by Evan Dollard

Eight years ago my brother began his career as a collegiate soccer player. He attacked pre-season three-a-days with ferocity–seemingly undeterred by his underclassmen status and mess hall meal plan. Ryan soon declared confidently to be “in the best shape of his life”.

As an athlete, I appreciated his hard work. As an older brother, I felt compelled to whoop his ass. Driven by some primitive need to prove I was still the dominant older sibling, I challenged him to a mono-a-mono race at our hometown 5K.

He accepted.

After several weeks stratifying long runs and speed work, I cut my pace-per-mile by 40 seconds. On race day, I destroyed my brother’s time by blasting through the hilly course at an average speed of 10 MPH. Mission accomplished.

Fast forward to present day.

I jumped onto a treadmill at the health club last week wearing a size smedium tank top and a grin. After selecting a powerhouse playlist on my iPod, I cranked up the pace to match my victory-winning time and got after it.

Nine minutes later I found myself punching the Down Arrow icon in a race against time to prevent my body from slingshot-ing off the spinning Belt-O-Death. My putrefied, sweat-stained tank top clung to my chest as I sucked in the air around me like it was my job.

I did the math. It turns out I covered only 50% of that which I was previously capable. Needless to say, I’m not operating at full cardiovascular capacity. Perhaps even MORE noticeable, however, was the lack of stamina in my mental game.

Despite my best efforts to distract my brain-piece a la Skrillex and Lindsey Stirling, my mind gave up long before my body. By the time that sweet, elfish rock-violinist hit the bridge on “Crystallize” my mental “edge” was no sharper than rounded corners on an Instagram frame.

To be fair, as a three-season veteran of American Ninja Warrior I’ve trained myself to annihilate a gnarly series of obstacles in three minutes or less. Harnessing the mental and physical capability to post an impressive 5K time hasn’t exactly been the priority.

Until now.

I’m registered to run the Spartan Sprint in Malibu this December, and I don’t just want to finish the race… I want to crush the course. That said, my training is still missing one critical element: stakes. Since my brother and I are still locked in a bizarre competition of life achievement, it would make sense to stage a rematch.

After all:

I won American Gladiators.

He married an amazing woman.

I am Regional Champion of American Ninja Warrior.

He now owns a house.

Once I become the first American Ninja to complete Stage 4 in the Las Vegas finals, I fully expect him to have his first kid.

Unfortunately for me and my pride, Ryan is firmly planted in the Chi-town burbs and unavailable to throw down. Which begs the question:

Who wants to race?

[Editor's Note: Evan “Rocket” Dollard is a writer, actor and real-life action hero. After taking on the nation’s biggest and baddest to win the epic reboot of American Gladiators, Dollard earned Gladiator privileges to chase down Season 2 contenders as "Rocket". He then leveraged his unrivaled heroics to compete on American Ninja Warrior, and is now a three-season veteran and fan-favorite of NBC’s summer hit. Dollard is on a quest to inspire others and achieve his greatest potential. Want to learn more about Evan? Follow him on Twitter : @evandollard or follow his Athlete page on Facebook : Facebook.com/EvanDollard]

Tags: American Gladiator, American Ninja Warrior, Evan Dollard, Malibu Spartan

by Carrie Adams

Tags: Kevin Seaman, Killington, spartan beast, Spartan Tr-State, trifecta, vermont

by Carrie Adams

Chris Davis trudged up the hill, already exhausted.  With more than 11 miles left in the Spartan World Championship Beast, he was facing one of the steepest ascents of the day, and it wasn’t even dawn yet.  The terrain surrounding the small group moving up the mountainside is technical and gnarly, making each step even more arduous.  One of those in the group was founder Joe Desena, who would carry a sandbag, another was Spartan HQ Facebook maven Rachel Stuppy, and even Davis’s boss from Comcast joined in the journey.  Yet another was Spartan Death Race finisher (two times over) Josh Zitomer, and finally there was Forest Call, and he carried a familiar tool – his camera – to capture every moment of the action.

Two Death Races, two Beasts, several supers, sprints, and everything in between all with a camera in hand and a tireless attitude to get the very best shots. He is best known as the brother of the most famous obstacle course racer, Hobie Call or more recently as the boyfriend of elite racer and Dirt in Your Skirt Blogger, Margaret Schlachter. Each race Forest Call has been there to document the action.

