Spartan Race

I ran my first Spartan race in January 2015. It was the Sprint. It was hot and windy that day, so the dryness was brutal. I’m used to running 5k’s which makes getting to a water station pretty quick. When you’re running and completing obstacles know that water stations do not come up quickly, bring a hydration pack.
Give yourself enough time to park and then walk to registration. It’s organized well and plenty of porta potties.
The obstacles are not as spaced out as I’d like. You get them sprinkled in during the beginning and then clustered at the end.
It is a nice mix of running, hiking and obstacles. People of all different levels come to the Spartan race. Be prepared for the burpees taking out your energy. If there are obstacles you can do as a pair, better to do it twice than have to do burpees.
My friends and I finished slightly under the average time for our first race. I was pretty happy.

If I could give these races 6 STARS I would… but I can’t. so 5 stars will jus have to do I guess, lol. This isn’t one of the la-​dee-​dah runs like the color, foam or neon run. It like hate a challenge, hate when your muscles ache, hate being pushed possibly to your physical and mental limits. This this race is NOT for you!
OVERVIEW: This two day race weekend was my 6^th Spartan Race ever, the 2^nd of 6 races this year, and my 1^st two race weekend ever! From my 1^st Spartan Race (Spartan Super) her in Sacramento, back in Oct 2013 had me hooked on Obstacle Course Racing aka ORC. These races remind me of everything that I loved about being in the Army; the challenge physically and mentally, the obstacles, the camaraderie, the sense of accomplishment at the end. All of that I enjoyed about the Army, and all of that I love about the Spartan Race, plus I get to conquer different terrains and seasons around the country. The 3 main races are the Spartan Sprint (5mi), Super (10mi) and Beast (15mi). Once you’ve conquered those 3, then you have the Ultra Beast (31mi), Hurricane Heat (HH) and HH12hr, and Agoge (48 & 72hrs).
RACE DAY 1 2016– Spartan Super, Temecula, CA):
Beautiful weather with a high of 69 degrees in January. Over 5 THOUSAND People would participate on this day. The hills would be are biggest challenge off and on for 10 miles, and obstacles throughout the course included: rope climb, Atlas stone carry, spear throw, cargo net, wall climbs, traverse wall, wall dunk, barbwire crawl, sandbag carry, bucket brigade, hercules hoist, sled drag, tyrolene traverse, monkey bars, over under through, the fire jump and did I mention the HILLS??? I loved it all!!! I live for this type of stuff, I have always been active and pretty athletic, and I loved that about my time in the Army and the schools like I’d gone through like Airborne & Air Assault school, so a lot the of the obstacles are like second nature to me.
(RACE DAY 2 2016– Spartan Sprint):
All of the fun was on day one, let’s just start it off like that. Woke up Sunday morning feeling good, with no issues from the day before, but El Nino reared its ugly head. It was supposed to be a high of 55 degrees with a 70%, instead we trekked through the hills of Temecula with 40MPH winds and a torrential down pour, and it was no where near the 55 degrees expected. 90% of the obstacles were the same as the day were, with a couple taken out since the race is half the distance as the race that took place the day before. It was cold, windy and wet. Making everything muddy and slippery including the hills. Mother Nature kicked butt that day!
OVERALL: Love these OCR’s, loved this course, enjoyed one of the two days of the two day race weekend. Would still do a two day race weekend again, nothing there’d be better weather. There’s nothing fun about miserable weather. I’d definitely recommend the Spartan Races to anyone who hasn’t done them yet, and are looking for something fun and challenging. I’ve done all 3 main races, and will them all again this year twice. To get my double trifecta.
You’ll know at the finish line AROO! AROO! AROO!!!

What’s not to love about a Spartan Race out in Temecula? Brutal yet beautiful course that features a bit of everything. Quicksand, a forest, desert, a lovely lake? Great course, great races, can’t wait for the next one.

