Spartan Race

SPARTANS!! What is your profession!!

Well it wasn't quite that amped up but it was still pretty fun. The Spartan Race made it to Hawaii for the first time. For those who may not know, the Spartan Race is a 5k run with a little over 20 obstacles along the way. It sounded awesome so some friends and I signed up as soon as registration opened. We had months to train for it and condition our bodies to conquer each obstacle. So naturally, we took it easy, got lazy, didn't train, and some even forgot about the race altogether and needed to be reminded. Good thing our plan was to take it easy!

Sheri, Jen, Myself, and Sterling. Game-faces!

The Course & Obstacles

The course wound through beautiful Kualoa Ranch. For those familiar with the Xterra run, it's the same area. It's tucked within a lush valley right next to a pristine beach, it's about as scenic of a running venue you could ever have. We started at a steady jog and soon came to the first obstacle: Over-Under-Over. Hop over a 4 foot wall, crawl under a 2 foot barrier, then over a 4 foot wall again. Simple right? It was. Next we trudged through a steady stream. The water came up to my chest. The course wasted no time getting us soaked.

The next obstacle was climbing over a 5 foot wall. No problem for me but my friend Sheri, who is about five feet tall, had some issues. She forgot to jump and basically ran into the wall. On her second attempt she remembered to jump and made it over with no embarrassing collisions.

We jogged through some jungle terrain for a while and came to the net climb. It wasn't your typical cargo net, it was made of thinner material. I had to be a little more mindful of where I put my feet and made it up no problem.

Then we had to climb up a 6 foot wall. A bit harder this time. I couldn't simply hop up and over but had to pull myself up high enough to swing my leg over. Sheri and Jen got a boost from Sterling, who being 6'4 or something like that became the designated boost-guy.

Next we came to a 7 foot wall...hmm, I'm noticing a pattern here. This one was hard. Sterling boosted Jen and Sheri over. I wanted to try it on my own but Sterling was there to spot me if needed. I got a running start, jumped, and pulled my elbows over the top of the wall. Then I sort of wormed my way up the wall until I could bring my foot up to the lip. I swung myself up and over only to realize I had flung myself into a 7 foot drop. My weight was a little too far forward and when I hit the ground I damn near rolled forward as a result of the impact but instead I stumbled with my arms out in front of me like a klutz. I managed not to fall but I think rolling would've been a less stressful way to deal with the landing...it would've looked cooler too.

We continued along the course at a brisk walking pace joking about how the obstacles just seem to be walls that get progressively higher. So what could the next obstacle be? An 8 foot wall? Yep, that's exactly right! Ok, this one was a challenge. With a running start I jumped, reached, and managed to get my elbows over the lip of the wall. Just like the last wall, I wormed my way up until I could swing my leg up. However instead of just flinging myself over I sat on top of the wall first, steadily got my other leg up and over, and lowered myself down the other side facing the wall. It was a much gentler way to get myself down.

Sterling got over the wall with the help of a fellow Spartan Racer. The two of us then went back to help boost Jen and Sheri over. Sterling provided a foothold while I lifted them up so they could reach the lip. They got up and over no problem, now that's freakin teamwork!

Eventually we came to the tire pull, which was pretty cool. Pick up a tire, which is tied to a stake in the ground, carry it until the rope is taught, then go back and use the rope to pull the tire back. Another cool obstacle was the transverse wall climb. Instead of going up and over, you scale along the side of the wall like a ninja. Wood pegs provide small hand and footholds. For me, the key to this one was to keep calm, spot where your foot was going to land, and move at your own pace. Don't rush or stall, keep moving but move at your own rate. I watched several people try to go too fast and slip off the wall while others stalled out and fell because their grips fatigued.

There were a few obstacles that were just loops. Drag some concrete blocks in a loop. Carry a bag of sand in a loop. Carry a concrete block from point A to point B then back to point A. These obstacles weren't all that fun. It's just going in a loop. You don't get anywhere or progress along the course so meh.

Crawling under barbed wire wasn't fun either, which is what several obstacle had us do. For starters, the wires sag a lot so we had to lift them up in order to get under them without getting snagged. Then the ground is made to be wet and muddy which slows things down and we always got jammed up. But the worst part is that the ground is really rocky and we got all scraped and cut up, which didn't feel too great because each cut was instantly filled with mud.

Towards the end of the race we came to one of the most challenging obstacles of the day: a muddy rope climb. Picture a large pit filled with about 4 feet of muddy water with 9 ropes hanging into it. At the top of each rope is a bell you have to ring to signal success. We watched person after person climb, slip, and splash down in the muddy pit. A few made it to the top. The crowd would rally behind those who got close to the top but stalled out just barely out of reach of the bell. Some were able to make the final surge to the bell while some valiantly tried but came up short.



The rope climb. I climbed the rope on the far right

I closely watched those who made it to the bell and noticed they utilized their legs a lot for the climb. Those who couldn't quite get their legs in place slipped. All the mud was making the ropes slick and hand grip alone didn't seem to be enough to hang on.

Ok, having noted that it was my turn. Before I started to climb I fished around in the muddy water with my leg to find the bottom part of the rope. I got my legs around it then began to climb. Surprisingly, the rope wasn't as slippery as I thought it would be and I pulled my self up. The knots in the rope provided good footholds too. I got to the section where there wasn't much mud on the rope and thought I was golden. There should be enough grip to pull with my arms alone. I was wrong. The rope was actually slicker, what the heck! I slid down a few inches and had to catch myself before I slid all the way. Ok, gut-check time. Figure out a way to make it to the bell or slide back down. I made it pretty high, no shame in backing out and sliding back down right? Nah, I wanted to get to that bell!

