It was only just over a month ago and I was stepping up to the start line for the Spartan European Championships, about to compete in my first ever major championships in OCR. Now, I’m here writing about my experiences having just competed at the Spartan Trifecta World Championships in the only place that is fitting enough for it: Sparta, Greece. If you had asked in July 2022 if I ever thought I would be in the position I am in now with the sport, as I was about to take part in my first race weekend back in 3 years, I would have thought you were crazy and at least a year or two in your estimations.
Up to this point, competing at Sparta itself had always been a dream. When I was really into the sport and avidly following it, I was watching the likes of Jon Albon competing back in 2019, and that had planted the seed for me to want to one day live the experience of being in the historic home of the Spartans, competing on the world stage. After taking some time out from the sport, I came back in 2022 and little did I know, that I’d be living that dream so quickly.
Well, here I am!
So this is my experience of competing in Sparta at the Trifecta World Championships for the first time, giving you my honest opinion on everything and taking you on the inside of the centrepiece of the Spartan calendar. Without any further delay, let’s get into this championship weekend!
Championship Weekend
Compared to the European Championship, instead of being competed over just one race distance thus the championship weekend being just two days with a day to settle in, register and get the athlete’s brief, and then a day for the championship, this is across four days with a day to settle in then three days of individual races that call count towards the overall race result. As I go through the championship weekend, there are some elements that are the same across all three days, such as the athlete’s brief and award ceremony, so will only mention them once. Once you have read about one day, you know it for all the days.
Thursday
Travel
Thursday was mainly the day of travel for me, getting from the UK to the historical city of Sparta via Athens. For me, it started with a 0400 wake up call to be able to get my daily run completed (a challenge I’ve been doing since 1 August 2021) in the pouring rain outside of Heathrow. Little did I know that this was going to be a good test of resilience for the Sunday morning in Sparta…
Teaming up with a couple of other competitors travelling from the UK, we elected to use the Nirvana Europe packages to easily bring everything together to make our lives easier and peace of mind. This allowed us to purchase a package that included the following:
- Accommodation – There are variety of accommodation options for each of the races, circumstances depending. The place that we had was really good, featuring a comfortable and sizeable room for three people, reasonably price food that was really good and the highlight of it all, the pool with the spectacular views surrounding it. I mean, check out those views in the pictures below!
- Travel to and from the airport – With someone to meet you at both ends of the journey, there were a series of coaches ready to go to pick you up when you arrive and make sure you make it back in time for your flight.
- Shuttles to and from the hotel each day – If you weren’t right in the middle of Sparta, there was a team conducting shuttles to and from the hotels to the city centre, meeting the timings you had for your respective race and any other needs. This was useful for us as we were an hour’s walk away and sat at the top of the hill!
- Race fee coverage – Coverage for you if anything goes wrong at any point and unable to race. A just in case and thankfully, something that I didn’t need to use at any point!
Though they were able to be added on to the booking, we elected to not book them but you can also getting the following within a package:
- Flights – This would give you the ultimate peace of mind by having everything included.
- Post race massages – I regretted not having this on the booking after a couple of the races as they looked amazing! You could buy them on the day but I had a small issue with bank cards and them only taking cash.
To some, they may see the Nirvana packages as quite expensive but in my eyes, they are definitely worth it. The service we had prior to heading out and during the weekend was always brilliant. Communication was clear, the shuttles to and from the hotel were always timely and accommodating to any requests, and accommodation that we had was on point! With spectacular views, a very refreshing pool and great service, this was an amazing place to stay, providing a perfect post race refuge.
Opening Ceremony
he opening ceremony was spot on for such an event. It had the presentation, energy and quality expected. It had epic videos from the years gone by, inspiring speeches from various well known personalities in the Spartan higher management and an opportunity to be introduced to the main male and female protagonists in the elite races, who were going to be fighting it out for that ultimate prize.
Really well done and set proceedings off in the right way. It was certainly a case of starting as you mean to go on.
Athlete's Brief
Each evening there was a separate athlete’s brief for the next day’s race and these were conducted really well by the race director, Thomas Blanc. Commencing with a detailed 3D course video narrated by Thomas, it showed you in real time, including elevation, the route the course would take and highlighted the location of every obstacle along the way. During this, Thomas highlighted any particular points of note concerning the course or obstacles.
