Spartan race - an outdoor activity like no other

Spartan Race - an outdoor activity like no other!

The opening weekend of the UK Spartan race season takes place on a country estate near Sevenoaks in Kent (pretty easy to get to off the M25) around the start of May each year. The season continues through to October.

This year Dan entered the “Super” on the Saturday (more details below - you can see Dan’s Strava data here), having tried to focus his training a bit on the event for the last few months, and Dan & Julie together did the “Sprint” event on the Sunday which provides more of a gentle introduction to the sport for those interested, as well as being a rewarding and demanding workout in its own right!

We had an amazing (and knackering) weekend and it has to be said that the vibe, inclusiveness and support of the Spartan racing community - which is of a significant size now with over 2,000 competitors in this event plus loads of other events around the country and the world - is a real plus. The weather wasn’t the best for the start of May but no matter - those Spartan types are not easily put off!

Probably the most striking thing about the Spartan races is that you have elite world-class pro athletes competing tooth-and-nail against each other on one hand, but also a very inclusive, supportive event which allows competitors of all shapes, sizes and fitness levels to push themselves as much as they want on the same course as the pros. It’s a brilliantly well organised event too.

Ok, so the details:

What:

The Super is a 15km event consisting of 30 obstacles including monkey bars, rings, heavy carries, barbed wire crawls, rope climbs etc. Don’t be fooled by the distance most of the running is very much on trails which are steep and windy and very uneven making it tougher than the distance alone would suggest. Best advice for a first timer would be to pace yourself early on! Competitors start in the main area, head out into the forests and fields of the surrounding area before returning to complete the last 6 obstacles in the main event field with supporters watching on. Finishing with the spear throw and of course the fire jump for that all-important race photo. The top guys are getting round the course in under 1 hour 30 but these are basically world-class athletes training full time for this - anything under 2 hours is excellent and between 2 and 3 hours a very solid effort especially for a first timer. Note the additional time caused by the terrain and the obstacles - all of the top guys would be running well under an hour for the same distance - so a rough rule of thumb might be aim for twice as much time as you think the distance should suggest for your running speed.

If you fail an obstacle or opt not to undertake it, there is a 30 burpee penalty (for the elites these rules are all strictly observed, for the “open” waves there is a more lenient atmosphere and a bit of helping each other out on the obstacles is encouraged).

The Sprint is a shorter 7km event which features most (but not all) of the obstacles from the Super. It cuts out much of the trail running piece. This makes it still very challenging in many ways, but accessible as a starter event for those wishing to get a taste of what Spartan is about without. There will still certainly be plenty in there to challenge those that train a lot, as the variety of the obstacles mean that they will probably be testing you in different ways to your regular training.

Top tips:

Don’t be afraid! The Spartan is an inclusive event and demanding but with plenty of support around you. There are some good beginner tips here

If you are tempted but a little unsure, start with the sprint, as this is a good way to get started, also consider doing it together with a team
Practice your trail running, as the terrain is very different from road or park running
In training, try to go beyond the stated spartan distances in terms of your running, as this will prepare you more for the longer time you are likely to be out on the course
Practice on monkey bars if you can - a lot of the obstacles demand climbing/weight supporting type fitness. You can see more videos of the obstacles here and there is a lot of info on the youtube channel
Don’t go off too hard, especially if a first-timer on the Super, pace yourself and give yourself a little rest before the obstacles
Watch the videos on the youtube channel. Many of the obstacles require a bit of technique or strategy to get right, well worth watching this and avoiding the burpees if you can
Do try and get there in plenty of time, especially if it is your first race. Registration is normally very efficient, so you don’t have to wait around too long in lines, but its nice to familiarise yourself with the obstacles that are in the main field area and have a look at the map
Waves start every 15 minutes and consist of around 100-200 people, typically your wave will be called into the start area in plenty of time just after the previous wave departs. There will be some amusing banter from “Spartan Phil” to gee you up, a little practice burpee and you are off

What you need

Trail running shoes will make your life a lot easier (a popular brand is inov8 which is what we use). Not just because they are the better footwear for the very rough, uneven and sometimes muddy ground of the race, but also the studded soles give you much better grip on some of the obstacles, particularly the rope climb
Even if its cold at the start, you’ll get pretty hot on the course, less is probably more in terms of layers
You are climbing over things, so some tight running leggings can be a good choice on the legs
Try to avoid very loose clothing as this could be a pain in some obstacles (eg barbed wire crawl!)
Bring a towel and warm clothes for after - there is no shower on site!

Everyone asks - what is the hardest obstacle??!

This is a tough question to answer as all the challenges are quite different (and this is one of the fun things about the race). Some are technically difficult and hard to avoid the burpee penalty, while others take a lot out of you physically, some are as much mental as physical. Here are a few highlights:

The spear throw is one of the hardest obstacles to make, with something like 80% of people failing it - watch some technique videos but get ready for burpess
Olympus is another highly technical obstacle that traps a lot of people, again, watching some videos plus training on climbing/grip strength will help. As will taking a few moments to think carefully about your line and how to approach it
Other climbing obstacles like twister, the monkey bars and the multirig all tend to attract large numbers of burpee penalties for those that fall off or fail to complete
On a different tack, the bucket carry doesn’t tend to get many failures, but the weight of the bucket and the distance required (about 400m over hilly terrain) can make this an absolute burner on the forearms and through the hips and really take a lot out of you
The rope climb is as much mental as physical for some people considering the height. but technique can really help you here - again worth watching a few videos