Spartyka Warrior Challenge

 09 December 2012

The Spartyka Warrior Challenge is a beach based obstacle course that I have now navigated twice. 

Though I really had a great time at the 2011 installment, it took some taunting and peer pressure from my good friend Paul to drag me back to Virginia Beach to make another go of it. 

The reason for my hesitation was due to the fact that I had turned away from doing obstacle courses in order to focus on my marathon efforts.  However, occasionally you have to step out of the norm and do something different, particularly when a buddy wants to go all in.

Once I decided to repeat the event, I began to get excited.  I performed really well there in 2011, with a finish time of 26:33 that landed me a third in  the age bracket.  I knew that I was now in much better shape and would likely be faster than I was the year before. 

Upon arrival, my ambition was halted with the news that the event would be a untimed and a noncompetitive event.  I allowed this news to take my hype from me for a short period of time, but then I remembered what the draw to the event was for me, an adventure with a buddy.

I had three family members come out to support me, a good reason for me to showcase my ability with a genuine effort on the course.  Paul was going to have a great time as he was prepared to execute the course with his wife in what was certain to be an extreme couples outing.

The race was delayed due to rain but that just gave us more time to figure out how to use the elevation training mask, which had proven to be the hardest portion of the 2011 race.

 Once the ceremony commenced and the start was sounded, it was familiar business. I utilized the same game plan that I used the year before, start hard while no one can breathe, with hopes that once on the sand the separation would be too much for anyone to recover from. Just as it did the year before, the aggressive approach to the early portion of the race where the restricted breath caused suffering for all gave me a clear advantage.  The front seven ran away from the crowd.  Slowly, it became clear how it would all pan out.  The course was comprised of the same obstacles that were previously presented; however, the order was changed.  It seemed as if more thought had been put into the accumulative effect that the athlete would be forced to endure via a compounding scheme.

I finished completely exhausted.  This speaks to the level of difficulty--I mean after all, I am a solid marathoner.  A 5K course should not begin to tap into my conditioning, but I am glad that it did.  I have no idea what my finish time was.  However, official or not, I know that I was 7th overall, because I do keep score. 

My buddy and his wife finished some time later, grinning ear to ear and sporting the kind of swagger that comes with a strong sense of accomplishment.  They were cute as they recapped a piggyback ride during the ammo can carry, a shared sand bag, and assistance over the wall for his wife.  They crossed the finish line hand in hand.

I am glad that I came, it was an experience that was every bit as good the second time through, despite the lack of officiating.

The primary beneficiary of this event was The Wounded Warrior project

http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/

I sincerely hope that this event continues for years to come.