Raced the Spartan sprint Jan 31^st. The race itself wasn’t too bad, a few hills with inclines. The obstacles included: jumping over a few walls, army crawling under barbed wire. Walking (while pulling yourself up with rope) over an inclined wall. Monkey bars, carrying a sand bag over a hill, cement ball carry, arrow/​sphere throw, pulling and lifting a sand bag that was suspended by a rope and a small jump over fire at the end (I may have forgotten a few).
The race itself wasn’t too bad, the weather conditions added the challenge. It was raining the whole day, so hills were muddy (ankle deep sludge muddy), going up and down (slippery slopes). Pulling yourself up a hill and grabbing onto bushes and branches or using branches as grip to take another step was difficult. It was also 48 degrees and the gusty winds made it feel even colder (also because we were soaked from one of the obstacles).
Spartan racers are amazing, people were always willing to help out… push, pull, encourage with words. It really felt like a team effort. 30 burpees if you don’t complete an obstacle.
It was 5 miles total. When I raced there were two water stops. Maybe they have more in a hot day, that day two water stops was enough.
I recommend, as most say, quick dry clothing. Shoes that are broken in but also have good grip. A hydration bag if it’s hotter especially if you’re running in the super/​beast. Extra clothing and towel, we left ours in the car to avoid a bag check fee. If you have a go pro camera, that’s awesome because a lot of people complained about the lack of (quality) pictures through Spartan.
The check in process was easy and fast. Sign a waiver, take it to registration where you’ll give your bib# and they give you your package. Your package includes a head band, some wrist bands that allow for a free beer at the end of your race, your start time and the last band is to strap a small timer/​gps device. This allows to record your race time and the gps syncs to the photographers cameras, so if there are any good pics of you, you’re able to download them a few days after the race
Overall, a great time. I’ll be racing in the beast this September. My next challenge: the heat!

The Temecula Spartan race is usually a two race weekend, this January weekend was the 9 miles Super race on Saturday, followed by the 5 mile Sprint race on Sunday. The race is a fun challenge like always, this course was a little tougher than the one I did in Castkic Lake, CA because there were a lot of hills to go up & back down then entire course until the last mile of both races.
The pre/​post race area is pretty big, there’s a warm up area with monkey bars & a rope to climb up, a lot of Porta potty’s, ATM machine, some booth selling coffee & breakfast burritos, the shock top tent where you get your free post race beer, & a foam & rinse booth next to the changing area so you can clean off after the race.
The Super race on Saturday was a smooth race, the Sprint on Sunday was a different story. Rain was expected but it ended up being way more than anticipated, a lot of volunteers no showed because of the rain so they were short staffed for the event that day. A lot of people got injured since the trails were so slippery. Given the amount of injuries occurring at the same time I think the Spartan crew did a good job getting help out to everyone that needed it, the rain also caused the parking lots to be a mess but they had people out there to help push cars out the mud.
Disputes the mess cause by the rain on Sunday it was a fun weekend, & hopefully I’ll make it back up in the summer for the Beast & Sprint weekend.

This event was a mess. I’m not blaming the weather on them but I am blaming them for the lack of cover from the rain outside of the race. I was shivering violently after the race and there was almost nowhere to stand outside of the rain. My free beer was a crappy bud light. They ran out of all of their hot beverages. The parking lot was a disaster. It took an hour to get out. An hour. To go a quarter mile.

The lake is drier this year but the race quality is still strong! Less running, more obstacles and hills compared to last year. I thought the obstacles were spread out well and the water points were well run. The bucket brigade seems a bit short on rocks when we went through. They do have public showers, rinse hoses, photographers, BBQ, beer, and other vendors there to spend your cash on. Parking is $ 10 cash and bag check is $ 5 cash. You will have a great time!

For parking every one who parked today should get there money back. Leaving rn is such a mess because of the rain and mud. I just decided to wait it out but there is no organization what so ever and there are cars getting stuck and others sliding into each other. Come race Spartans you will feel beat up and your car will too

Miserable experience as a spectator. Don’t go if you want to be comfortable, bring your own chairs if they let you and don’t plan on seeing anyone til the finish line area. If the weather is bad, plan to be in it with about 80 or 90 people under a tent made for fewer than that.

If I could give a zero I would.
This zero is for service not for the quality of the
race.
My wife bought the wrong race for us and we were trying to defer the 269.73 that we spent on two races to spend more money with the company by doing the trifecta for both of us. You think that would be an easy experience. No. My wife emailed the company at least three times and I emailed them once.
So after all the emails and weeks of going back and forth we get some money back. My wife got back $ 109 and I got back $ 99, and that is not including the $ 27 deferment fee they charged both of us.
So we spent 269.87 and we got back 208 minus 54 for deferment fees and the grand total of money we got back is 154.87
And on top of that now we are spending more with this company because I’m heading up a group of us doing the trifecta.
To say the least I will not be racing with this company after we finish the trifecta this year.

