Spartan Super

The Race Course

The hills were constant along the course, with steep inclines that really tested the traction of your shoes and the strength of your legs but the descent was steep, slick and equally challenging. The hills were shorter compared to the long ascent up the mountain at the Pennsylvania Spartan Sprint but because of their frequency, there was no relief and I found it difficult to push my pace during the running stretches because of the hills.

The mud at the Midwest Spartan Super was some of the most difficult I’ve encountered. When the mud was shallow, it was incredibly slick. It was the first time I had slipped at all since switching from regular running shoes to Salomon Speedcross 3. When the mud was deeper, it ended up being a thick, sticky muck that was difficult to escape. The second place finisher of the women’s elite heat lost one of her shoes halfway through the course. I’m sure there were countless other shoes that were left behind over the two day event.

In previous years, the Midwest Spartan Race had been held in October and left racers facing some really brutally cold temperatures. Since this race had been moved to July, competitors faced an entirely new set of challenges. The week leading up to the race had some oppressive 95 degree days but it cooled to the mid-eighties for the race itself. There were plenty of water stations around the 8.5 mile course and they offered Zico coconut water at the final station to give racers an electrolyte boost.

The warmer temperatures had some other unanticipated side effects that weren’t apparent until after the event had ended. With warmer July temperatures, there was different flora and fauna along the forest trails and a number of participants ended up with cases of poison ivy and/or swimmer’s itch after the race. The Spartan Race team did say they tried to route the course around any poison ivy but at the end of the day, it’s impossible to control all the variables when running a race through the middle of a forest.

The obstacles on the course seemed more heavily focused on strength than other skills. There weren’t any obstacles that really focused on balance. It still felt like a pretty balanced race course.

The Obstacles

Monkey Bars – Positioning the Monkey Bars early in the course meant racers were fresh and their grip was strong. Placing it directly after a water obstacle meant that the bars were slick. If you rush the obstacle, it’s easy to slip but if your careful to manage your momentum and focus on your grip, avoiding the burpee penalty on this obstacle is very achievable.

Over/Under/Thru – Climb over a short wall, crawl under a wall, climb through an opening in a wall. This common obstacle isn’t difficult but you can try to improve your time by keeping your stride between the walls.

Tire Drag – This obstacle was made up of a tractor tire attached to a long rope. When racers arrive at the obstacle, they have to drag the tire out until the rope is taught, return to the start and drag the tire back using the rope. The most energy efficient technique is to brace feet against the starting area and use a rowing motion to pull with both your arms and legs. The fastest option is just to sit there and muscle it back hand over hand.

Tire Flip – Flip the tractor tire twice out and then twice back. Choose your tire wisely and lift with your legs and not your back.

Atlas Carry w/ Burpees – The Atlas stone was a cement cylinder that weighed about 60lbs. Spartans were to carry the weight a short distance, set down the weight and do five burpees then carry the weight back to the start. I’ve got nothing against burpees but it’s been well drilled into my head that they’re a penalty on the course. On this course, even a perfect run wouldn’t be burpee free.

Tractor Pull/Pole Carry – Dragging a cement block attached to a chain is another staple obstacle in the Spartan series. This time around then pair the tractor pull with a wood pole carry. The wooden poles were about 4 feet long and surprisingly light. The poles added a challenge not because they were heavy but because they tied up a hand that could have been used to drag the cement block. Normally, I drag with both hands or alternate to avoid taxing the grip strength in one hand too much. Right after picking up the cement block and pole, my foot sunk into a muddy pit. While breaking myself free, my chain ended up muddy and slick. That little splash of mud on the chain ended up adding more challenge to the obstacle than the wooden pole. Rumor has it that later heats didn’t carry the poles. I’m not sure why they the obstacle would change mid-race.

Water Crossing – The small pond at the venue had been used for the rope climb in previous years. This time, racers just had to swim across from one side to the next. Volunteers warned of an 18 foot drop near the center so competitors had to actually swim instead of just wade across.

Slippery Wall – After climbing out of the water crossing, racers were immediately greeted with the Slippery Wall. Traction at the base of the angled wall was pretty good but it got really slippery at the very top where you have to make the transition over the top.

