Innocent person who knows none the wiser : “What’s Spartan Race? I’ve not heard of that”
Me: “It’s a competitive OCR race I take part in”
Them: “OCR? Is that like Tough Mudder or something else?”
Me: “Kind of. Let me explain…”
This is a conversation that I commonly have with people about my sport and is one of the main inspirations for this blog. This is going to be your go to link to send people who look at your blankly when you answer “What is that thing you do at the weekend?”. However, if you’re already somewhat in the know and want some information on where you could progress to in the sport, this is also the blog for you!
If you’re new to the world of OCR and not in the know when it comes to the various races that occur, you’re probably left wondering what on earth this “Spartan” race thing is that I keep talking and posting about. It can be very easy for someone in the know, who lives and breathes this stuff at times, to underestimate that actually, not everyone knows what you’re talking about when you mention “OCR” or “Spartan Race”.
On the flip side, you may have completed your first one, loved and now thrown yourself into it. You’ve followed all the Spartan social media accounts, started thinking about your next race but then you see a variety of posts talking about “Elites” and “Age Group” racers, what’s that? Maybe left wondering what they mean by “regional series”? Why’s everyone on #Spartan talking about “Trifectas”? Wait, there’s even a “European/World Championship”?
Little did you know, your Super is just the beginning!
Don’t worry, even now, I am often left with a blank look when someone tells me about a new race series or even a special event that is conducted by a franchise that I already know. So I should have a bit of sympathy when I get that look back when I first introduce what I do. By the end of this post though, everything should hopefully be a lot clearer for you. By the time you reach the bottom of this page, you’ll be an expert on the following:
- The basic races that Spartan Race host during a weekend event
- What a Trifecta is and means
- The different tiers you can enter, depending on your level of competitiveness
- What series you can enter if you do want to get competitive
- What championships are available if you want to take things all the way
You’ll either be able to converse adequately with your friends who won’t stop talking about Spartan races or be able to map out your journey to the top as you progress in the sport and reach the level you’re content with.
On my mark! In 3, 2, 1… let reading commence!
Single Races
The first port of call is to go over the very basic races that Spartan Race offers before things are complicated when talking about Trifectas, Championships or any of the more extreme races. I’ll detail for you the very basics of what each race distance comprises of, how each step change ups the challenge that is taken on and who is best suited to enter each race, which may be particular useful for those new to things.
Sprint
This is maybe considered the “beginner” race for want of a better word. It’s the shortest in distance, standing at 5km (plus the usual little bit over it tends to be), lowest number of obstacles, playing host to 20 of them and including some of the Spartan favourites, and the smallest amount of elevation gain. This race is a good one for you to enter if it’s your first time to allow you see if you enjoy it or not before committing to one of the longer ones.
Super
Taking a step up, you have the Super distance. It’s double the distance of a Sprint, covering 10km (or a little more…) but only has a small increase in the number of obstacles to 25, thus the ratio of running:obstacles is a little higher. Typically, this race will have some extra elevation gain too to up the ante that little bit more. A race distance that could also be used as your starting point if you think the 5km isn’t enough to challenge yourself.
It is between this and the Sprint as to which one is the most popular.
Beast
So you’ve completed a Super and you’re wanting to find your next challenge? Good news! You can take the step up to the Beast distance. Once again, this step up brings you only an additional 5 obstacles thus 30 of them for you take on but with slightly more than doubling in distance, raising things up to 21km (at least!) and usually with that, plenty more elevation gain to get your legs into.
A race that is probably more suited for someone who’s finished a Super or two before taking the step up. There’s nothing to stopping you though if you’re confident and want to jump into the deep end!
Ultra
Oh, you want to push yourself even further?!
If one lap of a Beast isn’t enough, you can take things to a whole new level and take on an Ultra. This is the longest of the basic races offered by Spartan consisting of at least 50km and with you doing two laps of the Beast course, gives you the pleasure of taking on all 30 obstacles twice, equating to 60 of them! Treat yourself! A true test of running endurance, your grip strength to hang in there and your mental resilience.
