Spartan Race: Distance running with a difference
Climbing over walls, wading through muck, crossing vertical cargo, crawling under barbed wire, hoisting weight with rope, carrying water buckets and sandbags, all these and many such obstacles while running three miles through forests. Welcome to the Spartan Race, a newfound endurance test-cum-stress buster that is catching the fancy of people world over.
Since the first Spartan Race organised in 2010 in Vermont, USA, eight years has seen the one-off event become a tour with 200 races every year spread across 30 countries spreading their mission: RIP 100 million people off the couch.
Running half-marathons, marathons and road races rose on the popularity charts a decade back. A feeling of fulfilment on finishing a run has pushed people from all walks of life to embrace marathons. The Spartan Race takes that a step further. Pushing one’s physical and mental limits — and discovering that one is really capable of conquering a military bootcamp-like course the obstacle race provides, lifts spirits, say the Spartans.
Thus, it is no surprise that a constant endeavour is made to throw up fresh challenges, encouraging those seeking to push their fitness frontier and tapping its commercial potential. One must have watched many TV programmes on security forces tackling obstacle courses. Spartan Race, a roughly similar routine with graded degrees of difficulty put together by American Joe De Sana in 2007, is pretty much the same. It even led to a made-for-TV competition on NBC in 2016.
Hong Kong is emerging as the hub for Spartan fitness enthusiasts from the Asia-Pacific region, as an event at Kam Tin Country Club last weekend highlighted. The course is designed to test the competitors’ endurance and strength. That it requires a good level of fitness, can be gauged from a mandatory five-foot wooden barrier the runner has to scale just to get to the starting line.
The race is divided into three categories — Sprint, Super and Beast. There is an Ultra section for seasoned runners and also a children’s race model.
The Sprint is anything but a breeze. The course ranges between three to five miles with 20 to 33 obstacles. The Super in Spartan parlance is a middle-distance event (8-10 miles with 24-29 obstacles) while the Beast is run over 12-14 miles with 30-35 obstacles.
Finishing the Sprint race thrice gives one the tag of ‘The Ultimate Spartan Achievement’, a perfect inducement to build up for the rigours of the next two lev- els. This correspondent was among a group that tested out the event by taking part in a promotional race here, with barbed wire crawl, water jumps et al.
Alex Kandou, a Sprint participant here, said: “It is a combination of strength, endurance and technique — it challenges the body and mind. Since my first race in 2016, my outlook has changed and I look forward to achieving new goals. The course gives a chance to push myself beyond my limits,” said the entrepreneur from Indonesia. “Since every course is different, the adrenaline rush helps me conquer difficult obstacles.”
If a competitor fails to clear an obstacle, he or she won’t get away lightly. The penalty is 30 ‘burpees’ (a squat, thrust and jump), to be done in the exercise zone near the obstacle before proceeding further.
Malaysia’s Jayden Tian — he won the Sprint in the 25-29 age group — believes the event has changed his lifestyle. “It’s challenging and adventurous. The preparation calls for a more disciplined routine.”
THE RACE IS DIVIDED INTO THREE CATEGORIES — SPRINT, SUPER AND BEAST. THERE IS AN ULTRA SECTION FOR SEASONED RUNNERS AND ALSO A CHILDREN’S RACE MODEL.