Rope Climb – This time around the rope climb was a stand alone construction with a shallow pit of watery mud at the base. A lot of people struggle with this obstacle just from lack of practice but if you master the S-hook or J-hook technique, you can make it up even slick ropes.

Spear Throw – The jumbo dart grip I’ve been using since my first Spartan Race is still successful. The spear flew smoothly and sunk deep into the hay bales. I did some practicing with my homemade Spartan Spear a few days before the race and can usually get a nice trajectory for about 50 feet. After nailing this throw, I’m now 3 for 4.

Cargo Net – This was a pretty standard cargo net climb. I still haven’t tried flipping over the top instead of transitioning over the top one leg at a time. It’d be nice to try that outside a race setting first.

Barbed Wire Crawl – The barbed wire crawl on this course had some hay bales scattered throughout to try to force racers to belly crawl instead of roll. They also had a guy with a fire hose spraying racers as they crawled. I think it was supposed to add to the challenge but it ended up feeling really good under the hot sun.

Climbing Walls – There were a couple of vertical wall climbs on the course between 7-8 feet high. There wasn’t anything particularly noteworthy about these wood walls.

Herculean Hoist – The Herculean Hoist is made up of a weight attached to a rope that is run through a pulley about 20 feet above the ground. The rope can be slippery with mud but the challenge really depends on how the weight is. The Herculean Hoist at the PA Spartan Sprint was really light but on this course it was really heavy. I tried to sit back a bit and use my weight along with my arms but my 165 lbs didn’t seem like enough and the weight kept pulling me up. As usual, men have a heavier weight than the women. The entire time I was trying this obstacle, and during the 30 burpees that followed my failure, I didn’t see a single guy get that weight to the top. It was a difficult challenge and the only obstacle that I didn’t complete during the race.

Hobie Hop – When racers reach the Hobie Hop, they put a rubber strap around their ankles and have to hop around a short stretch of the course. Though it’s a pretty common Spartan Race Obstacle, it was my first encounter with the Hobie Hop. The loop started out up hill making it even more taxing on the leg muscles. The volunteer running the obstacle said we could use our arms but we did have to jump with both feet together. There’s no shame galloping on all fours like an animal here since you do cover much more ground with each hop than if you strictly stay on your feet.

Sandbag Carry – After the brutal Sandbag Carry in Pennsylvania, I was excited to see a short loop that routed racers downhill then back up. The Spartan Pancakes were a nice, comfortable weight to carry as usual.

Inverted Wall – The Inverted Wall climb was angled toward racers making the climbing strategy a little different. Unlike the Pennsylvania Spartan Sprint, there was no water filled pit in front of the obstacle which made it a little less intimidating. There were also a couple wood studs running along the wall that could be used to help reach the top lip of the wall. After that, it was all upper body strength and core muscles to get you over.

Traverse Wall – Navigating the horizontal Traverse wall using the small wooden hand holds and foot holds is mainly about keeping your weight as close to the wall as possible and making sure your positioned well before transitioning to the next grip. Volunteers did remind racers that the sunny side was the hot side since the wall is painted totally black. I was okay with the heat of the sunny side because it also meant it was dry and gripping the holds was easier.

Barbed Wire Crawl with wall – Near the finish line there was a final stretch of barbed wire. It was a really wet crawl that eventually ascended over a dirt hill. Choosing the right path up the dirt hill was important since the uneven hill meant that some areas had much less space under with barbed wire. On the other side of the hill a water pit was awaiting racers. A suspended wooden wall forced competitors to submerge under the murky water to get to the other side.

Fire - After doing enough of these races, the fire obstacle can become a pretty lackluster token task.

Gladiators - The gladiator's pugel sticks are pretty weak so I've started giving them a pretty open shot. This time around, a well muscled and heavily tatooed gladiator also realized that the sticks were worthless and opted to just lower his shoulder into me as I approached. It was all in good fun, but the impact was enough to knock the wind out of me a bit. Lesson learned: don't get complacent and defend yourself at all times on the obstacle course.

Overall Obstacle Difficulty Rating: 4/5

Hardest Obstacle

Time: 2:08

Mud Rating: 4/5