It all started in February of 2011 when Call followed his brother, Hobie, to his first ever Spartan Race in Temecula, California.  I actually met him there, it was my first Spartan Race as well.  Call went camera in hand to capture the action of Hobie’s first race. From that race on Call became a staple of Spartan Races, following Hobie’s progression to the legend he has become today. Along the way he captured other elite racers and memorable Spartan footage and each video he makes he shares with the world on his own YouTube channel.

When asked why Call, a general contractor by day, takes time off work to travel and film and edit races for other people, he always answers “it’s my passion.” In edition to shooting and editing hundreds of hours of video footage this former downhill mountain bike racer also has competed in the 2011 Tuxedo Sprint and 2011 Utah Super. Call is no slouch himself in Utah finishing top 10 in the elite heat, without the camera that time, but finds his true love is behind the camera.

In 2012, during the Summer Death Race while filming Schlachter for her Death Race experience that he met Chris Davis. It was during this race the two chatted about the Vermont Beast, Call asked if he would be able to document Davis’s race for him. Call knew this would be an amazing experience for Davis and wanted to ensure it was captured on video. Davis immediately said, “yes” and the two started planning.

On the morning of the race Call trudged out in the woods and followed Davis for his entire thirteen and a half hour Beast capturing all the footage along the way, some of which was used in the Spartan Race recap by Mad Motion. Once back in his home state of Utah, Call sifted through hours of footage and edited together an emotional video of Davis’s race.

So Spartan Race HQ would like to give a quick,  ”thank you” to Forest Call for capturing the conclusion of Chris Davis’s journey in Vermont at the Vermont Beast. We look forward to more videos in the future from Call.

Watch the full version of Chris Davis’s journey from Forest Call HERE.

To read the Chris Davis Project recap, go HERE.

Tags: chris davis, dirt in your skirt, Forest Call, hobie call, spartan beast, vermont

by: Christina Kohfield, MA Clinical Psychology

Goals: How to Use Specificity to Meet Your Desired Outcomes

Goals. We all know they are good for us. But have you ever made a goal you did not meet? Have you ever felt frustrated because you “have tried everything” and you did not seem to make progress? The good news is that by making simple adjustments, you can reach your goals. Some of you are already be familiar with S.M.A.R.T goals from Paul J. Meyer’s “Attitude is Everything.”  But for those of you that are unfamiliar, a S.M.A.R.T goal is an acronym for goals that are based on these criteria: Goals must be:

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Relevant

Time Bound

Let’s take the first bullet point: Specific. This is the foundation for an effective goal, whether you are just getting off the couch or are an elite athlete. If all you do today is clarify your goals into very tangible, specific tasks, you will start to see improvement in your athletic performance. But, let’s take a look at a goal that you hear all the time that is not “smart”.

“I want to lose weight.”

“I want to get fit.”

While noble, these two goals will result in minimal results. You may lose a few pounds, and you may even start going to the gym, but it is very difficult to meet your true potential when your goals are non-specific. Think of it this way: a non specific goal is like saying, “I want to travel.” A specific goal is like saying, “I want to travel to India for a month. I want to see the Ganges river and then walk the base of the Himalayas.” When you read the sentence describing the trip to India, was a picture conjured up in your mind? What happened when you read, “I want to travel”? Probably, not much. See the difference?

To create a “smart” goal, go from general to specific. Then break down the specific goal into small action steps that are manageable.

For example:

General: I want to get fit.

Specific: I want to finish a Spartan Sprint race.

More specific: I want to finish a Spartan Sprint in under 90 minutes.

Action Steps: Exercise 4-6 times a week: Follow WOD’s.  Not signed up for Spartan’s?  Go HERE to get signed up.  Go to Bikram yoga, do 30 burpees a day, run 4 x’s 400 meters. Etc.

You will tailor your action steps to meet your personal goals. Following this, you cannot help but make progress. But I’m not going to kid you. Spartan race is tough. Which leads to the bullet point of Relevant.  A relevant goal is something that lights a fire under your ass. It is the perfect combination of challenging, but attainable.  Oh grasshopper, Confucius said, “The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential… these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.”