Love the feeling of accomplishment after finishing their races! The medals help too. Definitely sign up if you like working out!
For all the muddy details:
Always look out for groupons, otherwise it gets pricey! Especially because they get you addicted by giving you a third of a medal. once you finish all 3 you get the trifecta! Buut they sell the holders for $ 20. no thanks, already spent all my money on the races & parking $ 10 & bag check $ 5. I got a glue gun! They should give at least the holder, maybe a trifecta shirt once you finish 3! Even with that. they still tempt me to finish another trifecta because they give you bigger trifecta medals each time you finish one!
Signing up was quite simple, they just have an annoying website you have to navigate through. It’s especially annoying when looking up results & photos. But you get free photos! Yay. except they always put cameras in the worst locations. Like when I’m panting/​crying. Not a badass one of me leaping over a wall.
It’s cool they have packet pick up morning of since a lot of people come from quite far for the race. The annoying thing is this kind of guarantees you have to check a bag (I don’t want to risk losing my ID in the mud). And if you show up late you can always go with a later wave, yay for Asians. You just can’t go with an earlier wave (so remember to sign up as a team if you want the same start time as your friends). This particular location, parking is 1 mile from the start line! So it’s sucks you have to wake up earlier to take time walking. and worse when you can barely walk after to get back to your car cold & wet.
SUPER: This was my first Spartan race in Jan. It was probably my favorite surprisingly. The obstacles were a little bit of a shock. and because of the hills, my legs cramped up on certain ones. So I love the obstacles, they were a perfect mix of challenging & fun. One of the first obstacles was water plunge/​mud! In the am it was way too cold! But surprisingly the entire course wasn’t mud as I’ve heard other ones are (this was my first actual mud run) so I’m happy about that. The rope climb on this one though was over mud. so I couldn’t even get my first grip because it was so wet & slippery. In all 3 races I’ve done I’ve never been able to get the javelin throw! No worries though. 30 burpees. My 2 least favorite obstacles were the barbed wire & bucket filled with rocks & carry it over a damn hill. The barbed wire obstacle always has rocks & glass shards. which sucks bc I don’t like to wear long sleeves that will get all wet. The bucket is difficult to get a comfortable grip on and they don’t allow you to put it on your shoulder for liability reasons.
BEAST: Soo hard! It was in September so it was way too hot to even be outside. I think I would’ve enjoyed this race a bit more if it were cooler. Still finished though, sadly walking most of it. And wasn’t as sore as I’d think I’d be either. I think the walking the mile to car afterwards helps keep me cool down. I did try buying a cheap waterproof cover for my phone for the beast and that was great having extra pics! Maybe just not worth holding a back pack for. good thing I had my bf there. He definitely was glad we forgot cash for bag check bc it forced us to carry water bottles. And there was definitely not enough water stations this race, especially in this heat. Some stations even wouldn’t allow people to fill up their camelbaks bc they didn’t have enough water!
(Sprint was at Castaic Lake this year)
They give cool shirts & medals. You also get a head band with your number if it stays on the entire race. You get a clif bar & fruit after the race. I like to go home right after but people bring extra clothes, sometimes they have a giant communal shower too. Cool how they have race for kids! Can’t wait for my nephew to try one. I just don’t like that they charge $ 20 for spectators.

Awesome experience! Can’t wait to so it all over again in castaic in Dec. Team SPARTAN warriors

