Just like that, the 2023 Spartan season is over. (Or it was when I initially started drafting these article!)
Though it’s been just over a year since I wrote my last season review [insert link], this year has flown by, leaving me here to write another one. Some athletes will do these privately, whilst others can be more vocal about them. For me, I have a few reasons for wanting to write a season review in the public domain:
- Reflection – It gives me a way to openly and honestly reflect on the season and by putting it into words that others can understand, makes sure that I process everything fully.
- Accountability – This comes in the form of both me simply doing a review after stating that I would or accountability against the goals that I stated from the outset.
- For others – By comparing themselves to me, others can see where they are at and hopefully be inspired to strive for their own success after seeing someone like me take such large leaps forward.
What Is Spartan For Those Who Don't Know
Is it you that don’t know what Spartan Race is, it is one of the many obstacle course racing franchises that you can competitively compete in around the world. For some people it is just about getting the achievement of completing one of these races, getting through a race’s obstacles, whilst for others it is a sport that they compete in for prize money and the chance to be the best in the world.
To give you the very basics, there are three standard race distances of 5km, 10km and 21km with 20 obstacles, 25 obstacles, and 30 obstacles respectively. These obstacles take on a variety of formats such as carrying things, swinging through obstacles, climbing over things, and sometimes swimming. If you want the full breakdown of what Spartan is and how it works you can head to my blog here, where I’ll give you a more in-depth lowdown on the franchise.
Goals For The 2023 Season
It’s so long since I laid out my goals for myself in the Notes app on my phone. I had to go back and remind myself what I’d set myself at the back end of the year. For complete honesty and transparency, I’ve attached a copy of said note in the app so you can see what they truly were and if I managed to hit them.
As we get into things, you’ll see that I pretty much smashed through all of them but I won’t spoil that for you. Though if you have been following my story during all of last season, you’ll have seen how well I did overall.
Each Race Weekend & What Happened
In this blog, I will break down how I felt every race weekend went, assess how it went against the goals I’ve laid out for myself, and gave an overall perspective of where my thinking was at when it came to assessing a change of goals for future race weekends.
London West
Going into this first race weekend of the year, it was planned to be an early banker to get my trifecta completed nice and early whilst wanting to have a good start to the regional series.
With the regional series being completed over the super distance, my plan was to go easy with the Beast however that didn’t quite happen. Partly assuming that the race would’ve been an easy one due to the number of people focusing on the regional race, it turns out that I was incredibly wrong. There was a competitor from Belgium he was competing in his first ever Spartan race, and with him being a high-quality road runner, his ability over the Beast distance was impressive and pushed me to the limit.
Thankfully my obstacle proficiency against his was what allowed me to come out on top and come away with a win in the first race of the season.
Just like that, one of my goals was ticked off.
Though I was happy with my early win, it wasn’t in the race that truly mattered, which was the regional race on the Sunday. After pushing it too far on the Saturday, I was now going in to the Sunday race with a significant amount of fatigue, which I’d not planned for, and tendinitis in one of my ankles.
The tendinitis was actually that bad that I was considering not competing at all but decided to go for it to bank what I hoped to be a good result and see what the competition was like for the season. Ultimately I came away with a second-place finish, which I was content about with the situation I was in but with the gap to the overall winner being pretty large, this left me with plenty of ground to make up in later races.
As you would expect, I was able to finish the Sprint though it took a lot of mental resilience with what was now double tendinitis in my ankle and maybe this wasn’t the smartest move. I got the job done though and this allowed me to have that Trifecta banked, allowing me to now compete in Sparta.
My overall thoughts for the first weekend were mainly happy with my strong performance in the beast, which resulted in others discussing potentially stepping up to elite even though it was my first full season, and it was clear that it was going to be a two horse race for the regional series. I may not have had a result I want in the regional series but it was a solid foundation for the season ahead.
Midlands
After having learned the lesson of the last race weekend, I decided to only take part in the regional race which was the Sprint this time. Distance is a strength for me, so anything short is where I start to “struggle”. I certainly would much rather run a 21K race at full pace rather than a 5K race at full pace. This was bound to be a lung burner and case of handling lactic acid build up.
This race had two main elements to it. The first one was my mental resilience with it being in my discomfort zone. There was a particular moment at the halfway point where I dropped to third place, got into a defeatist mindset and considered cruising to the end of the race. Thankfully I was able to turn this around, and put my foot back on the gas pedal to ensure that I was pushing myself to the limit and to get the best result that I wanted, which in the end did pay off. Though this result did have a dark mark over it.
Based on how the race climaxed, the front three managed to pop out of a cargo net nearly neck, neck and neck. Then one of the competitors unfortunately injured themselves, leaving me to take the lead of the race. Given the circumstances of it being the downfall of somebody else I wasn’t happy that I’d taken the lead in such circumstances, however there was nothing I could do.