Once completed, he went on to explain the plan for the weekend when it came to burpees vs penalty loops and which obstacles they would be applied to. Then, as with any Spartan race brief, there was the standard burpees tutorial.
As I said before, these were brilliant. It gave you everything needed to know about the course, the obstacles, any particulars when it came to variations seen around the world, and my absolute favourite part was the full race preview in 3D. Maybe something for the UK team to take note of for the future!
Parade of Nations
I thought the Parade of Nations at the Euros was a cool experience as every country got their chance to climb up on to the stage but this was to a whole new level! Formed up behind their respective flag, all the athletes walked along the main road in Sparta from the City Square to the Statue of Leonidas, whilst the locals and the supporting families and friends cheered them on.
Upon reaching the statue of the famous Spartan king, each country was announced on stage and able to take a photograph collectively under such historical figure. When given the opportunity, the chosen pose from Team UK was to rightfully kneel in front.
An absolutely awesome experience and one that won’t be forgotten!
Friday
Pre Race
Here it was! The first day of competing was upon us and the mixture of excitement and nerves were bubbling away. With the race waves not starting until midday, there was plenty of time for getting into the zone and preparing for the race ahead. With that, there was ample time to head into the city centre and really soak in the atmosphere. Starting at the stadium, playing host to the finish line, out to Leonidas’ statue and down to the city square, there were streams of competitors, supporting family and friends, and the ever supportive locals. Banner all along the streets, signs in the shop windows, big screens in key locations, music and MCs, and various obstacles laid out across the city, Spartan Race had taken over and the place was buzzing.
It was just a great place to be and to embrace the whole experience!
Due to the number of competitors, as you’d expect, there were a variety of waves starting with the Elites before moving through the Age Groups. It was quite a sight to behold. Around the stadium, you had groups of athletes warming up for their race, those who were ready to compete stripped off and focused, bags being dropped and all final preparations taking place, all with the backdrop of the hills and mountain ranges surrounding the city. With the sun beaming down, temperatures warm and the general atmosphere around the place, it was an awesome place to be.
When the time rolled round for you to be in the starting funnel 15 minutes prior to your start time, the support was immense. It was a chaotic cluster of competitors, supporters, media and most importantly, Spartan Phil calling the shots and providing that legendary pre-battle speech. Goosebump inducing!
And then, on his mark, in 3, 2, 1, let battle commence!
Course
For me, this was my first opportunity to experience a race here on the historical grounds of Sparta and it certainly didn’t disappoint. From the very first step, you could tell it was going to be a tricky and challenging time here. In the past, I am led to believe that they used to only be able to walk along the ancient road that’s still in place due to local rules before being released to go truly racing. This year however, it was the first time that once you left the start line, you were off and running straight away. Which was pretty tricky in places! With the road but made of slippery stone, not exactly even and you vying for position, it made it an interesting start. When it came to the rest of the course under foot, I could see why it was down as a 3/3 for terrain. Alongside the ancient road, you had riverbeds to deal with, trails, roads and somewhat natural storm drains to contend with. You had to have your wits about you and though pushing it to the limit, relax those feet and ankles, being sure to tread carefully or else you were at risk of an injury.
It was this instability in the surface that caused the lower leg issues that I had in the Super and brought about a frustrating result in that race thus overall.
The other thing of note was the slight differences you had between the UK and European obstacles. On the most part, they were the same however, from memory, the variations that I remember were:
- Hurdles – I guess this one replaced the usual 4ft walls that you have in the UK series but a bit of a more awkward challenge if you time it wrong with your breath or go at it a little too aggressively when trying to get your leg over, as I found out…
- Rope climb – The ropes used were different to that of UK whereby they were thinner and were more like rock climbing ropes thus had a slight bit of give in them when under tension. It’s only a minor change that increases the grip requirement and highlights the need for good technique when it comes to your feet.
- Z Wall – Again, another slight variation here between Europe and the UK. In the UK, the walls aren’t solid thus as part of the rules, you are able to use the vertical supports, which is particularly useful when going around the corners. In Europe, they are solid so it’s completely relying on you using the holds to keep you on. The other change is that in Europe, the grips are at a slant thus making the challenge a little harder due to the reduced surface area to gain purchase.
- Carries into rope climb – This was something new but spiced things up a little. A longer sandbag carry into a rope climb and the back to a sandbag carry. It definitely brought another level to things and tested the overall fitness of the competitors to go from a carry, taxing mainly the CV system, to a climb, testing the strength and grip whilst out of breath from the carry. It’s these small tweaks that may seem like much but can make large differences for some on how quickly they get through an obstacle.