Set a specific goal, and take action steps every day, and you will literally tell yourself, “I never knew I could do that.”

You got this.

Tina Kohfield holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology with a Specialization in Children’s Studies from Antioch University.  She worked as a psychotherapist from 2002-2011 in a variety of settings: 90 day residential treatment facility for adolescents, a domestic violence shelter, chemical dependency hospital and as a therapist working in the field in an intensive, family field based service. Studied yoga with D’ana Baptiste and taught a beginning yoga class every morning in the chemical dependency hospital for a year. The COO reported that incident reports were greatly reduced when patients participated in yoga.  Kohfield is also an accomplished Spartan!  Member of the Spartan 300 she has completed the 2011 Malibu Sprint, 2012 Super in Temecula (5th in her age group), 2012 Pac NW Sprint.  Scheduled: Midwest Super this October (I will be doing the HH plus the race the next day), Sacramento Beast in November, Malibu Sprint in December, both days,Temecula Super 2013, and the Utah Beast 2013.

Tags: Christina Kohfield, spartan race

by Carrie Adams

[Author's Note: This post is a tongue-in-cheek editorial on a topic very near and dear to my heart: shorty shorts on male endurance athletes.  Well, males in general. Take it with a grain of salt, but if it leaves you wondering as to the appropriateness of your shorts, you may want to go shopping for a new pair.]

You show up on race day, ready to run.  You signed up for the Spartan WODs, logged hours of training, gotten yourself out of bed at 5:30a.m. to get your long runs in before work, you’ve said no to donuts even as they have called out to you from the conference room and instead nibbled dejectedly on your small bag of almonds and apple slices.  You’ve gotten to the track twice, maybe three times a week to run sprints to tear down your times.  Your neighbors sneak peeks of you out their windows and watch in stunned silence as you haul your Spartan pancake sandbag all over the neighborhood. You watch your splits go negative, your body fat percentage shrink, your lungs expand and your endurance grow.  While everyone else was out drinking you were hitting trails or pounding pavement.  While everyone else was chugging Guinness you were adding Chia seeds and flaxseed to your protein shake.

You ran in the rain, in the wind, up any hill you could find and then you did it again just because you could.  You’ve worn out two pairs of shoes in five months, lost a toenail or two, climbed into your bed at 8 PM the night before to be here on fresh legs and well rested.  You’re ready…

And approaching the start line the wind blows and it’s suddenly clear that you’re smack dab in the middle of a wardrobe malfunction. Your Prefontaine length shorty shorts are assaulting the eyes of every Spartan in a one block radius.  And despite the fact that your quads are stone-like and your glutes are rocking, they’re just a few inches from getting you arrested.  But it’s not your fault.  Shorty shorts were made famous in the 60’s and 70’s by the aforementioned Steve Prefontaine and his running counterparts… oh and did you watch basketball in the 80’s?  Magic Johnson and Larry Bird made quite a long legged pair on the basketball court, not to mention every rugby player on the planet that’s ever lived.  It’s not just something from our past either, this past weekend, Lance Armstrong went old school wearing a speedo in the 2012 SuperFrog Triathlon that he ultimately won.  They just won’t die.    

They’re not new to Spartan Race, either.  I’ve been around Spartan races since February 2011, so I’ve seen my fair share of Spartan shorty shorts (Gladiators at the finish line included).   I’ve also seen gorilla costumes, capes, wedding dresses, and tuxedos, a few Sponge Bob’s and even a team of Fruit of the Loom fruit men.   Shorty shorts just happen to be my pet peeve.  And ironically when it comes to shorty shorts, Spartan may have given birth to the movement.  Remember the movie?  Those 300 were wearing very little in the heat of battle.

Before all the Spartan elites and Speedy McSpeedies out there freak out and starts throwing things like goo packets and Gatorade bottles at me… let me clarify a few things.  And I know what you are going to say… that shorter shorts can have an impact on “performance,” “speed,” and “comfort.”  Blah, blah, blah I know the reasons…I get that.  Admittedly, not all shorty shorts are created equal and our Spartans do a pretty good job of keeping it in check.  At the end of the day, it is a game of inches (of wicking fabric.)  Most Spartan shorty rockers aren’t about showing it off, they are focused on performance and by all means, that’s important.  Gear is an important part of the performance equation and you deserve to be comfortable… But so do my eyes. 

