The Little Chemist That Could: Race Report: Spartan Super Asheville

Course Map
10k Distance, 29 obstacles

I have continued my training (running and bodyweight strength exercises) through the summer since the Spartan Sprint in April but not done much different. Definitely running longer and faster, and did a fun "mini-event" one Sunday afternoon that was a good test.

I didn't quite know what to expect, but felt pretty confident that it would be another fun day.

On Friday before the race, I spent a bit of time looking up YouTube videos of the obstacles I'd not heard of before, and I'm (yet again) very glad I did that because it really helped me know what to expect and how to tackle some of the obstacles.

On race morning, we left Greenville at 8am and arrived at the race site, the Tryon Equestrian Center, right around 9am. Ok first of all this is about an hour away from Asheville, but I guess that was the closest city by which to name the race. The equestrian center was very nice though, well organized, and decently laid out although you had to walk all the way through the center and around to the back of the stadium ring to get into the race area... still, I understand why they did it for "traffic flow" reasons, and they did have staff with golf carts riding around giving people a lift to the parking lots if needed.

We got checked in, dropped our gear bags, and headed to the start line with minimal time standing around. Not rushed but definitely no dilly-dally time.

Ready to roll!

My little Spartan ready for the Kids race!

I honestly don't recall much of the first part of the race. I think there was a bit of running before we got to the first two obstacle(s). Below I'll go through each obstacle name, a thumbs up/down on whether I completed it, and then the % completion of the participants.

Overwalls (4') - 👍 99%

Hurdles - 👍 99%

Inverted Wall - 👍 97%

More running after this, went through a nice wooded area by a stream.

Pipe Lair - 👍 99%

Water Crossing - 👍 99% (I'm concerned about the 1% that didn't make it across the river??)

First photo op!

Next obstacle was the first that was really tough for me... the 7' wall. It took a couple of running starts and drying my hands in the dirt nearby, but I finally got it!

7' Wall - 👍 98%

A good bit more running, including some quite steep sections of trail. I think we were over 2 miles and 30 minutes in by the time we got to the next obstacle and felt good about our pace and thought (foolishly) maybe we COULD beat 1.5 hours (i.e. our time from the sprint where we walked the whole race).

Twister - 👍 46%

This was a really hard one that I was not positive I could complete, but I am SO PROUD that I did it. Unfortunately it was the beginning of the demise of my callouses on my palms. The sweaty bars were so tough to grip and required a lot of extra effort to not drop.

This is Twister... those handles rotate as you go across.

Olympus - 👎 39%

First failed obstacle. This one was too difficult to even attempt... there was just truly no way I had the upper body and grip strength to get across this. Your feet have nothing to stand on and no grip on the wall (it's like Teflon)... really not sure how to even start it. So we ran the penalty loop instead.

Stairway to Sparta - 👍 94%

Bender - 👍 89%

Both of these were varieties of climbing up rungs of something very tall. Stairway to Sparta started with a ~7' wall before the first rung, and Bender had nothing until the first run which was about 7' off the ground. The Bender "ladder" was slanted too, so you had to climb up the "underside" of it, over the top, and down the other side. Both challenging but doable.

The Box - 👍 85%

Again, one that I'm glad I looked up videos and tips on... an 8' tall box, about 3' across at the top, a pipe across the center of the top, with ropes tied on the pipe dangling down each side. You use the ropes to get up on top and then back down the other side.

Beater - 👎 56%

Wide bars for my little hands plus SO SWEATY from the people in front of me caused my grip to slip on the very first bar. I didn't even get to the bars that moved! Grrr.

Those egg beater shaped things rotate and are set at different levels. Yep.

Multi-Rig - 👍 46%

Proud of this one although it was truly the one that did my hands in. There was a set of rings, then a straight hanging pipe to shimmy across, and then another set of rings. The pipe was set higher than the rings, the pipe also moved as you went across it... SO hard. The rings themselves weren't bad (the Sprint Multi-Rig was just rings) but the metal pipe was wide and hard to grip. But I made it across this one!! That's when I looked down at my hands...

Oh no.
(photo is from later but... they were already bad)

Knowing how many "grippy" obstacles I still had, I got super worried at this point.

Hercules Hoist - 👍 98%

Using a pinch grip instead of gripping with my palm as much as possible, I hoisted the 70lb sandbag up the 25 ft pulley (AND BACK DOWN SLOWLY). That one hurt.

Monkey Bars - 👎 63%

First failure of an obstacle that I completed successfully in the Sprint. I started off and got one swing on the bar and felt the whole layer of callous just peel right off my palm of my right hand. I couldn't make myself keep going, knowing the additional damage I would do to my palms.

Ouch ouch ouch.

Sandbag Carry - 👍 99%

Palms burning, I slung the 40lb sandbag over my shoulders and trekked down and back up a very steep hill.

Bucket Carry - 👍 98%

I think they said this thing was 45lbs or so... maybe more or less. But it was a giant paint bucket filled with rocks that you had to carry on your shoulders or however you could and get it around a (yet again) very hilly loop.

After that we ran again for a good while.

Rope Climb - 👍 59%

Honestly did NOT think I would make it up this one, but I am REALLY REALLY proud I did this!

Atlas Carry - 👍 94%

Lift a 75lb concrete sphere, walk it down and back ~25m, drop it. Done.

Then you get dirty...

Rolling Mud - 👍 98%

Barbed Wire - 👍 99%

Dunk Wall - 👍 95%

Where the dunk wall is an inflated wall even with the surface of a mud pit. The only way through is... under. 100% submerged in mud.

Z-Wall - 👎 60%

I successfully completed this one in the Sprint, but I just didn't have it in me to give it much effort this time. My hands were DONE. Oh plus by this point we were well over 2 hours and 6 miles into the race!

A-Frame Cargo - 👍 98%

Vertical Cargo Plus - 👍 86%

We saw no less than half a dozen people fall to the ground with calf cramps at these two obstacles. I'm talking big dudes SCREAMING in pain. Thankfully my calves (and the rest of me!) stayed intact and didn't have too much issue with either of these.

Spear Throw - 👎 67%

Yeah, just no.

Helix - 👍 94%

This one I think was made to look cool and complicated but it really isn't that bad. It's funky but fairly simple.

Fire Jump - 👍 100%

And 24/29 obstacles completed!

Very happy with the performance this time around, and proud of my teammates for pushing through, too! John and I finished about 30 mins before Brad, but we all got through it and are excited for the Beast in November!