There are two ways of looking at things when it comes to this. You could have the perspective that it changes up the challenge that you are encountering meaning that the races aren’t boring, constantly keeping you on your toes. If you want to be up there with the best, you should be ready for any and all challenges that they may throw at you, no matter the variations. Though they are only slight variations, it can change your racing flow which when in a sport that can come down to fine margins, could be the important difference. The other way of looking at it is that you’d have thoughts an organisation such as Spartan would have a set standard for all races across the globe. These small variations did unsettle some people more than others and for them, that loss of racing flow or now inability to complete an obstacle that they usually could just about do, meant some performances that weren’t to their usual personal standard.
All round though, the course for the Sprint, along with all the other distances, was a very good level to challenge any participant. From the terrain, to the very low barbed wire in the river, to obstacles being put in back to back like the carry and climb, to the short but steep inclines, it had everything and was spot on for the level needed to host a World Championship race. Another thing that I noted was how there was so much incorporated within the main area of the city, allowing plenty of spectators to view and support their loved ones for the final stretch of the race, witnessing some of the more exciting elements. It was a really good touch and to finish in the stadium with plenty of cheering people was an amazing feeling. Something that won’t be forgotten any time soon.
OK, maybe the burpees for the missed spears in front of all those watching eyes but we all know for me, that’s a standard feature of my race!
Awards Ceremony
Once all the races were completed, there was plenty of time for people to head over, recover, refuel (which for me and few others, meant a regular stop off for a chicken gyros or three…) and freshen themselves up for the evening’s events. This comprised of the athlete’s brief, taking on the format as detailed before, presentation of the day’s medals with an awards ceremony, and other various pieces of entertainment. One of the cool aspects with these championships were the award ceremonies after each race. Yes, the championship is fought over all three races with the ultimate combined time deciding the results but each evening, the top three from each individual race were rewarded with their own podiums and respective medals. And the effort that was put in for the elites was matched for every single Age Group podium, both male and female, allowing everyone to have their moment of glory.
On completion, it was time for a shuttle back up to the hotel and time to get ready for the next day’s events.
Saturday
Pre Race
Even with an earlier start thus getting into Sparta earlier, though not quite as energetic as the Friday (it was a Saturday morning in the Mediterranean after all), there was still an atmosphere to the city already that gradually built as the morning went on. It was certainly buzzing a lot more once I had returned for the latter parts of the race and stayed for the start and finish of all the Open Waves.
Course
With parts of the course incorporating much of the Sprint course and extending out into the hills and local towns of the local area, taking on much of the same terrain, the things to note outside of what was already said above were the additional obstacles that had a difference compared to the UK races and to highlight some of the cool features of on this new section. Starting with the obstacles, this is what I saw in comparison, with a couple of thoughts on each of them:
- Olympus – There’s not much you can do for changing Olympus whilst keeping it the same obstacle. In my opinion, the changes actually made it easier. Compared to the UK’s rock climbing style holds, which tend to be pretty smooth, they were rough around the edges Spartan helmet shaped holds. They were that rough around the edges that I managed to to achieve one of the most common OCR injuries: a torn callous.
- Balance beams – I don’t think many people liked these! Granted they were slightly wider than those used in the UK, they were a lot more slippery with no footholds on the beam up so unless you got a good run up to get on the flat part of the beam, you would just slide back down the flat surface, resulting in you having to do a penalty loop carrying a heavy metal chain. From what I saw, this loop was a popular one and that was even when it was dry out there. Sunday was even worse!
The other part that I liked was the fact that communities in the local area were just as supportive as the main city. As the course took us through the local village areas, including through the church and local village squares, the citizens of all ages were out clapping and cheering everyone that went by. At the drinks station in the village square, between Stairway to Sparta and Olympus, you had numerous people volunteering to supply you with water and fruit, whilst groups of children cheered and offered high fives to everyone going by. Compared to the the feeling of running around a variety of fields in the UK, this had a much better community feel to it that left you feeling the warmth of the support from all those around you.
The evening’s awards ceremony took on the same format as that of the night before, starting with the athlete’s brief before going on to celebrate the achievements of those that managed to achieve a podium in that day’s race.