Now that I’ve effectively beaten, shamed, and angered about 25% of the male running population I will offer a ray of hope and an olive branch and a few tips for anyone in doubt about the shortness of their shorts:

I’m not saying that you need to wear basketball shorts but there is a possibility that a new pair of shorts (‘Cause maybe you’ve gained a few pounds since you bought the shorts in ‘99 or the shorts you wore in middle school have had their day in the sun) might be in order.

Simple test… when you do a lunge, whatever skin feels the breeze is skin we can see while you’re running.  Maybe you don’t care, but, well, everyone else on the planet does.

An inch of fabric goes a long way.  When in doubt, add one… or four.  If an inch is the difference between you winning or losing a race, then either it wasn’t your day or you just aren’t training hard enough.  There, I’ve said it.

Quick reminder – we have fire jumping… marinate on that for a second.

The Spartan elites have the formula down.  The likes of Hobie Call, Junyong Pak, and Marco Bedard (among others) have found the balance and so check them out at the start line.  You can’t argue with results.  These guys are getting it done and the short length is respectable.

That said… If you’re a fast guy and think you or your running crew might be legit ‘Shorty Rockers’ and proud of it send me your pictures at carrie@spartanrace.com.

Ready to race?  Get Registered TODAY. 

Tags: shorty shorts, Spartan Races

by Carrie Adams

The rain hadn’t let up in hours.  Mike Morris checked his watch again as darkness started to fall.  He and the three other members of his team were two days into a three day Adventure Race in Maine, had paddled nearly 75 miles that day, and they had a five mile portage to the next checkpoint looming ahead.  As if that weren’t enough, their canoe cart had broken so that meant their heavy canoes and gear would be carried the five miles to their next checkpoint (CP) .  It was a bad omen for Morris and his team, who was new to the sport at the time.  All he could think was, “Cold, raining, cold, raining.”

Team GearJunkie

When they finally got to the next checkpoint, Morris and his team threw their boats in the water, paddled to inlet to what they believed was the next CP, the rain still fell heavy and cold. Something was wrong.  They scanned the area but saw no checkpoint.  So, they began the “go in circles and cross your fingers” approach in hopes that they would stumble upon the CP.

Then they retraced their steps, attempting to confirm their position on the map they’d spent all night before the race plotting.  By midnight they were colder, wetter, frustrated, and a bit delirious for not sleeping for two nights prior.  Their only option was to lie down under their canoes, wrap up in tarps, and sleep.  When they awoke it was nearly 5 AM and they were all shivering uncontrollably they needed to move.  Lucky for them they had daylight on their side for the checkpoint search.  But they still had no luck.

Morris and his team got in the water and paddled to all the inlets in the area for the next five hours double checking their location.  They took breaks only to eat, pee in their wetsuits, and finally call the Race Director (RD) on the satellite phone to make sure that the race organizers didn’t get worried and send out the rescue team.

But when it was noon and they had made no progress, they had no option but to go back to the map to confirm the checkpoint they had plotted earlier (in most Adventure Races, or AR’s you have to plot the checkpoints yourself on your map).  Stunned and frustrated, they realized they were one grid off and had been searching for the CP in the wrong spot.  After plotting it correctly, they were on their way, hours wasted being lost.

Morris and his team, were “short coursed”, meaning they were allowed to continue racing despite having missed mandatory cut-off times.  They ultimately finished on a shorter length course earning a finish time but were ineligible for prizes and they earned no ranking for all their trouble.  They did learn a valuable lesson about course plotting.  As Morris puts it, “We spent the entire winter/spring training for this race and had wasted it (and hundreds of dollars) because we were morons.”

Getting lost is something that all racers fear but is always a risk, even on the well-marked Spartan courses.  How can you minimize your risk of getting lost?

Pay Attention to Course Markings

Spartan Courses are marked well, but you can still miss arrows and tape if you aren’t vigilant or if you become distracted during the longer running segments. Our recent Vermont Beast (and Ultra Beast) course was marked with over 10,000 feet of marking tape and there were over 400 course arrows placed by our crew, but folks still got lost, most notably when they took an existing mountain bike trail up the mountain that wasn’t part of the course instead of following the arrow down the mountain.

