Spartan Sprint

The Course

The Spartan race team was kind enough to leave a nice pile of sandbags near the top of the mountain. This sandbag carry was a brutal half mile stretch up the steepest incline on the course. It was a long, taxing trek littered with racers kneeling on the ground trying to gather the strength of will to keep moving.

Once at the top of the mountain, there were a series of back to back obstacles. Spectators were able to ride the ski lift to the peak to watch competitors tackle favorites like the tire flip, Hercules hoist, spear throw, and monkey bars.

The second half of the course was a lot of downhill running. The rocky descent had many racers proceeding cautiously to avoid the ankle turning terrain. Downhill running is less strenuous than uphill, but not by much. Gravity will help you on your way down but you legs have to absorb some pretty significant force with each step.

Though I’ve run some hilly obstacle races in the past, but most send racers up and down a series of smaller hills. The Pennsylvania Spartan Sprint course was a unique challenge that made the most of the natural terrain to present competitors with two very different race segments.

This was the first Spartan Race I’ve run since they partnered with Reebok. I was a little nervous that the collaboration with a big brand would come lead the race away from its roots but I’m happy to say this Reebok Spartan Race has kept the same spirit we’ve come to love. For the record though, I do think that cash prizes and engraved wooden plaques as rewards for the top racers are not as cool as the swords they used to award.

The Obstacles

Sand Bag Carry – Normally, sand bag carries aren’t a killer obstacle. The Spartan Pancakes are pretty comfortable to carry and balance well and the weight isn’t overwhelming. The Pennsylvania Spartan race took this obstacle to a totally new level. Sending racers up a double black diamond slope for probably a half mile was energy sapping and potentially spirit breaking. Since I climbed the slope during the Hurricane Heat, I knew what to expect but many racers didn’t know the kind of challenge they were in for and they went out too fast only to end up on their hands and knees gasping for breath part way up. Girls could carry a lighter sandbag but regardless of the weight, everyone was hurting. Though it wasn’t a technically difficult obstacle, it was one of the hardest I’ve come across in a dozen obstacle course races.

Tractor Pull – This race course positioned this cement block drag near the top of the mountain. The route was a pretty short out and back loop on flat grass which made the cement block slide more smoothly than usual. Dragging the cement block was a joy compared to the sand bag carry.

Tire Flip – I had never focused much on the tire flip in the past. It always seems pretty straight forward as long as you make sure you lift with your legs. During the morning’s Hurricane Heat, it was obvious not all tires are created equal. One of the tires we carried weighed a couple hundred pounds more than the other two. When you approach the Tire Flip obstacle, choose your tire wisely.

Hercules Hoist – The Hercules hoist is basically a cement weight attached to a rope and pulley. They had separate weights for men and women but even the heavier men’s weight seemed pretty light.

Spear Throw – After building my own Spartan Spear to practice with, I thought I would be in good shape. With all running and strength training, I wasn’t left with a lot of time to toss a spear around the backyard. In the end, it didn’t really matter because I had the technique dial in enough to bury that spear deep in the hay. Just pretend it’s an oversized dart and then enjoy running past the massive group of racers doing burpees.

Monkey Bars – I’ve had mixed success with the monkey bars. Sometimes the height varies, sometimes the bars spin, and sometimes they’re slick with mud and sweat from previous competitors. Some racers try to rush through, assuming that the less time they spend hanging from the bars, the better their chances. I’ve found more success being deliberate about ensuring a good grip on the current bar before making the transition to the next.

Cargo Net Climb – The Cargo Net climb was suspended between trees in the forest and was probably only 15 feet high. There were a lot of people trying to keep the net taught for racers by pulling on the bottom. It’s always nice to see team work on the course but it really doesn’t seem to make that much of a difference. The climb is never hard but the transition at the top is what makes all the difference. The elite racers basically flip over while many other competitors end up clinging for dear life as they swing their leg over.

Wall climb – There were some walls to climb but there wasn’t anything noteworthy about them.