Sunday
Pre Race
A slightly earlier start time again compared to the day before, shifting all the plans and preparations left to make sure you are in the right frame of mind and physical state. However, there was something slightly different about the last morning of racing that subdued the energy and had a lot of people checking their phones, looking to the skies and making the right preparations for what they were about to embark on…
Weather
What’s this? A Brit talking about the weather?! In this instance, it is definitely not just small talk. The weather was so bad that it actually managed to delay proceedings by 15 minutes. Starting the night before with heavy downpours as well as the odd rumbled of thunder, this carried on into the morning of race day three, leading the race organisers to take the decision to add a delay to the Elite’s race. This left a wave of competitors making the right adjustments to make sure they were warmed up on time and didn’t get too cool on the start line, with several of them donning a makeshift waterproof, be it poncho or bin liner.
As if the course was challenging enough for us, the conditions brought a whole new level and something like this can level the playing field. It made all the trails a lot more slippery and treacherous, some of the carries rather precarious with a wrong foot taking you down with a heavy load on your shoulder/in your arms, and as you can imagine, tested the grip strength of us all on every obstacle. It certainly spiced things up for the field. You could almost say that it was a fitting way to round off the weekend, allowing the very best and most resilient to come to the forefront.
Course
I don’t think you need me to tell you again how much the weather affected the trails that we were on but I haven’t mentioned yet that all the rivers, streams and water ways that we’d encountered up to now were now moving a little faster and were a couple of inches higher. This made the barbed wire in the river a little more interesting, the Atlas carry in the river that little bit more precarious and made the dunk wall and fully submerged dunk wall.
I hadn’t mentioned it before actually concerning the Atlas carry. This seemed like a standard Atlas carry just in a river, no biggie right? Wrong! Little did we know that right in the middle of the carry, the riverbed dropped away out of no where. Sometimes a surprise like that with a heavy ball in your hand it’s appreciated!
Outside of the weather, this day brought more distance than your standard Beast and plenty of elevation, featuring some lengthy and steep inclines to really challenge you. The only benefit of such climbs was that you were able to really admire the views from the top once the cloud cover had cleared. A particular highlight was along the Spartan Ridge, overlooking the city and a valley either side, made extra scenic by the mixture of sun and cloud cover. The photographer in me really wanted to have my camera to take it all in but unfortunately, I had a race to run.
As spoken about during the other two days of racing, there were a couple more obstacles that appeared that I saw were slightly different to what’s usually seen in the UK scene:
- Carries into carries – We had carries into rope climbs on Friday and now for the Sunday, we had carries into carries. Starting off with a simple log, this was carried part of the way before being traded for a heavier chain and then traded back again, carrying on with the log.
- Stone carry – This one was just a carry but was different in that I’d never seen a “stone carry”. This took the shape of a cube of marble, which was fairly heavy and awkward to carry. You could either carry it in front of you, testing your grip, or on the shoulder, giving you the lovely feeling of the particularly sharp edges against the neck/shoulder.
- Slackline – This is apparently a common one on the continent and something that I had never seen before. Though short in length, pretty darn tricky if your balance isn’t great. When you add in the rain and mud, I think a fair few ended up with penalty loops on this one. With a variety of techniques being talked about, my firm favourite was get two feet on it and then simply jump as far as you can to clear the end. Unfortunately, it was after the race I was told about this!
Awards Ceremony
As you can imagine, the final night’s award ceremony was always going to be bigger and better than the other nights. This started with the awarding of some of the lifetime achievements that people had earned, whether across the years or that year alone. For those that had completed multiple Trifectas across their entire Spartan career, they were able to collect a variety of awards and gifts respective to the tier that they had achieved. Starting off with caps, patches and delta corners, this progressed up to bags, t-shirts and free race passes to use to celebrate the dedication and effort that you’ve put in over the years. For those that achieved over 13 Trifectas in the entire calendar year, they were presented with a whole shield! These shields are some serious pieces of kit, weighing in at 17.7kg! I can’t imagine the struggle of getting that home on your flight. That’s some excess baggage right there!
Then it was on to the awarding of the day’s medals and more importantly, the overall winner in each category from Elites, both male and female, to each Age Group race.
It was everything it needed to be and a great celebration of the efforts of those that managed to achieve the results that they did across the weekend. It’s also inspiring to see and hear of the stories of those that did manage to achieve greatness, with them playing the final stages of the Elite race on the big screen during the evening for those that missed the final stages whilst they were out on course.