Obstacles
I’ve mentioned a few times now that this isn’t just a running race and you have to face a variety of obstacles. In my eyes, these fall in a few categories, giving a particular focus:
- Grip & technique – There are number of obstacles that require you to lift or move your own bodyweight from point A to point B, which will test your grip strength and you technique. The better the technique, the less grip strength is needed.
- Power – This can be lifting or dragging something whilst in a stationary position.
- Carries – Simple. Pick something up and carry it to another place. Put it down.
- Skill – The dreaded/loved spear throw is one that fits this category. Is it skill? Is it luck? I’ll leave you to debate that.
If you want to have a full overview of what you could face, this will help you out: Spartan Obstacles.
Trifecta
Once you’ve got the handle of the race format and the distance, whichever you may choose to start with, when you feel ready, you can then set your sights on achieving what’s known as a Trifecta. A Trifecta is the completion of either a:
- Sprint, Super & Beast
- Sprint, Super & Ultra
This has to be done in the same calendar year for it to count but can be done across multiple race weekends if you so wish. Perfect for those that are brand new to things to go from the Sprint to Super to Beast across a year and want to push yourself to test your own limits. To signify the completion of such a feat, you can put together the wedges you get with each finishing medal to create one whole larger medal.
The fun doesn’t stop there though when it comes to the Trifectas! If you’re brave enough and fit enough, you can complete a full Trifecta in one weekend by doing all three races, earning you a special Trifecta weekend medal on top of the 3 segments that make up whole medal. Then you have the awards for how many Trifectas you’ve completed in one year. For each Trifecta you complete that year, you’ll get awarded an ever increasing in size medal for your efforts. The size of the medal does top out at 15 though but once you see the size and weight of them, you’ll be glad that’s the case!
Example would be, if you complete 3 weekend Trifectas in one year, you’d receive the following:
- First weekend: 3 individual race medals, 1 Trifecta weekend medal, 1 larger medal created from the wedges
- Second weekend: Same as the above with the addition of a “X2” Trifecta medal
- Third weekend: Same as the first weekend with the addition of a “X3” Trifecta medal
Medals galore! Hopefully you have the wall space!
Additionally, for those that manage to achieve 13 Trifectas in one year, there is a presentation of a special Spartan shield, which takes place at Sparta itself during the Trifecta World Championships. I’ve seen them and they are pretty impressive.
Though, a pain to get back on your flight I’m sure at 17.7kg!
Lifetime Trifecta Awards
Up to now, the number of Trifectas that someone has completed across their lifetime has just been for personal pride and something to boast about with their friends with no real tangible rewards. You did have the ever growing medals for each one you’ve done in a calendar year but nothing to acknowledge your lifetime achievements. Recently, that has changed, with the introduction of the Lifetime Trifecta Scheme, which gives you rewards of ever increasing size and value for each level you achieve in the scheme, which is very cool! Starting off the simple stuff such as caps, wristbands and patches, this builds up to free race passes, t-shirts and bags depending on what level you get to. You will also get your name engraved on the plaques outside the stadium in Sparta itself to forever commemorate your achievements.
Different Tiers
Once you have decided on which race you are wanting to compete in, the next thing you need to decide is what tier you’re going to compete at. Spartan has a tiered approach, allowing you to decide between just completing the race for the challenge in itself, getting you that t-shirt and finisher’s medal at the end, known as the Open Wave, or to test yourself competitively against others. This competitive side is split down into two tiers again, with the Elites and the Age Group. The Elites, as you can probably tell from the name, are some of the quickest and most efficient OCR athletes in the field, competing for the accolade of being on the podium, receiving a delta and prize money. Age Group, though not quite as fast, is a very competitive wave with many able to do very well at the Elite level, and are competing for those podium places in their respective Age Groups (18-24, 25-29 and so on) however, this is without the prize money.
The other thing to consider with the Elite and Age Group tiers, is that you position within these races can allow you to qualify for both larger scale Spartan championships such as European and World championships, which I’ll cover later in the blog, or OCR championships, again both at the European and World championship level. Different races have different qualifying criteria based on the level that you enter, which are best to be checked beforehand so that you aren’t disappointed afterwards!
