to our registration line unhindered. The registration line was a surprise for me as this time we queued by bib number. Since my name begins with the popular "B", I usually find myself in a really long line of people whose names begin with the letters A-C. This time, the line wasn't so long.
We picked up our race packed and emptied the contents. Inside were Spartan building ingredients: 1 headband with bib number, wristband for heat time, wrist band for chip, chip and bib. Important, use wrist band for chip, don't forget that part. If you put your wristband on without the chip, then you have to seek out another one. After getting properly outfitted in Spartan gear, I headed to the quartermaster to check my bags. Two additional things you need to bring:
Picture ID - You will need picture ID for proof of identity prior to picking up your race packet.
Cash - You need to bring some bread for a few things. One, the quartermaster doesn't work for free and checked baggage is $5.00 for this trip. Two, there's lots of great swag and food to buy.
I got settled in and waited for my 10:30 heat to start. I was just early enough to look at a few obstacles that passed through the registration village and go for a warm up jog.
We also watched a few Spartan racers arriving late to the 10:15 heat perform 5 burpees for their tardiness.
Prior to getting to the starting gate, we passed a checkpoint where the staff verified we were indeed part of the 10:30 heat.
Once permitted to pass, we scaled a four foot wall and passed to the starting chute.
The start announcer went into a speech that challenged us to be Spartans. He talked about rebirth and trials. I took that to be a bit over hyped at the time (more on that later). After a small motivational talk the race started with a sudden, "go".
In this particular race the event began with simple obstacles getting more difficult as the miles passed. The first obstacle was a very short 12-15 inch hurdle into shin deep, freezing cold, breath stealing, mud water. There were three of those and then I was off again. However, my easy pace had disintegrated into a survival trot. Moments later, I got my breath back and started a more meaningful run.
All the obstacles were top notch and very safe. My goal was not to do any burpees. This race required 30 burpees for each missed event, or so the rumor went. The traverse wall, log hop, spear throw and pulley had me the most worried. However, I took each obstacle slowly with deliberate effort. Yay, no burpees. There was a cool obstacle that had two paths. One was very difficult and one very easy. I gambled and took the path less chosen and ended shaving more time as I was alone while everyone else clamored over a huge obstacle.
As the race progressed, some over exuberant contestants petered out a bit. I kept the slow and steady approach and gained ground. I was worried as a few folks suddenly sprinted by me up hill. I said to myself, "what stamina, good for them". Unfortunately, that sprint was all they had and soon they began walking.
All the obstacles proved challenging. Some of the tougher ones, like high walls, pulleys, sand bags and the very difficult tire drag tested my strength and endurance. I am shortish (5'10") and weigh 149 pounds and some obstacles were way over my head and weighed more than I did soaking wet. I heard the words "trial" and "rebirth" from the starting speech again in my head.
However, there was one huge wall that demanded impossibly to be scaled. As I approached from the uphill trail, the wall grew in size until I was just a mere mortal staring up at a 10 foot giant. I stood there for a many long moments shaking my head and observing a few others trying to find some motivation. Some helped each other over, but I didn't have a partner. Others ran at the wall, jumped and bounced off, only to try again. Me, I was just stumped and very intimidated. Again, I just stared at it until finally an idea hit me.
I just needed to be true to my training. After doing thousands of chin ups and traversing swing set support poles and I-beams with my fingertips, I knew at least I had some foundation. My approach? Jump as high as I could and try to reach the top with my fingertips. Again, a "slow and steady" approach. I took a deep breath and jumped as hard as I could.
Small victory number one, I reached the top and hung there by my finger tips.
Small victory number two, I took a deep breath and pulled myself up to my rest my forearms on the top.
Small victory number three, I kicked my legs onto the top and hoisted myself over.
Large victory....I left that wall behind. I wore a huge smile the rest of the race.
The final 100 yards of the race was slow and tedious. I lost a lot of time there because I couldn't get past the folks in front of me so I went with the flow. We crawled through mud like a mass of slithering humanity with barbed wire just inches above us.
Now, I'm not talking a crawl on our hands and knees, this is the belly crawl with face in the mud kind of determination. After getting through a significant length of this mud bath, we crawled into a ditch and then back out only to find another length of mud crawl the same distance. A woman next to me screamed obscenities and took Joe DeSena's name in vain. She looked at me, apologized, and with determination we continued to move.
Once out, I jumped over the fire and ran through the Spartan gauntlet.
Thanks for a great time Spartan Race...
Speaking of Joe DeSana....
