Mt quest to become a member of the Spartan Trifecta Tribe has taken me from the West Coast to the East Coast to participate in the Ohio Super Spartan. This location was rather unique as Spartan Race gave the option for racers to sign up to do a single day trifecta run, by racing in the Beast, Super and Sprint legs in a single day. Due to the terrain being mostly flat, the race distances were extended. We can’t have easy Spartan Races can we? No. Easy is not an option.
I had planned to run the Super and then the Sprint on the same day. I flew across the nation, might as well make the best of it and run two races. Walking up to the race, through the sea of cars there was a nice fire that was started near the entrance to the Spartan Race plaza that was much appreciated as it was a rather cold day. I had checked the weather a few days prior and it was forecasted to be in the mid fifties and raining. That’s not what happened as the day was a little cloudy and in the mid forties. As long as I kept moving, I would be fine.
My start times for the Super and Sprint made it impossible for me to run the Sprint as I am not the fastest runner and the fastest estimated time on the Spartan Race site was 80 minutes. My start times were 75 minutes apart. Thankfully the coordinators made it super simple to switch my starting time for the Super. The only downside was, I had to start in 10 minutes. I ran over to bag check and dropped off my bag and made my way over to the starting area to get in as much stretching as I could. In the starting corral there were racers running the Sprint, the Super like me and the Beast. The course made it very simple to know which fork to take to run the curse for the particular race distance you were doing.
The course was fairly flat and muddy. Throughout the day Mother Nature would add herself as another obstacle as the wether changed from sunny, to cloudy, windy, rain and sleet. It was just like running in the Pacific Northwest! The sleet was my favorite part of the day and it made me want to push harder.
I didn’t have a lot of troubles with most of the obstacles, I was able to get over the 7ft wall just barely (how come the Monterey 8ft was easier?!) and the traverse wall kick my butt as usual. The rope climb did not start off in a pit of water and I probably had the best chance to complete this challenge for the first time, but my arms were not where I needed them to be and I opted to head straight for the burpees. Hindsight, I should have at least tried the rope climb. The spear toss was different this time. All of the spears were attached to a long line of string, which added a little more resistance to the spear when it was tossed. I balanced the spear pointed to the bale of hay and let loose the spear. And I frakking NAILED IT! For the first time out of 5 attempts, I finally landed the spear throw! That got me pumped up to finish the rest of the course.
A shot of some of the final obstacles
After the fire jump, I posed for the camera to show off my Spartan Race tattoo and engulfed myself in smoke. After I passed the finish line, for a time of 3:03:07, I have completed my biggest goal for 2014 and probably the hardest challenge I have ever done in my life, enter the Spartan Trifecta Tribe. To enter into the tribe, you have to complete 1 of each of the three races, Sprint, Super and Beast, in a calendar year. Preparing for the challenge has changed my life. I’m probably in the best shape of my life, all because of the Spartan Race.
After over 11 miles, I had 5 minutes before the Sprint was supposed to start and the Sprint was over 5 miles in Ohio. I’ve never ran that far in one day in my life and adding in the second round of obstacles I was done. I made an executive decision to not run the Sprint. Since I had stopped moving, my body started to shiver and shake while I waited in the mercy line to buy my prize, a 2014 Spartan Trifecta jacket. I’ve sewn on a patch for each Spartan Race I have completed and it is my Reach for Glory trophy. I wear it with pride whenever it is on my back.
In 2015 I am planning to enter into the Spartan Trifecta Tribe again with the Washougal Sprint, Seattle Super and the SoCal Beast.
