Race Report: Spartan Sprint Charlotte

Team BRB Hold My Beer participated in the Spartan Sprint 5k obstacle race on Sunday, April 11th. 

We'd gotten the full race map & list of obstacles on Thursday of the week before and... I spent most of Friday evening Google searching definitions, stats, and YouTube videos of how to do each one. I'm glad I did because several of the tips came in handy during the race!

We all drove up Saturday afternoon and departed from the hotel for our 9:45am start time around 8AM. The race was held at Porter Farms in Concord, NC, a privately held active farm with cows, chickens, and other sorts of livestock. It made for a really amazing race venue - the obstacles were kind of grouped in areas of each field with running through trees & streams in between. 

The team consisted of John, Brad, and myself. I'm still a little confused at the "team" concept since everybody still has to do all of the obstacles themselves and there's really very little you can do to help one another on most of them... but anyway...

We got there, got checked in, checked our bags, and made our way to the start corrals just before our time was called. 

Um. 😳

Ready to gooooo!

Due to COVID, they thinned out the start waves to have about 50 people start every 15 mins... it worked out well though so that the obstacles didn't get super crowded, even at the beginning.

A few announcements and we were off!

(One fun thing in the online results is they give a % completion of each obstacle from the entire field of participants... I'll go through each one below with the % and ✅ or ⛔ for my own performance.)

About 100 yards from the start line was the first obstacle, the 4' Over Walls (98%) ✅ which is just like it sounds - a 4' wall you have to get over. I was nervous about it but had watched a video that gave some technique (run AT the wall and basically act like you're going to run up it). This turned out to be good advice and I got over with my first attempt!

After that we ran for the longest consistent stretch, about half a mile or so through the woods. It was a nice trail through the trees and we took a nice easy pace until we popped out to the next obstacle.

Hay Wall (99%) ✅ was large bales of hay to climb over (not too hard) quickly followed by the 6' Wall (97%) ✅ which I attacked just like the 4' and got over without issue! Last in this section of obstacles was the Inverted Wall (97%) ✅ which was more challenging but I surprised myself by getting over it with little issue. Again, the technique video I'd watched said to keep your body close to the wall (arms in) to help climbing up, and use legs to push and reach to the next railing.

Inverted Wall example

We passed this one and had another bit of running through the woods. By this point we'd decided to walk most of the traveling portions between obstacles as a team.

Hurdles (98%) ✅ 

This one looked similar to the walls but was a little harder since it was just a bar to get over, not a full wall, and therefore had no footholds to utilize or propel against. 

One blurry photo captured of me hurdling 😁

Atlas Carry (99%) ✅ 

I'd gotten most nervous about some of the strength-based heavyweight obstacles because, well, I'm not. 😂 This was the first of such obstacles - picking up from the ground and carrying a 50-75lb round stone 100m, then bringing it back and putting it down. As I approached the stone, I overheard another pair of ladies say something about, "This is where the marathoners and weight lifters get separated." I took note of that but held my tongue. 😏

Once again, I had watched some technique videos that really helped succeed on this!

The stone looked like this.

Rope Climb (64%) ✅

This one I was verrrrry unsure I could do, and I am most proud that I completed! I was the only one on my team to reach the top of the 17' high rope. I was SOOO excited to get this one done, and happily stood by and cheered my teammates as they completed their 30-burpee penalty for a missed obstacle (oh yeah). 

No knots. Just tall ropes. Pretty intimidating. 

Plate Drag (99%) ✅

So as we ran up to this, I grabbed the first rope I saw and put alllll my weight (and it took allll my weight) into pulling this plate with heavy sandbags in it towards me.

Plate Drag.

After you get the plate to you, you have to grab the chain on the other side and drag it back. Talk about working the hamstrings, yikes! But I finished it and as the team met to get to the next obstacle, John says to me, "Hey what do you think those red plates are for?" pointing to the other end of the line of plate drag stations.

Here's the thing: the heavy weight obstacles all have a men's and women's weights, women's are red. I... had not done the red plate. So it was a 90-lb plate instead of 45-lb. 

"You were already into it, we didn't want to stop you..." 

😂

I give myself bonus points for that.

Multi-Rig (77%) ✅

Another one I was not sure I could complete given it requires a lot of upper body strength and we were already pretty far into the race and I was getting tired. But I sized up the rings and went for it... thankfully my hands weren't too slippery and I got all the way across! Definitely challenging though, swinging from one to the next, and hard to reach with my rather short arms. 

7' Wall (97%) ✅

I was reeeeeally unsure about getting over this one... but thankfully there was a tiiiny little 2x4 nailed about 18" from the ground on each side which could be used as a minimal foothold. It was enough to once again run right at the wall, run up it, and at least hook your armpits over the top. Once I was there, the rest was about swinging one leg up and over. Done!

Hercules Hoist (97%) ✅

This time I *did* find the red obstacle and it's a good thing I did... lifting a sandbag on a pulley up by a rope to the top then letting it back down slowly. I had to put ALL my body weight into getting the bag up and back down. It looks a lot easier than it felt... especially with your hands getting raw from ropes and rungs and such .

Barbed Wire Crawl (100%) ✅

This one was totally doable, it just took patience. You get impatient, you get a scratched back. It was enough clearance to allow for a speedy enough traverse for me, and I definitely felt sympathy for the larger guys crawling under the ~2' clearance (I'm guessing on height there).

Bucket Carry (100%) ✅

Home Depot bucket full of rocks, pick it up and walk about a 1/4 mile loop through thick mud and uneven terrain. The mud was the hardest part, trying to balance the bucket of rocks while keeping your footing.

Spear Throw (57%) ⛔

This one just frustrated me. You get ONE chance and have to get the spear to stick in the mannequin. Ugh, not even strength or endurance related, just skill... and I definitely didn't have it, not by a long shot. 😆 30 burpees for all of us this time!

Z-Wall (74%) ✅

I was verrrry close to not making this one... it's tricky, requires stamina, upper body strength, and agility... my forearms were on FIRE by the end of this from hanging on by my fingertips. But I MADE IT! Getting around that corner was definitely the hardest part.

Z-Wall Example

Slip Wall (97%) ✅

This one wasn't as hard as I thought it might be... it's kind of intimidating because it is pretty tall, and we'd just walked through a biiiig field of mud (yay, slippery shoes) and it's like trying to walk up a metal slide on a playground. There's a rope but the walking surface is slick. Thankfully my trail shoes did the trick and I made it up without falling on my face!

Vertical Cargo (99%)✅

Again, another very doable one but it's tall - and when you're already tired, you feel shaky! But totally cleared it without issue. 

Monkey Bars (81%)✅

Another I was worried about here - late in the race and more upper body strength needed, and you only get one chance! But I did it! I was worried my palms would be too raw by this point but knowing it was the last hard obstacle gave me the strength to get through.

A-Frame Cargo (99%)✅

Final obstacle to climb over before the fire - nothing to it!

Actual photo from our event - monkey bars on the right, A-Frame cargo right after it on the left.

Fire Jump (100%)✅

FINISH LINE!!

Love these pics - the team finished together!!

I have to say, this was wayyyy more fun than I'd anticipated... I'm sure the next one will be harder (it's 2x the distance) but I'm so excited for it. 

Official Results:

Not fast, but finished!

AROOOOO!