“It was  a well-worn path so my brain told me to follow it,” said one Ultra Beast racer who ended up doing an extra six miles.  “I saw the marker on the second loop after I figured out where I’d gone off track.  Whoops.”

Morris, Race Director for Spartan Race and experienced Adventure Racer is no stranger to being lost. “I’ve been lost too many times.  Not including the races where I had to navigate with a map and compass.  Most of the times I got off course though were my fault,” says Morris.  “Once I was trying to adjust my music player and blew right by a turn.  I was pretty green at racing and just kept running thinking the course markings would resume.  Well… they didn’t.  I went a few extra miles during that race.”

Don’t Just Follow the Herd

Never assume that the person in front of you knows where they are going – “herd mentality” or a momentary distraction can lead a racer off track easily.  Just because a whole group is moving one direction it doesn’t mean it is the right direction.

“I’ve been lost and just followed the people in front of me,” explains Morris.  “I figured if the entire pack was running this way then I was OK.  All of a sudden the entire group was turning around. “I quickly learned that during off-road races it’s my responsibility to watch out for my own well-being on the course… nobody else. “

What if you DO get lost?

Don’t Panic.  If you’ve gone a ways and are not seeing any trail markings, you could be lost, but the reality is that you may not be as far off or out as you think you are.  Stop moving and use your senses to get oriented.  Look for trail markings in all directions, listen for familiar sounds, and if that doesn’t give you a direction to follow then attempt to backtrack to your original location where you may have gone off-course.  With 350,000 racers and counting, we haven’t lost a racer yet!   We have course sweepers, full medical, and rescue crews on site for every race as well.  We won’t leave a Spartan behind.

So don’t sweat it or try to over plan on our courses on race day.  Have fun, pay attention and you’ll finish as you intended without any extra FREE miles.

Tags: adventure racing, Mike Morris, spartan beast, spartan race

by Carrie Adams

Building the sport of obstacle racing has been a passion of Spartan Race since we began.  As the only event with world rankings, points, and chip times, we rely on our timing to be the best in the business, particularly at championship events such as the recent Ultra Beast.

Our friends at J-Chip USA, who have been timing Spartan’s US events the past two years and recently shared with Spartan Blog their results from their experiments with obstacle split times (similar to swim/bike/run splits in triathlon) at the New England Sprint and Mid-Atlantic Super, have combed through the data collected from six timing checkpoints at the Ultra Beast and now offer their unique perspective on the Spartan Ultra Beast – By the Numbers.

UB Applications Accepted: 400
Athletes Who Showed Up: 366 (92%)
Athletes Who Finished: 156 (39%)
Fastest Time: Cody Moat (7:01:29)
Slowest Time: Spartan’s own Steve Halstead (17:59:52) who started at 4am with Chris Davis!  Don’t worry Steve, we know it was your birthday AND you were told to stay out there for a while to help with operations.

Average Time (Overall) – 11:11:35  (11:02:29 excluding “The Lost Tribe”)
Average Time (Loop #1)  – 5:01:58   (4:52:18 excluding “The Lost Tribe”)
Average Transition Time – 0:15:28   (0:15:09 excluding “The Lost Tribe”)
Average Time (Loop #2)  – 5:54:09   (5:56:23 excluding “The Lost Tribe”)
Average Ratio (Loop 2 vs. Loop 1) – Loop 2 was 18.5% slower than Loop 1 (22% excl. “The Lost Tribe”)

*NOTE: Stats are presented excluding the 24 “Lost Tribe” runners who went off course and lost 60-90 minutes in Loop 1.  Since many of them went on to “negative split” their 2^nd loop, the UB stats are much more accurate excluding them.

Extremes in Transition:
*Fastest Transition: David Chandler (Cary, NC) – Only 25 seconds!
*Slowest Transition: Michael Sandercock (Milwaukee, WI) – 43 minutes, 16 seconds
*Junyong Pak completed Lap1 with over 26 minutes to make up on Brakken Kraker (then 2^nd Place in the UB).  Kraker, who came in from Lap1 in under 3 hours  (earning 3^rd in the Elite Beast behind Cody Moat and Hobie Call) took over 16 minutes in transition before heading out for Lap2.  Pak cleared transition in 3:07 – gaining 13 minutes on Kraker, which proved to be the difference between 2^nd and 3^rd, as Pak only edged out Kraker by 9 minutes.