I finished my first trifecta yesterday! I completed the sprint in January, the Super earlier this year, and the Beast yesterday. I completed them all at Vail Lake. It was near 100 degrees yesterday but there were about 10 water stations throughout the course. I heard they were giving out ice, chews, and other goodies but seeing as we ran the very last wave they had run out earlier in the day. I did get my shirt, medal, and a banana so I was happy
The track is full of obstacles and hills. I appreciate the fact that you can complete most of the obstacles as a team, otherwise I would have been doing a lot of burpies.
Regarding the Beast: BE SURE THAT YOU TRAIN PROPERLY FOR THIS RACE! I see many people laid out on the side of the track waiting for a medic due to dehydration or injury. Who wants to invest so much time, energy, and $$ in a race only to get disqualified because you didn’t finish? Do not think that you can finish simply because you like to go hiking or that you ran track in high school. If you want to get through these obstacles you need to prepare yourself properly.
If you’re running with a group make sure you keep track of your pace and progress. They were pulling people off the track by 7pm if you did not make it to mile 9.
Save your skin: Bring sunscreen!!!
Save your hair: Wear a hat or bandana!!!
Save your eyes (especially if you wear contacts like me): Bring sunglasses!!! There’s lot of dirt and dust flying in the air.
Save your hands and knees: Wear knee pads and tight fitting gloves that have grip. When you’re crawling on the ground under barbed wire you’ll appreciate both.
Pack some chews, goo, and/​or salt packets.
I brought a camel pack but hardly used it because there were so many water stations. The water at the stations gets warm by the afternoon so if you do bring a camel pack FREEZE the bladder so your water will stay cold. You’ll thank me later.
It was dark before 7:30 so make sure you bring a headlamp or flashlight if you are running a wave in the afternoon. Otherwise you’ll have to tag along with someone who has one (like I did). We found a big @$$ spider hanging from a tree that someone could have walked into. Be careful!

I am more of a runner, but I had SOOO much fun doing this obstacle course based race.
Are you looking for a challenge? Are you tired of just running long distances to get a medal? Then I would highly recommend doing a Spartan Race! Of course, it is not meant to be easy and there is some element of danger involved. There are obstacles that require you to climb up high walls/​rope, jump over fire, lift heavy weights over distances, etc. However, the whole concept of the Spartan community is that everyone should help each other out. Even if you are not the most physically fit, you should be able to find someone around you who would be willing to give you a helping hand.
There are various distances for the races including Sprint (3+), Super (8+), and Beast (12+). With increasing distance, there is also more obstacles. Everytime you fail an obstacle you will have to do 30 burpees. Therefore, I would highly recommend doing the race in a team. If you are having trouble, you can help each other out. If you fail, you and your friend can also split the thirty burpees.
In order to prepare for a Spartan Race, I do recommend watching Youtube videos on some of the classic challenges including the traverse wall and vertical rope climb. They have expert Spartan racers who have helpful tips on how to complete the challenge. I would also recommend carrying weights over long distances and hiking or doing stairs once a week.
On the day of, consider investing in trail running shoes that you have broken in. I would also recommend bringing gloves to help with some of the rope challenges and the rock bucket carry. There is always a challenge that requires you to dunk your head in mud so consider bringing a few belongings in a waterproof container.
The staff is friendly and helpful. Getting the bibs and checking in/​out went smoothly. I even enjoyed the swag that comes with completing the race. The medal is great but the shirt! felt amazing. :)
Overall, I would highly recommend this site for your next Spartan Race and make it a group effort!

The fact that I had to scale a 5 foot wooden wall to enter the starting corral should have been my sign that this race was about to be no damn joke! But sweet geezus, thank you gawd I finished… I AM A SPARTAN!
The Spartan Race is no. damn. joke. Seriously, I don’t advise anyone to just wake up one day and say, «Oh I think I want to do a Spartan Race next weekend». It’s not easy. None of of is easy. Some parts are simply more do-​able than others, but the entire race is challenging. Not just your average race. My words of advice — TRAIN! Run up hills… hell, sprint up them bad boys! Do plyos and HIIT workouts, lift heavy ass weights in the gym and build your upper body strength. Dedicate 2 – 3 months of good training if you’re planning to do this race. I trained for a little over a month (registered 2 months before) and it was still plenty tough.
As hard as this race was, I love the fact that I can say I finished. I truly don’t know that I would do another one, but I’m not fully opposed it it. The staff was very nice and everyone was so helpful and supportive during the course. I don’t know how many strangers literally felt my ass that day to help get me up over some of those walls but thank goodness there were always some big strong men around always willing to lend a helping hand! :-)
AROO!

