Spartan Race

I have been working with a trainer for about a year when I came upon a TV program about Spartan. The next day I told my trainer that I wanted to do one and chose the Sprint here as my inaugural race. We put together a team which is a great way to go, especially for a first race.
What a fun challenge! We all loved it and felt that we really accomplished something. A ski slope course is a hell of a first race though so train hard. I really loved the obstacles as overcoming them was like nothing I have done before. So much more interesting than just doing a regular race. I am hooked and now looking forward to the Super in NJ!
Some things to help you prepare:
1. Check out blogs or websites about obstacle course running for tips, techniques and equipment. I like dirty
but there are others.
2. Go to YouTube and look up videos of prior races to get a feel for the course and obstacles that you may encounter.
3. A common complaint from runners was that this event didn’t have enough drinking water on the course. There were only two stations and it was a hot day on the slopes. Consider carrying your own. I would say that this is a must for the longer races. Likewise consider carrying some fuel.
4. I wore minimalist shoes which drained well but did not provide the cushioning for the rocks and roots that you step on. Don’t use minimalist shoes unless you are used to trail running with them. I just bought Rebok trail shoes that I think are better suited to this type of run. I’m leaving my minimalist shoes for the gym.
5. You just can’t do enough burpees while training.
Hope you find this helpful. Go for it!
AROO!

I brought my family there in early June on a Sunday for the kids race. We chose the «Varsity» race, which is one mile long for kids aged 9 – 13, versus the ½ mile long «Junior Varsity» race for ages 4 – 8. Originally I signed up 2 of my kids, since my oldest was 14 already. But that morning, we decided to see if we could get him in anyway while paying $ 5 extra for in-​person registration. It was no problem, as they are not strict at all when it comes to age.
So anyway, registration took a while since there were a couple of forms to fill out and data entry. I think they should find a way to speed it up as there were maybe 3 families in front of me and it takes at least 10 mins each. Not only that, it wasn’t easy finding the kids booth. And the forms that needed to be filled out should have been easily available and more obvious to everyone that they needed to be filled out, which would have saved time at the booth. The kids got to choose their (free) t-​shirt size which was nice, so that everyone didn’t get a large! Then on to the race! But where was it? There were NO signs anywhere. We found out we had to cross a road. Then we had to ask again. Ok, up the stairs and pass a desk. Well, now where? Ok, now there were very few volunteers to ask for help. Kept walking and saw a bunch of kids in the distance and aimed for them. Still no signs anywhere. Got to the kids but still couldn’t tell which race it was, or when it was starting. The reason we couldn’t tell which race was because it was a mixture of younger and older kids. I found out later that they really didn’t monitor whether your kid’s age fit into each bracket. So there were 6 yr olds competing with 14 yr olds! Luckily, it’s not actually a race, so it didn’t matter. And the kids were sent in groups of about 20. And it made sense that parents get their young kids on the longer course since you’re paying the same price.
The course was supposedly harder than last years, which was good. There’s some mud crawling, walking thru water, climbing a couple of walls, climbing thru some rocky woods (You can’t see them at this point), a potato sack run, then up and over a webbed obstacle. It took about a half hour. The race itself was good. I’d say that 13 and under is a good range if the older kids aren’t especially athletic and competitive. It could be a little boring for them.
There were a few other events going on to test yourself, but we didn’t really participate in anything else. The only restrooms are portapotties. The place is a ski resort during the winter. We din’t check out the food options either.
All in all, I thought the race was ok. The organization there and signage were severely lacking. But if you’re into fitness, at least you get a chance to be among the fittest people around and get to watch them struggle though their own course.
To sum up,

It was a great race, and a beautiful mountain to have it on! Everything was very well-​organized, from the parking lots, through the check-​ins, down to the finish line. We were able to get through it all quickly and smoothly. And the race itself was highly exciting and challenging. Varied terrain, lovely views and scenery, and a wide variety of obstacles. Throughout the day, the staff and volunteers were very friendly and encouraging. It was a really awesome day, and would do it again. Great job everyone!

Great tracks and obstacles, not hard to get there from jersey, only 45 mins, a lot of hiking I must say that gets you tired right from the beginning, I will def come back here next year