Notable Ratios:
*Ultra Beast champion Cody Moat was 40% slower on his Lap2 (3:58:13) than his Lap1 (2:49:37).  After pushing so hard to complete his 1^st loop in front of Hobie Call, Cody just needed to “coast” through his 2^nd loop to maintain the 30-minute lead he’d opened.
*Joseph Nuara was 17% faster on his Lap2, since he carried 26.2 pounds of extra weight with his team (The Burning Muckmen) on Lap1.  When his teammates opted not to continue on after spending over 6 hours on Lap1, Joseph went out on his own and blazed through Lap2 by himself in 5:06:16!

In addition, the J-Chip timing crew caught two cheaters (who shall remain nameless) who cut out the 4-mile loop (out 2 miles from transition then back 2 miles to the festival area) on the 2^nd lap.  J-Chip had strategically placed a mat to capture the time that it took everyone to leave transition and return to the 4-mile checkpoint.  Split times for this 4-mile loop on Lap1 ranged from Cody Moat’s 45 minutes to The Lost Tribe’s 2 ½ hours.  On Lap2, J-Chip noted two 4-mile splits under 10 minutes, meaning the runners headed out on the loop and immediately turned around on the return trail and proceeded through the checkpoint.  Both runners were promptly DQ’d…so let this serve as a notice to anyone who thinks of cheating at a Spartan Race – WE WILL BE WATCHING.

Like our course builders and race directors, our J-Chip timing crew is among the first to arrive on race day (4AM for the Ultra Beast) and last to leave (11PM departure), and for championship events, they take hours to audit the results before they are posted.  This year’s Ultra Beast results were delivered at 4:30am, then the crew went out and did it again Sunday.  Above are J-Chip’s (L-R) Disco Stu, Kurt, Andrew, and Russ.  Thanks guys, you ROCK!

Tags: J-Chip, marathon distance, obstacle race, Spartan Ultra Beast

by Carrie Adams

Race day always brings stories from the community.  This one is a doozy!

The Ultra Beast featured a team element that included a $15,000 payday for the winner.  Only eight teams were brave enough to take on the monumental task that included specific requirements for the team, including carrying at least a 26.2 pound team weight throughout the course.  One team, dubbed team Rollover, had a more than monumental start when their truck rolled just minutes before the race kicked off.  The team included Kevin Donoghue (his vehicle), Eric Matta, and Andrew Hostetler (who we featured in an “Every Obstacle Matters” post in Amesbury.  Read more HERE.)

They pulled up to the medic tent to unload their gear bin and didn’t see the ditch on the side of the road with a sharp drop off.  As driver Kevin Donoghue pulled up, the front tire slid over the side and the truck flipped.  All three team members were in the vehicle at the time and because they had their seat belts on, they were safe and able to race.  They crawled out with about 30 minutes before the start reorganizing their gear that had gone all over in the flip and ran up to the transition zone.  Donoghue spoke with police and with ten minutes to spare, the kind folks at Amphibious Medics (Donoghue’s brother’s company) took over the responsibility of getting the car flipped back over and the team took off!

When the team circled back after their first loop, the truck had been flipped, had the side mirror re-attached, cleaned, AND given an oil change.  It was even drivable!  Well, for a day.  Kevin got stuck in Rutland, VT just a few miles down the road and is currently awaiting additional repairs.

Photos courtesy of Crystal Fam

They were lucky no one was hurt in the accident and it also had no effect on their dancing skills.  They had the best half-time performance during their transition, busting moves to loud music while they ate and prepped for their second 14 mile loop of the day.   Bearing witness to their dancing skills, I’m prone to recommending they stick to the obstacle racing.  The pre-race car roll didn’t deter the team’s performance; however, they ended up finishing in second place. Not too shabby, guys.