There were no more knots for me to utilize in the top section of the rope so it would be a bit tricky to climb the last couple of feet. I remembered about how other people used their legs so I gripped tight with my hands, squeezed with my legs, and wormed my way up. The legs gave the extra grip I needed. I got up a little bit and felt that was as far as I could go. I looked up to see how far away the bell was and to my surprise it was right there in front of me. I reached up, rang it, and carefully slid back down into the mud. A quick note for the guys, when sliding down, don't squeeze too much with your legs because your crotch might slide over a knot. Trust me, it doesn't feel good...

The next obstacle required us to use a rope to scale over a steeply angled wooden wall. It wouldn't be hard at all if it was dry but it was muddy as hell. Several people lost their footing and slid down the wall. One guy fell so hard he twisted his ankle. Ok, this one could be dangerous so mind your footing. I told the others the goal is not to get hurt so if they feel their feet slipping just focus on controlling the fall and slide down easily.

Sterling went first. He scaled the wall to the top but as he reach the lip his feet slipped. He no longer had his hands on the rope but had his fingers over the lip of the wall. He tried but couldn't pull himself up and slid back down. It was just too slippery.

Jen went next. She scaled the rope to the top and a fellow Spartan Racer helped pull her up and over the top. The same guy helped Sheri up and over.

My turn. The rope and wall was slippery as hell but I got to the top. I reached for the lip of the wall expecting to be able to grab onto something and have enough grip to pull myself up the rest of the way but it didn't happen quite like I imagined. All I felt was slippery mud on a flat surface. There was barely anything to grip onto. I almost lost it and slid back down the wall but I still had my other hand on the rope. I dug my fingers into the muddy surface of the wall and strained to use what little rope I had left to pull myself up a little more. I didn't let go of the rope until I got my weight over the top of the wall. I made my way over nice and steady. It was really slick and I knew I wasn't safe from slipping until I was completely over the wall.



The final challenge: Spartans with padded sticks!

The final obstacle involved jumping over a low fire and then running through a gauntlet of “Spartans” wielding padded staffs who try to whack you, ala American Gladiator style, as you run to the finish line. I jumped over the fire and began to charge the Spartans. The first one locked onto me and got ready to swing. I sped up and feinted charging right at him only to stop right as he began his swing. The dude whiffed and lost his balance a little. I got a kick out of that. I casually jogged through the rest of the gauntlet taking gentle whacks from Spartans. I made the last guy miss using the same feint maneuver as the first guy and then easily jogged across the finish. Good run!

Critique and the Crowd

Ok, time to let the inner critic out. Logistically, the event was messed up. We had to park 1.5 miles away from the race event. It wasn't really fun trekking back along a narrow highway when tired and worn out from the race. The event area was really spread out. It took 10 to 15 minutes to walk from one side to the other. They should have done what Xterra does and let us park on the valley floor and consolidate all the tents in one area. There's still enough space to fit everything else.

Kualoa Ranch. Beautiful venue but notice
how spread out everything is.

They had music playing to set the tone of the event, which was cool. The problem was there were two tents playing different music. Then there were Taiko drummers playing too. It was just too many different sounds clashing against each other.

The finisher shirt they gave away is pretty cool except for the ridiculously large “Rebok” printed on it. But even more annoying is that they give you the shirt at the finish line while you're still covered in mud. I don't want to put my muddy hand prints all over a brand new shirt. Couldn't they put them in a plastic bag or let us pick them up after we've cleaned up a bit?

I liked that they had changing tents we could use. Other mud runs I've been to don't offer these so this was a very nice touch.

The beach turned brown by the time we left

The cleaning station was pretty well set up. It was a network of hoses so individuals could wash off after the race. Much better than the community-style wash stations other runs have used. However, it's so crowded and there's so much mud to clean off that the wait is ridiculously long. My friends and I didn't want to wait in that line so we walked to the beach right across the street and jumped in the ocean. It was so relaxing to get in the salt water. It even helped to clean out our cuts. I'm just glad we were one of the first people to do this because it didn't take long for others to catch on and by the time we left the ranch that section of beach was brown from all the mud.

Most of the people we met along the course were friendly and cool. However, there was the occasional runner that believed they really were a Spartan. They wanted to go, go, go and got annoyed at everybody when there was a delay. Here's some of the things we heard:

“No rest, get running!”

“what's wrong, you afraid of a little mud?”
“do you want to live forever?” - seriously, this doesn't make sense
“I feel like I'm stuck in traffic, green means go people!” - I don't know what this guy saw but there weren't any traffic lights along the course.
“I'm pretty sure that's cheating.” a guy said when seeing us help each other through the barbed wire. Hello?? Spartans were all about teamwork. Doesn't he know how a phalanx works??



Victory shot of Sterling

I know some people want to push themselves but they have to realize there are thousands of people participating and only so many people at a time can go through an obstacle. Chill out and run by when the course opens up. And if you really are that serious about blazing through the course, sign up for the very first wave so there won't be anybody in front of you to hold things up.

The event staff was awesome. The guy at the start line had a good speech to amp up the crowd in good Spartan fashion. The volunteers along the way were enthusiastically encouraging. They gave advice on how to get through the obstacles when needed and had their own Spartan like lines to pump us up. Some of them even understood my cheesy comments about getting those pesky Persians. They made the event more enjoyable for sure.

Victory shot of Jen

 

 

 

In The End

 

I had fun cruising through the course. The obstacles were fun and challenging. Just be ready to get covered in mud, there's simply no way around it. I recommend bringing a change of clothes, slippers, and a water bottle for after the race. I also recommend having an awesome group of friends to have fun along the course with. Hopefully the Spartan Race comes back again so we can cruise through it once more. Or maybe I'll get in the first wave and see how fast I can get through the whole thing...we'll see :)

Victory shot of yours truly