Regional Series
The first level up from that of the single race competition is the Regional Series. With the Elite and Age Group competitors having their own separate series, at the start of a season, set races will be allocated as part of the Regional Series. By taking part in those races, your results will equate to a set number of points which are totalled up across the season, giving you your result for the overall series. Then those that finish in the top 3 will end up with a shiny new delta as an award and if in the Elite series, additional prize money.
The Regional Series allow you to test yourself across a variety of different courses and distances with your competitors, giving you a chance to have some season long rivalries and see who will come out on top. It’s also brings another level of competition and motivation for athletes. You could have an awful first race of the year and use that to go away, motivate yourself for the next races and bring yourself back into contention across the season.
Championships
The next level up in the hierarchy of Spartan is that of the championship level. There are three different types of championship race at this level, differing in either format, size or area of the world that they cover.
Regional Championship
Starting off with the “smallest” of these three, you have the regional championships, which in 2022 covered both North America and Europe. To qualify for these, you have to achieve a certain level of result in your decided tier to be allow you compete. For more information, this can be found here. Bringing together the nations that come under the umbrella of that region, a set distance will be decided for the championship race, with a winner takes all based on the results of that one distance. There may be other races that weekend but it is only this race that counts.
As someone who has been fortunate enough to qualify and compete at one of these events, they are a fantastic experience and something that I would recommend aspiring to.
World Championship
There’s only one level you can really go to after Regional and that’s taking things worldwide. Yes, the next level up is the Spartan World Championships. This takes on the same format seen for the Regional Championships by being battled out across just the one race distance as decided by Spartan. This doesn’t necessarily have to be the same distance as the Regional Championship either. In 2022, we saw the European Championships racing the Beast distance whereas the Elites will be racing the Super for the Worlds. Though the Age Group competitors will compete over the Beast distance for both.
One of the exciting things you get with these races, as well as the Regional, is having it in different countries, providing an individual challenge itself that takes things to that extra level. With this variety, you’ll see slight variations in the obstacles as each region has some small tweaks to the standard Spartan collection, changing up the challenge slightly.
Ultra World Championships
For those crazy enough and good enough when it comes to the Spartan Ultra distance, they do have a separate championship all of their own the typically takes on the format of being a 24 hour race, with the winner being the one that completes the most laps of a set distance they can in the time.
Trifecta World Championship
Some would say that this is the pinnacle of the Spartan calendar. Hosted in Sparta itself, this championship is different to that of the Regional, Ultra or World championships in that though you are rewarded for where finish in each race distance, the overall result which is based on your combined time is what decides this championship. The other reason why many love this race is that it’s hosted in the historic city of Sparta, Greece, incorporating part of the remains of this legendary city.
It’s interesting where this really sits in the hierarchy compared to the World Championships, as to qualify for the Trifecta World Championships, I believe it’s simply the case of completing a Trifecta that year, whereas for the other championships, you need a certain standard of result.
This is another race that I have had the utter pleasure of taking part in. It was a phenomenal experience! Highly recommend being a part of one of these!
Other Races
The races spoken about here are just the basics but for those that really want to dive deep into the franchise and sport, whilst testing themselves to higher and higher levels, there are plenty of additional opportunities through some of the special races that are organised. From the Hurricane Heats, which are a test in themselves lasting for multiple hours and comprising of a variety of challenges, to the Spartan Trail races, bringing a very different perspective to the Spartan challenge, to the infamous Agoge or Death Race, which take the challenge to a whole new, and for many unsurmountable level.
I’ll leave you to delve into these in your own time.
For now then, that wraps up my basic guide to Spartan Race. By now, you should be be easily able to meet the aims that I laid out at the beginning, allowing you comfortably progress in the sport or appease those friends who want to tell you about the 7th Trifecta they’ve achieved this year. Maybe this insight has given you the fire in you sign up for your first race and if that’s that case, you can click here.
I realise now that you know what it entails, you may be wondering what the best way is to train for such an event. I’ll be seeing about either a blog or a different kind of service that will detail this for you and support those who wish to compete in Spartan Races. Watch this space for more information in the future.
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