After Party
If I were to pick out any regrets that I may have had from the weekend away from racing, it was probably not actually sticking around for the awards ceremony and afterparty. At the time, I was pretty darn tired and just wanted to eat well and go to bed, so it didn’t feel at all appealing. Now, looking back on the stories and posts of those that were in attendance, it did seem like a great evening and an awesome way to wrap up the weekend. Who wouldn’t enjoy being in a Greek bar, singing and dancing with your fellow Spartans?!
I guess I had some post event FOMO but there’s nothing I can do about that now. At the time, the rest and sleep were the priority for me.
Community
I mentioned it a few times during the blog that stood out to me about the whole experience was the togetherness and the community during the whole experience. It was really beautiful to see. You had people from all walks of life, from all nations across the world, coming together to share a passion together. They were there to support each other, check on each other in the heat of the competition and share friendly rivalries with one other, whilst motivating each other through the process. A perfect example of this was one of the guys that I’ve tussled with all season eventually getting the better of me in the last two races, being there at the stadium and cheering me on with his family. Then afterwards, there was ample opportunity to share a beer, some food and stories of how the weekend went whilst on course.
When you add into that the support and atmosphere brought by the dedicated supporters in the shape of families and friends, and the added dose of the proud Spartans welcoming you to their city, it was something truly remarkable. I’m so glad to have been apart of all of it and I will definitely be looking to have this experience all over again but this time, having a performance that I can come away being truly proud of.
Of course, there needs to be a special mention to the help and support of British Obstacle Sports and Team UK, who were there to support, advice and share information with the competitors, whether that be the team captains, ambassadors or between those that were there as “just” athletes. Having friends there already made the experience a lot easier and allowed the building of what should be a great network in the UK OCR world, as it aspires to become a recognised sport moving forward so be sure to check them out, grab yourself a membership and help the sport grow. Plus it’s worth mentioning that with the new partnership between British Obstacle Sports and Spartan Race UK, you need to be a member of the former to be able to compete in the Elite or Age Group races.
How Did I Do In The End?
My feelings on how I did were/are mixed ones. To give the context, I went into things hoping for a top 20 finish in my Age Group based on my 8th in the European Championships. This was based off of having more strong competitors from around the world included in the field, North America in particular, that a few would slot in front of me. After the Sprint race and landing myself a 9th, I felt good and with the next two races being my stronger ones, I thought that maybe I could get higher than I thought. Things started to fall apart in the Super where I was faced with both my tibialis posterior muscles being so tight that I suffered two numb feet. This affected my race majorly and what was looking like a good result, ended up with me finishing 10th in that race but losing ground on those around me.
Moving into the Beast, which I feel is my best distance, I felt apprehensive after my issues the day before. The before mentioned storm also added to my worries about my current known lacking in grip and technique, with the addition of some torn up hands. My running during the race was strong, even with the treacherous trails and elevation gain but overall, the grip did let me down and once I’d failed a couple of obstacles, I was in my head and showed in me accumulating too many penalties for my own personal standards. Still, I was able to salvage a 10th place in the Beast, leaving me 10th overall.
Putting things into the true perspective of where I’ve come in the space of just over 3 months, I can say that I’m content with what I’ve achieved since my return. In that time, I have gone from not running an OCR in nearly 3 years to finishing 10th in the world in my Age Group at the Spartan Trifecta World Championships. When I sit back and think about it, that’s pretty cool! That weekend in July was only meant to be a benchmark to see where I am and learn what I’m falling short on ready for a full season in 2023. Little did I know that I’d land a podium, an 8th in Age Group at the European Championships and now this. At some point, I do have to pat myself on the back. Of course, the highly competitive and critical part of me whispers in my ear that I should have done better and will look back on missed opportunities or time wasted with regret. However, these things are lessons that I can learn from and apply them to the future.
I now have until the beginning of December to improve as much as I can in the areas that I’m weak in and get myself as ready as possible for the Spartan World Championships in Abu Dhabi. Compared to the Trifecta World Championships, it is battled out across only one distance so I’ve got to make it count. The key thing is I have to go into it with realistic targets again and remember where I’ve come from in such a short period of time and that I’m only just starting on the journey to where I want to be.
If I apply the lessons of this season up to now, you never know what could happen on the day.
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