Oh yes, the best OCR! It is truly addicting and challenging, every obstacle will make you feel pumped up!
2015 got better for Spartan World. From the classy looking medals and finisher’s shirts, volunteer’s shirts to the new and improved obstacles, it’ll always be my favorite obstacle course race. They got the most approachable and friendliest staff and helpful, knowledgable volunteers. So for the newbies, I have to give out these useful tips. (Not in order)
1. Join a team.
2. Safety pins and the bibs are no longer used for safety reasons. Just save your beer stub after the race.
3. Headbands and number markings are optional. Marking station booth is available to mark you with your bib# or other drawings requested such as eye black and smileys. This is just to make a racer look good for bad ass picture purposes.
4. Fill out the NBC consent and Release Waiver after knowing your bib#. Then proceed to the registration to pick up your race packets.
5. Spectator pass can be bought online for $ 20 and on site for $ 25.
6. You may also register your kids for the kids division.
7. Run the elite wave and be competitive if you’re one! Otherwise, open waves are for fun and challenge.
8. Wear trail-​running shoes. Brands like Brooks, inov8, Salomon, reebok are what most experienced Spartans wear. Do not wear regular road running shoes!
9. Compression gear is also useful. I use compression socks and sleeves most of the time.
10. Hydration backpack for Spartan Super and Beast can help. Bring mustard packets to prevent and alleviate muscle cramps preferably the yellow one because it contains turmeric which is an anti-​inflammatory. Or whatever useful remedies you are used to.
11. Hydrate yourself days before a race. I think this is common sense.
12. Cheer on others! Do not criticize someone who does not fill his bucket with the right amount of gravel. Do not judge. He may have a back injury, who knows. Do not accuse someone of cheating, mind your own pace, race and business! But of course, always do the right thing because it’s your victory, honor and pride!
13. Bring some extra plastic bags for your wet clothes. Wipes are very useful. Take your flip flops!
14. Sunblock, sunblock, sunblock!
15. Be polite, show your camaraderie to other Spartans. Say thank you, I appreciate it and excuse me if you have to.
16. No extra accessories or jewelries.
17. Get a free race on the same day by signing up as a volunteer. These kind of races are expensive so volunteer! Unlimited snacks/​sandwiches are provided.
18. Check your photos at
and register as an athlete. Official SR photos may take longer.
19. Mentally prepare yourself. Never give up!
20. Be proud of your accomplishment and do it again!
So there! And I will see you soon, Spartans! Aroo! Aroo! Aroo!

In the realm of mud obstacle course runs, Spartan Races have come a long way. A few years ago, if you wanted a true physical challenge of yourself, you did Tough Mudder. Now Spartan has revised obstacles, designed new and more challenging courses, and has a wide variety of course types for everyone.
Spartan Sprint — 3 to 4 mile course, about a dozen obstacles. Relatively quick, mostly painless.
Spartan Super — 8 to 10 mile course 20 – 25 obstacles. A good challenge for the weekend warrior or endurance athlete.
Spartan Beast — 13+ mile courses, roughly 30 obstacles. Very challenging and an overall achievement even for fit participants.
This past weekend at Vail Lake Resort in Temecula, my friends and I completed the Spartan Super on Saturday. It was windy, and very dusty. The drastic climbs and elevation changes of the lake area make for a tough course on the legs. The challenges (overall obstacles layout) was not bad, and I think they were too spaced out, and aided recovery especially in the upper body, lifting stuff.
Spartan has become more fun (and communal showers now too, woot) groups are enjoying the team efforts, the hoo-​rah of it all, and a fun morning out in nature getting dirty and jogging along.
I still prefer Tough Mudder for the challenge and dollar-​for-​dollar in the experience category. But Spartan has added tons of volunteers, made all the admin stuff easier, and they do a good job overall… big difference from my first Spartan Race experience.
ENJOY getting dirty!!!

This is my 2^nd Spartan at this location and I was happy to come back. The course is well-​marked and the volunteer staff were ALL very friendly, and supportive, not barking orders. At one obstacle, I heard the volunteer yelling continuously, «Help a Spartan out! Help a Spartan brother or a Spartan sister!» The water stations and obstacles were well staffed throughout.
You check your bag for $ 5 but when you pick it up, you are given a $ 5 merchandise voucher… so buy merchandise early (like cool t-​shirts) because they might run out, but don’t buy everything you want because you will have $ 5 credit at the end!
It was very well organized… All festival stations were clearly marked, with big signs and there were mostly pretty short lines which indicates to me thoughtful staffing.
This venue changes its course and its obstacles each time they set up a new race weekend, been here 3 different times and all 3 offered a different course layout… AND some different obstacles without compromising the traditional Spartan obstacles you want and can expect like the rope climb, cargo netting, wall climbs and spear throw!
I will do this is again!