What further tainted it result was a misinterpretation of the rulebook causing another competitor to be disqualified giving me the win in the end. For being my first regional series win, I didn’t want it to be in the circumstances. I would much rather get a win when competing against the best individuals who are all fully fed and all playing by the same rulebook.
Looking back on this race weekend, I was of course happy to have received a win but I would’ve rather it had been in different circumstances.
South West
Move onto the next race weekend, I was again only competing in one race. This was a race that was to my strength, with it being a Beast race. This race overall was a great battle with my main competitor in the Regional Series who pushed me all the way through the race. Though I was able to come away with a win this time, without it being tainted by any outside circumstances.
I was really happy with my performance and speed during this Beast, coming away with a very fast time for a half marathon even before considering that there were 30 obstacles in the way. Another bonus on this result was that I had confirmed that I will be finishing on the podium for the Regional Series. So strong was my performance, I was first overall in the age group and I wouldn’t have been very far off of an elite podium either.
All in all a very successful weekend I came away from feeling very content with where I was fitness wise and performance wise.
London South East
Up to 3 weeks prior to this race, this was due to be the UK Age Group Regional Series showdown between Liam and I. I was a mixture of excited and nervous for his race but was confident in my ability to get the result I needed to come away with golden delta for being the overall Regional Series winner.
Then everything changed when Spartan Race UK changed the rulebook going into this race, no longer making it a compulsory race. This was to allow competitors to compete in the ultra allowing them to get a qualification for the World Championships next year. With this change I elected to sacrifice my chance at first place in the Regional Series, and go for Elite success in the ultra race. Looking back there was likely an element of delusion in my ability in a long distance race but to be able to progress in my OCR career, this was the only choice that I had to allow 2024 to be the year that I wanted it to be.
For my first ultra, I was very happy with my performance on the most part. In the early stages I was able to stick with a leading pack, however let myself down when I failed the slack line and from that point on was always on the back foot. My proudest moment from this race was a mental resilience to fight through running on my own for the majority of the race, whilst facing lower limb issues, and still managing to come within 20 minutes of the podium and finishing under six hours.
As for the race that I was meant to be in, things didn’t go how I would’ve wished them to with one of the other competitors having an absolute blinder and winning opening the door for me to finish in first place. That was okay though, as I still had finished in second place in the UK Regional Series in my first full season.
Moving into the other races of the weekend, this was mainly to test my mental and physical resilience in being able to do an Ultrafecta. I may have entered the Age Group race for the Super, but I was never going to be able to compete against those that were fresh. Little did I know that I was competing against one of my main rivals in the next race weekend and should’ve maybe paid more attention, but my world of pain was engulfing me too much and I wasn’t going to keep up at all.
Managing to finish the Sprint, just about, that wrapped up the UK leg of my Spartan season. Reflecting upon the results, I couldn’t be happier with how the season had turned out. Yes I may have been able to come away with a win in the Regional Series, but in the grand scheme of things the better athlete won across the season’s ups and downs, and second place was still a great result. Looking at 2024, the season was now set up to be how I wanted it to be after my sacrifice.
So to evaluate how the UK season have gone, I had managed to finish second in the regional series and achieve three wins and a second place in the competitive races.
Not too bad for a first full season!
Trifecta World Championship - Sparta
Going into the Trifecta World Championships, my expectations were reasonable based on the result that I had achieved at the regional level and based upon my result from last year. Going into this championship, my goals were to achieve at least one podium in a single race and would’ve been very happy with finishing on the podium overall. Of course, winning would have left me over the moon, but I had no idea what to expect based on the competition that I was going to be coming up against.
Splitting down this part of the review into three smaller races, the Sprint performance that I had was one that I was very happy with and almost shocked by how well I did, knowing that the shorter distance isn’t my distance. Sadly, the spear throw let me down and caused me to lose several positions and a decent chunk of time on the leaders. This loss of time was down to my own mistake, which I had to rectify for the coming to races but I was in a good position.
Watching the podium that evening, it fired me up for the next couple of days to ensure something like that didn’t happen again.
Going into the Super, my attitude was to do what I did the day before and take it to the opposition and this time it paid off. I was able to get out front and lead for the whole of the race, making sure that I took the time I had to concentrate on nailing the spear. I was able to come away with the first place which left me over the moon, and had turned things around to the point where I was now overall leader by only two seconds.
Race three of the weekend, and I was riddled with nerves, knowing that it was all on me to be able to win this championship and I was in the driving seat. I was tossing and turning the night before, I was thinking about all the very different scenarios, thinking about how I was going to tackle this race; my mind was just racing. I had to make sure that I controlled all the variables that I could control, getting myself in the best position as possible to be able to take on this race and the competition that I had become accustomed to.