Tags: Ode to Sparta, Spartan Vermont Beast, Team Rollover, Ultra Beast

by Carrie Adams

Our first ever Spartan Ultra Beast has come and gone.  More than a marathon on three mountain peaks in Killington, where 325 would begin and only 162 would finish.  There are a multitude of reasons why the DNFs were so prevalent, including a crew who have since dubbed themselves, “The Lost Tribe” who got lost on the first loop that added an additional six miles to their trek.  There were those who were admittedly ill-prepared and those who developed injuries, there were those who just simply didn’t want to continue, the thought of returning for another loop or taking another step too much to bear.

Image courtesy of Timothy Burgher

We’ve recounted the high points and the winners, the ones who can call themselves finishers who can wear their glow-in-the-dark medals with pride, who conquered the Ultra Beast, met the time cut-offs, survived the storm, and crossed the finish line.   And that story is inspiring.  But there is another story, the story of the 163 others, the ones who left the mountain without a medal, who had no ceremonious step over the finish line… the story of those with the designation DNF: Did Not Finish.  A painful designation that many had never experienced, the agony of something started that will remain unfinished and whether they were three miles or a full loop from the end, a DNF is just that; something that is left to be completed.  A DNF leaves a mark not easily overcome.

There are those who will rail and rant against it, who will excuse it away and who will make it a reason to never return.  And the emotional reaction is wrapped up in a moment that almost was… but never will be, and it’s not easy to reconcile.  For some, the DNF has come to represent something else altogether… something to redeem.  It has become the ignition of a fire that won’t easily burn out.  Because the only thing worse than living in the past is not recognizing that there is a future ahead.  And for many of them, that future is set on finishing what eluded them in Vermont.  A Spartan Ultra Beast finish.   Redemption.

Here are their stories in their own words.

“I originally pictured the finish line as a goal.  But the real finish is so much further than the finish line.  It’s at the Pickle Barrel for the after party.  Its Sunday when those racers take the field.  Its next month when people are still asking “Well how bad was it?  Really.”  Its next year at the Amesbury Sprint.  The NJ Super and at the Death Race.  The finish will be every single day after the race, whether its training for another race or just having a run.  It will be that sense of pride when I talk with these other crazy Spartans and we smile at the word “Crazy”.  The finish line is so much more than an inflated arch.  It’s that accomplishment of completing the task, whatever the task maybe.” – James Horgan (read more from James HERE.)

“DNF’ing a mere 3.5 miles from the finish and missing the time cutoff by minutes is a bitter pill to swallow.  One can’t help but look back at the race and see where minutes could have been easily shaven off had they truly gone 100%, which would have turned this failure into success.  It’s painful to fail and fall short but to fail knowingly that you didn’t lay it all on the line and could have prepared better is worse because it’s almost lie cheating yourself and squandering an opportunity.  It was a valuable lesson and given the chance at redemption, which I do crave, I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that I’d come out on top.” – Paul DiMarino

“I’ve been racing for a year now, both in road races and in five Spartan Races.  I have succeeded and suppressed my goals in every race I’ve tackled.  My goal for the UB was to simply complete it.  I did not meet that goal.  What was going to be a crowning achievement in maiden year of racing was a failure. I’m settled on redemption.  I feel this is a great lesson, not only for me but for my children.  I want to show them that when life challenges you, you don’t just curl up in a ball and give up.  You take your past experience and use it to train tougher than you ever did, fight harder and go get what you want.  I’ll be training everyday with my green wristband to remind me of this.” – Tanya Logan

“It was supposed to be a representation of how much I have changed my life.  I was supposed to leave my old self on one side of the finish line and hold my UB medal on the other side.  Getting lost was my own fault, I didn’t push hard enough, I didn’t train on enough hills, too many diet cheat days, doubt after doubt… and it hurts.  How much more of my old self do I still carry with me?  How much of my old life is still weighing me down?  My old self constantly accepted failure.  This current me cannot and will not.  I need to know that I am no longer who I was.”  -John Pollock

“DNF Ultra: No regrets, no excuses, no more words about the past!  SR better give me a tougher course and the chance for redemption because I will not be defeated twice!” – Chad Weberg

“This is my first ever DNF.  The disappointment is still lingering today.  All I can think about is signing up for next year’s race to earn the redemption I feel I need.  I did not quit, I was pulled at the 10 mile check point on my second lap.  I now know that even though I could have finished it if allowed, I need to move a little faster.  I can only hope that I will be allowed to redeem myself.” – Jason Ross

“I left a piece of me on those mountains, I want it back.  Plain and simple.” – Hector Puente.

