Last weekend I ventured up to Sacramento to run the Spartan Beast NorCal. It was definitely a spur of the moment race. One of the guys I work with had signed up and wanted someone to run it with him. I checked out the race website and decided it would definitely be something up my alley! 13.something miles and a ton of mud later, I'm glad I decided to sign up.
The volunteers were amazing! It was cold and rainy on Saturday, but they all showed up ready to help ensure the race ran smoothly. We arrived early for our 0830 start time and stood around shivering waiting to start. Originally, both of us had planned to run with Camelbak packs because we thought we might need our own water and food. After some thought, we both opted out of that and decided to just hope that the water stations would do the trick! I'm so glad that we did because navigating the barbed wire obstacles would have been awful with a pack on!
The course was laid out on pasture lands at the Van Vleck ranch. Lots of hills and mud! There were balancing obstacles, rope climbs, monkey bars, cargo nets, barbed wire obstacles, and some other crazy stuff! We had to tie a rubber band around our ankles and hop up and down a hill. We had to drag a cinder block hooked to a chain up and down a hill. And all of it was a ton of fun!
For anyone looking for something a little different from the standard half marathon or trail race, Spartan Races are for you! They do a fantastic job running these events. Aside from how cold it was, I thought the race was awesome.
The volunteers were amazing! It was cold and rainy on Saturday, but they all showed up ready to help ensure the race ran smoothly. We arrived early for our 0830 start time and stood around shivering waiting to start. Originally, both of us had planned to run with Camelbak packs because we thought we might need our own water and food. After some thought, we both opted out of that and decided to just hope that the water stations would do the trick! I'm so glad that we did because navigating the barbed wire obstacles would have been awful with a pack on!
The course was laid out on pasture lands at the Van Vleck ranch. Lots of hills and mud! There were balancing obstacles, rope climbs, monkey bars, cargo nets, barbed wire obstacles, and some other crazy stuff! We had to tie a rubber band around our ankles and hop up and down a hill. We had to drag a cinder block hooked to a chain up and down a hill. And all of it was a ton of fun!
For anyone looking for something a little different from the standard half marathon or trail race, Spartan Races are for you! They do a fantastic job running these events. Aside from how cold it was, I thought the race was awesome. 