Slippery Slide – Though I’ve come across water slides on past courses including Mudathlon and Rugged Maniac, this was the first I’ve seen on a Spartan Race course. It wasn’t particularly steep or fast but from the Hurricane Heat, I knew it was rocky at the bottom so it was worth proceeding with caution.

Water Crossing – Once at the bottom of the Slippery Slide, racers had to cross to the other side of the pond. The water was deep enough that you could swim if you wanted but wasn’t so deep that I couldn’t walk. There were a couple rows of floats to go under so that everyone had to fully submerge. The water temperature was actually pretty pleasant and after a long Hurricane heat and half a race course, a short swim was a nice treat.

Stump Hop – This was the only balance obstacle on the course (aside from avoiding the constant threat of wiping out on the downhills). Tackling balance obstacles is like pulling off a bandaid. You just have to commit and go for it. Quick hops from stump to stump will get you across but if you try to stop and rebalance on each stump you’ll probably have a hard time. Having long legs helps. This obstacle sent a lot of racers to the burpee pit.

Angled Wall – Climbing walls isn’t bad but when the wall’s angled toward you, it requires you to relying more on upper body strength and core strength since you can’t get your feet on the wall to push up at all. Spartan Race decided to up the ante by adding a water-filled trench right in front of the angled wall. The water pit meant you had to jump from farther out but it also made the obstacle a little more intimidating mentally.

Barbed Wire Crawl – The Barbed Wire crawl at the Pennsylvania Spartan Race looked like a nice, long, muddy crawl. Once I got down into the mud, it was clear that there was no escaping the rocky terrain. I’m normally a belly crawl purist under barbed wire but since the jagged rocks were sharper than the barbed wire, I did a little rolling to save my knees and elbows.

Wall Traverse – The Wall Traverse is an old favorite at the Spartan Race. A basic, plywood and 2x4 bouldering wall that looks simple enough. I’ve had pretty consistent success on this obstacle but the Spartan Race can take an obstacle that you’re confident with and find a way to make it a thorn in your side. The challenge here was the placement of the obstacle. Since it was positioned right after the mud crawl, the hand holds were slick with mud. Most people fell off in the first quarter of the wall and it was clear the hold further down were dry but I just couldn’t get enough grip to reach that far. Up to this point, my run had been clean but this obstacle left me doing burpees.

Mud Hills/Water Valleys – The muddy hills were separated by water-filled valleys. The hills were spread too far apart to jump cleanly but getting a good jump into the water can still save time. You can never tell how deep the water is and the depth is usually inconsistent so it’s important to land softly to avoid injury.

Rope Climb – A lot of racers struggle with the rope climb but using the S-hook technique to shift some of the burden to your legs makes completing this obstacle pretty straightforward. One other tip is that the space between the knots in the ropes can vary significantly. If you aren’t confident in your rope climbing abilities, choose the rope with the closest knots to improve your chances.

Barbed Wire – This final stretch of barbed wire was short but very low. Some people choose to wear a shirt as protection from this obstacle but usually brushing against the barbs a bit won’t cut your skin but it definitely will caught on a shirt. I prefer to run without a shirt to avoid getting snagged but this time around the barbed wire was low enough to cut my shoulder. It wasn’t a deep scratch but it was almost three inches long. I could actually hear the barb drag across my skin.

Slippery Wall – Often the slanted slippery wall is covered with a challenging mix of water, soap and mud and it’s important to use the rope to drag yourself to the top. Since this slippery wall was located right after the muddy barbed wire crawl, I assumed it would be tough to summit but it actually wasn’t very slippery at all.

Fire – The Spartan Race has been stepping up their game lately with some respectable flames to jump. I was starting to get tired of skipping over a smoldering pile of ash.

Gladiators – It looks like they shifted the gladiators back so that you clear them after crossing the official timing mat that marks your course completion. It’s funny watching people try different strategies to avoid the gladiators because the pugil sticks they wield are super soft and don’t hurt at all. Seriously, it’s like being hit with a fluffy cloud.

Overall Obstacle Difficulty Rating: 3/5

Hardest Obstacle

Time: 1:27

Mud Rating: 3/5