I went into my first Spartan race not knowing to much of what I was doing. It was a Super Spartan race which is usually 8+ miles of running on trails and 20+ obstacles to get over, under, through and lift/carry. It was so much fun. I felt like a scrappy fairy running and jumping and climbing! I went home happy and muddy. Days later I got the email. With my placement in the Spartan race I just did I qualified for the North America Championships! It was to be in Virginia. Hmm. Not too exciting. Then I get right away an email saying the I qualified for World Championship in Lake Tahoe!! I had went home after the race not thinking I could rank let alone qualify for anything. I got third in my age group, 50+!
My husband and I were way past due for a vacation so I registered for the race, found a couples cottage and left Washington for a week to go to Tahoe City, Ca on Lake Tahoe and Squaw Valley Ski Resort! The championship race I was doing was called a Beast. A Beast Spartan race is 12+ miles with up to 35 obstacles. Tahoe ended up being 13.5 miles with 5000 feet in elevation gain. Took me 5:27:19 hours to complete! (There are various distanced for Spartan. Sprint 3+ miles, Super 8+ miles, Beast 12+ miles and Ultra 30+ miles. Each location for a race will have different final miles and obstacle placement or different or new obstacles. I love the variation.)
The Spartan World Championship race was on Saturday September 30th. My start time was 8:30. Alfredo was volunteering and the volunteer director placed him, with a chair, at the start in the water fill station. Best place for him to see all action at the start of the race and to chat with people. I knew this would keep him busy and entertained all day while I was racing.
The Tahoe Spartan Beast was 13.5 miles running on trails, up and down a mountain, with 34 obstacles. (See map below. Sorry a little blurry)
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