I rate this a 5 simply because this is by far and way the toughest course I’ve ever done a Tough Mudder or Spartan race on. Its not my first trip to Vail for an event (see my cover photo, which was last year’s TM). But, the heat and course layout here mixed with the obstacles and their order was just insane.
The over whelming theme of the 9÷13−9÷14 events was heat. 105 degrees out of the gate at 10am. Near 112 when I finished the beast a little before 2pm. It was literally the biggest obstacle, even for those dawning Camelbaks and with the frequent hydration stations.
Because my Sprint event was cancelled on 9/​14, Spartan is at least letting me sign up for a more local one to complete. So, even with the disappointment of not getting that event there, I still get to complete it elsewhere.
Congrats to all those who completed the Beast. 12+ miles in the arid mountains with that heat was no easy feat, but, well worth that green medal.

The best obstacle race series :) This is my second Spartan Race (Temecula offered both the Sprint and the Super Sprint race, which was a GREAT idea!) The location was easy to navigate to for us out-​of-​towners and was filled with an intense spirit of fun, competitive yet classy sportsmanship.
I ran on a beautiful 68 degree Saturday with a friend; the $ 10 parking was plentiful when we arrived. Once inside, I looked in vain for just plain water to drink and couldn’t find any. The samples of muscle milk (ew) and Dixie cups of energy ‘drink’ were not cutting it in the dry desert air.
We had the usual awesome obstacles: tractor tire flips (the women’s seemed strangely light), dragging a chained cement block on a chain uphill and down, bucket pulleys, dunking under a wall under water and a ton more. There were also 3 water stations on the course, which would have been fine but for the earlier missed opportunity to hydrate.
Other than the tractor tires, this race didn’t differentiate between men and woman, which, if I had juevos, would have made me feel like they were made of brass. The cement pulley and sandbag carry gave both men and women a run for the money, regardless of which weight they did. Throughout the course, everybody was jovial, even as my running mate kept yelling, «GO (SEA)HAWKS! «on particularly hilly running trails. 12^th man was on our side.
The [sandy] hills were far fewer and easier here than Washougal — outside of Portland, OR. Man, that course is a cruel, cruel steeply hunchbacked mistress.
Every obstacle you didn’t execute perfectly, whether you slipped/​fell, or couldn’t complete, you did 30 burpees. I missed the rope climb over water. I wish they’d leave some ropes knotless for us that wrap our leg or ranger rope climb. Missed the monkey bars (taking off my fingerless gloves didn’t help me this time) and the spear throw AGAIN. I just can’t get that sucker to stick. I would have made a terrible caveman. And unlike my first race they didn’t have volunteers yelling to people when they didn’t complete the course to ‘encourage’ them to do their burpees. Some folks were cheaty-​cheatersons and just went on to the next obstacles. Not very Spartan-​y.
And yeah, I did a lot of burpees, but if you did a mere 40 burpees MORE at the end of the race, you could get ANOTHER Spartan medal. Challenge accepted. I didn’t even need to wipe this blood off my elbow ;) It just goes to show you what we will do for a shiny medal… that will end up in my old underwear drawer.
They had another contest: climb a high vertical wall without a running start, do a burpee and come back over to do another burpee. (Like burpees over bar, but a high WALL.) The most completed in a min, you got free Spartan Race of your choosing: I wonder who won? I had a wicked calf cramp from, you guessed it, dehydration and couldn’t do it at the end :/​
Spartan Race offers a ‘Trifecta’ challenge. In one year, complete a Spartan Sprint, Super Sprint, and Beast. There are two levels of Beast, Ultra is a 26 mile course, and am working on a training program now. It’s a perfect segue into the Death Race in Vermont: the 24 — 48 hour obstacle course race. Trifecta, we got you in 2014. Death Race = 2015.
Um…maybe 2016 ;)