Spartan Race Inc. opens Canada journey at Owl’s Head
Gruelling obstacle course sees all who finish as winners
The 5,000-plus participants from across North America who donned their true grit to participate in the gruelling Spartan Race at Owl’s Head over the past weekend is solid indication that the concept of the game is not just catching on. It is exploding because all who finish are winners.
Since its first race in Vermont in 2010 when 500 individuals registered for the obstacle course, the Spartan Race Inc. has been franchised to 14 countries including Canada, Europe, South Korea, and Australia. Spartan staff and course builder Brian Walker says that the company is all over the world now. Coming from the southern U.S. Walker spends his summers in Canada and his winters in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The race series features obstacle courses of different distances and difficulty. From three miles to marathon distances, the series includes Spartan Sprint for beginners, the Super Spartan, and the Spartan Beast. There are even courses tailored for children between 4 and 13 years. At the Owl’s Head event 250 youngsters were registered. Walker says that Owl’s Head is the first of nine Canadian events for 2017, albeit one of the most challenging venues anywhere with the challenge of navigating steep inclines, rocky outcrops, and a lot of bushwhacking. And where there are flat areas, the racers are faced with lots of obstacles. “With Steve Menzie now holding the Canadian license for Spartan Race, this event at Owl’s Head is seeing all new apparatus and equipment. It took nine of us six days to build the event site. It’s very exciting.” Walker’s unleashed enthusiasm about the state of the new management was infectious.
According to Laura Smith of Charleston, North Carolina who works at the Spartan headquarters, the mission of Spartan Race is to create an experience that is more fun than simply running, that serves to strengthen the entire body.
“We want to provide a program that anyone can participate in that is a lot of fun. Each person who finishes the race is a winner. That’s why they each get a medal. Spartan philosophy is all about getting up when you’re knocked down and finishing what your start.” Unlike other programs similar, Spartan, like the ancient Greeks, is about a certain amount of simplistic discipline. It requires each participant to give each obstacle a try. If they can’t achieve the goal, they have to do 30 burpees and then move on to the next. But they leave, knowing that they at least gave it a try.
But Walker says that there is even
more to the mission that they are striving for. They want the Spartan Race to become an Olympic event.
From crawling under barbed wire to carrying heavy things to climbing ropes and webbed walls, throwing javelin, hurdling over a blazing fire, the organizers say that Spartan Race is not just an event.
“It’s a way of life. It’s also a solution to the chaos of modern day life, as catalyst to simplify the way one trains, eats, thinks, and lives.”
Valerie Bastet came for Hudson, Que. to cheer her daughter’s family on. They had come from Kingston. Bastet was unduly impressed with the entire event but couldn’t hold back how impressed she was of Roxie, the Aussie shepherd, a service dog who has been with Desirée Rincon of Tampa, Florida for the past three years. Rincon is a runner. She is a veteran who, after three deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq with the U.S. Army, was diagnosed in 2011 with gastric cancer, and since treatment, now suffers from a number of medical conditions including seizures and depression. Roxie is to recognize the onset of seizure and has since run multiple marathons with Rincon, including this past weekend’s event at Owl’s Head.
It is said that by participating in these kinds of challenges individuals emerge both physically and mentally stronger and tend to be more focused and look at life in a more positive way. Says Bastet, “You really get the vibe that it’s more of a culture than a race. Everyone helps each other on course and it’s all about finishing, not placing for most. It’s a lot about inner strength. It was very cool to experience even as a spectator.”