Tags: marathon distance, obstacle race, Spartan Ultra Beast

By Carrie Adams

As the clock ticks closer to the start times in Vermont, the chatter that has resonated all season is reaching a more fevered and frenzied pitch.  Conversations and speculation run rampant on Facebook and the decided lack of information (everyone knows we never release maps of our races) on the course except a leaked photo or two here and there and ominous rules and emails from HQ that has left a lot to the imagination of our athletes.  It’s been promised that this course will be one even the most tried and tested Spartan has never seen and the crew on the ground in Killington is working night and day to ensure that is delivered.  From the tongue in cheek – a picture of alligator infested waters with the caption “New addition to the course” (posted by yours truly) to the serious – the operations team on the ground coordinating with local medical and search in rescue teams in preparation for the two days of heats, the competitors have much to reflect on before they race off into the dark Vermont mountains for their Spartan Beast experience.

Spartan Races have never been for the faint of heart.  Most of our athletes who venture out on race day seek only to finish the race and cross the finish line but for others, the Spartan courses are providing a new level of competition and a new sport complete with world rankings, an international point system and a professional and Olympic level athleticism that sees participation from athletes across a myriad of sporting backgrounds.  The competition in Vermont is stacking up to be monumental.  The highlights of some of the top men in the field we released earlier this week in this BLOG, touting some of the beast alongside the most notable up and comers in the evolving sport of Obstacle Racing.  But the newness of the sport also affords the opportunity for the wild cards, the unknowns to take a stab at their affinity for an event that forces competitors to be well-rounded in strength, speed, stamina, agility, and power.

The women’s field that we previewed yesterday in this BLOG will prove just as competitive and with the inclusion of the world’s first ever Ultra Beast competition, a marathon(ish) distance obstacle race, history will be made in the Killington Mountains.  As a sport, we’ve grown and expanded and the Spartan Vermont Beast is the official Spartan Race 2012 Championship Race.  As you may recall, in 2011, the championship race was held in Texas in December, Glen Rose to be exact.  Hobie Call and Jenny Tobin walked away with our top male and top female spots.  However, for 2012, the winner of the Vermont Beast in Killington will be declared Spartan Race Champion and the World’s Greatest Obstacle Racer for 2012.  Both Tobin and Call will be on hand in Vermont.

Multiple elements make Vermont unique.  Held in the backyard of the infamous Spartan Death Race, the mountains are dark, mysterious, and treacherous for all who enter.  Making it more challenging this time around, the Vermont Beast is mostly self-support.  Meaning there isn’t a friendly water station every few miles stocked with water, Gatorade, or bananas like there was last year.  To increase the difficulty of the experience, it was decided that these distances would be constructed so that the athletes had to prepare to support their race themselves with nutrition and water they had to bring with them for the duration.  This decision, inspired by the adventure racing Race Directors and staff at HQ used to self-support races, is a redefinition of “tough” in an age of mud runs, and fun runs emerging around the globe.  This isn’t that kind of fun.  Spartan Race HQ’s own Mike Morris, who serves as the Race Director for the Vermont Beast gave some tips on how to successfully self-support and also included some crucial tips on the right kind of gear necessary for an event of this kind.  See those links here:

Links for Suggested Gear (per Race Director).  How to Self Support.

Last year’s course was brutalizing with over 3,000 feet of elevation gain in the first 5K alone.  That’s just 3.1 miles and one of the three mountaintops the competitors faced last August.  The same elevation gain was experienced in the 2012 Tri-State Spartan Race in New Jersey as well, but was spread out over the entire 10.5 mile course.   Weather may also prove a factor in 2012 with temps around the 40 degree mark expected on Saturday morning, when last year’s temperatures were warmer – the August heat still easily felt from peak to valley.

From self-support to cooler temps and promises of a tougher, more intense course, this weekend is quickly stacking up to be the one to watch.  We’ll be bringing you updates all week on the blog and on FB and full coverage of the weekend of racing heats will be provided from our Facebook page on race day.  Stay tuned…

Tags: spartan beast, spartan race, vermont