I took on the tactic of the two days before and went out strong at the beginning, knowing that this was my strongest distance, and that I had to put it all on the line. Things were going well for the first 10K, until I tripped over an unmarked fence and significantly injured my left hand, which left me on the back foot for the whole of the race and left me worried that it was going to slip through my grip, (pardon the pun).
If you’ve seen the pictures, of which I would’ve attached several to this blog, you will see the blood, sweat and, as I got to the finish line, a tears that were shed in getting to where I finished overall. And if you didn’t already know where I finished, that was in first place by nearly 5 whole minutes! I took it to the opposition, solidifying the result and showed that I actually did deserve it for hard work that’d gone into preparing for this season.
From this race, the main thing that I took away from it was how achievable it actually was, and realising that the golf between myself, and those that are leading the age group, was not as big as I had expected. But it also highlighted the golf between day, world champions and the Leo champions, and shared that I had a lot of work that I need to put in to be able to close that gap and be able to take it to those competitors next year and in the years is there after.
Though I had had been dreaming about this moment leading up to this championship, I still didn’t quite believe that it was going to happen. Yet here I am, able to say that I am Age Group 25-29 Trifecta World Champion. Even now, as I write this blog, it still hasn’t quite set in, and I am left having to pinch myself to think that it actually happened.
World Championship - Abu Dhabi
After the success of the Trifecta World Championship, it was hard to not go into this World Championship with high expectations. I tried my best going into this race weekend to stay humble and grounded with what I was hoping to achieve in this race. With this mindset, my goals for the weekend was the same as what I went into the Trifecta World Championships with: hoping for a podium.
The beginning of the race, I took on the tactic that I used in Sparta, going out strong and running my own race. This was working well for the first couple of miles before I was joined by what I found out to be one of the Emiratis. Annoyingly, he was making sand look like concrete, gliding over it effortlessly whereas I couldn’t put down my pace that I felt I had.
In the end, my race became a fight for second place, with me being overtaken by another athlete. With me being able to just about keep him in my sights, I had to consciously try and reel him back in over the spell of about 10-15km. With only 1-2km to go, I finally caught up at the Atlas carry and found out he was in fact my age group. This left me putting on the afterburners as much as was left in the tank, trying to get to the finish line as fast as I could and most importantly, ahead of him!
With him hot on my tail, I buckled under the pressure and came off the final rig, sprinting into the penalty loop, fearing that I would be overtaken. In the nicest way possible towards him, I was glad to see him come off! As I popped out the loop as he came in, I was able to sink my spear whereas he didn’t and that sealed what I thought to be second place!
Unfortunately, this was short lived and so started the controversy of this championship. Around half an hour later, I checked the results again and found that I had been demoted to third place, as someone in my age group had started in a later wave but got a quicker time. Based on the Spartan Race rulebook, this was disputed by the athlete that had been dropped off the podium and initially, the athlete got the appropriate penalty, reinstating the original podium.
This changed again whilst back at the hotel, where the disputed was overturned and the athlete was placed back in first place. Rushing back to the race site, this was disputed again, this time with the explanation that the athlete had quoted the wrong age, Spartan staff hadn’t picked it up and because of it being a Spartan mistake, the original dispute was overturned.
I was annoyed by this decision and what didn’t help make me feel any better was that the team manager for that nation had an integral part in the Age Group awards ceremony, both giving a speech and presenting the first place award.
In the moment, it was hard not to be bitter and disappointed with how the race weekend ended up. Given the circumstances, if the shoe was on the other foot I would have a feeling that exception would not have been made. Though, in hindsight, it has been a fantastic season overall I still managed to achieve a third-place finish in a world championship race. If anything, it has given me a fire in my belly to come back next year stronger than ever to ensure that there are no doubts in the result.
I still managed to finish the weekend on a high by achieving the trifecta that I never achieve last year and I was able to do something that I had never imagined going to happen at the start of the season. That was having the ability to finish a Spartan race alongside my brother.
Overall Thoughts
It may seem in parts that I’m a little disappointed with the year but don’t worry, that’s not the case. I’m over the moon with how everything went. Now that I’m looking back on it with the full perspective of where I’ve come from since August 2022, it’s a crazy amount achieved!
Hindsight is 20/20 and there are various points along the journey where a different decision may have resulted in a better result but that was the decision that I thought was right in that moment and ultimately, some of the sacrifices that I made will ensure the 2024 can be the year that I wanted to be.
Yes, I may have expected to come away with a win or two here and there, but I didn’t expect to come away with three Delta is from across the season including being able to call myself a world champion.
Be able to do such a thing was a massive dream of the season and now it is a reality.
This season has given me the confidence to continue with the sport and to take the step up to the next level next year to see what I can achieve. Which leads me on perfectly to talk about what I have planned for next year and some of the goals that will come with this.
Plans For The 2024 Season
After such an amazing season this year, you must be thinking, “Where do you go from here?”. A very good question that I’ve been asking myself these last few weeks since Sparta to understand what I go on to do next year. I have a lot of big ambitions and making it work may be tough, especially financially (any sponsors reading this want to reach out, now’s your time!) so I’m going to have to draft a plan and go from there, hoping that something comes together. There are a plethora of races I want to do but when having to commit to a full time job and two medicine courses, it’s not the easiest.
So here are my thoughts for next year’s goals/races:
- Gain Spartan Pro card – After hitting pretty much the upper limit of my Age Group achievements with the Trifecta World Champion accolade, it only makes sense for me to try and step up to Pro. With the change of Spartan’s competitive structures [insert link], this means earning that Pro card. (Since writing this, I found out that my Elite race result qualifies me for this so this has technically already been achieved).
- Achieve a Pro Podium – Seeing as the last goal has technically already been achieved, this is the next step and though it’s going to be tough, this has got to be a goal for me. Especially nothing how close I was to the time for an Elite podium last year, it’s not too far away.
- Compete in the UK Spartan Series – This is going to be paramount if I want to get into the European and World Championship races next year. I would be content if I was able to break into the UK top 20 but the ambitious goal for me is breaking into the Pro top 10 for the UK.
- Compete in the Spartan Pro European & World Championships – Nothing that this takes qualification to be able to take part, I want to rightfully qualify for both and see how I stack up against the rest of the world.
- Compete in the Spartan Pro Ultra World Championship – After focussing on qualifying last year, I fully intend to give my all in the Pro Ultra World Championship in Morzine, and with the event that I’m training for in May (more on that in a moment), I should be ready for this. The only testing thing for me with this will again be the finances of making it happen (once again, sponsors, you know what to do!).
- UK OCR Series – A new set of races and competition on the roster for the next year by taking part in this series. This means I can take on a variety of races, all bringing their own challenge and compete against those who haven’t raced at Spartan. Similar aims for this, with a top 20 leaving me content; happy with a top 10 finish. This is something that I was going to take part in but with having to concentrate on what funds go on this year, such as the challenge in May and Spartan, I don’t think I’ll have the time nor money to be able to do this.
Some of those goals you may think are a bit conservative, which I would agree with you however I don’t want to go in over my head nor underestimate the challenge that will come with some of these other races. They are stepping stone goals and if I do better than expected from the off, I’ll shift them higher.
As I mentioned before, it’s not just OCR that I have massive goals in. This year, I am going to take on the record for the UK National Three Peaks! This means climbing the three mountains and running the distance between them, equating to over 400 miles of running. I’m taking this on in May 2024 and as I prepare, you can follow the story on my Instagram account. As part of this, I am fundraising for two charities, so if you are able to donate anything to these great cause, please head to my Givewheel page and anything would be much appreciated!.
So, just another small year of sporting endeavours this year!
What Off Season Was Made Up Of
Now I admit, this blog was due to be released a lot earlier in the year meaning that I was going to detail a lot more of what my plan of season was going to be. Seeing as we are halfway through off-season, I will tell you what I’ve done up to now and what’s left of the plan.
After Abu Dhabi, I took some time to have a couple of weeks with lower volume in my training before hitting the New Year hard. January was mainly for building base miles and getting back into training in the gym for strength and conditioning. I found this very rewarding and fruitful.
Moving into February, my training started to prepare me for my National Three Peaks challenge, increasing the volume of running every week and concentrating a lot on mobility for my physical robustness.
Now that we are into March & April, I will continue on the same track of increasing my running volume whilst trying to incorporate some speed sessions so that I don’t lose too much speed for the first race this season. However, my main focus for this time is getting ready for the National Three Peaks. This means building the needed endurance and the mileage required to run over 400 miles in under seven days and climb three mountains. Along the way, there will be a few tests to see where I am compared to my ultimately goal, such as a run from Coventry to Nottingham on Saturday followed by the run back on the Sunday.
During the next couple of months, I am hoping to incorporate more strength based training sessions again with a better routine so that I am not too much in a deficit for that season opener for Spartan Race UK in May. I’m certainly not expecting to be breaking any records in that race though!
Once the Three Peaks is out of the way, I will be back to the gym and concentrating on the Spartan season whilst using my volume to hopefully attack the Spartan Ultra World Championship with all my energy!
Is It Time For You To Sign Up For Your First?!
Is 2024 the year for you to take on your first Spartan Race? I’ve got good news for you! You can find your next race here, and using code SRUKBA-REECE-CC will get you 20% off you races. There’s no better time to sign up to your first race!
It’s time to put yourself to the test! You won’t regret it!
