The Little Chemist That Could: Race Report: Spartan Beast

I don't really have any pre-race thoughts because the whole week has basically been recovering from Sky to Summit 50k last weekend!

We drove up to the Tryon Equestrian Center on Saturday morning, got parked, and picked up packet in pretty short order. We had everything by 9:15 and our start time wasn't until 10:15.

Course Map - Beast is the green line

It was pretty chilly to start off, sunny and clear, a little bit breezy. I didn't want to ditch my puffy jacket til the last minute, and thankfully John had room in his bag for me to stash it in the bag check area.

I'd debated what to carry with me during the race as far as fuel & hydration, and finally decided to go minimal - no hydration pack, nothing but a few fun size candy bars from Halloween in my zipper pocket. I was worried about mud getting into a larger package of gummies or something, and the mini Snickers bars ended up being perfect. There were enough water stops along the course that I never felt like I needed to have more with me.

2/3 of Team BRB Hold My Beer

We got lined up about 10 minutes before our start time and after the start line schpeal, we were off!

I don't remember every obstacle or all the miles in between, so I'll comment on some highlights as I think of them.

Generally I felt awesome while running, trotted easily up and down the steep hills, walked some when I felt like it, but even at the very end I felt like I could run more miles. (Thank you, ultra training...)

I stopped at a total of I think 3 port-a-potties during the race which is much more than I usually do, but I'll take that to mean I was well hydrated and feeling at ease.

Obstacles I failed:

Olympus

There was just no way to attempt this. I lack the upper body strength to support my entire weight and traverse sideways with just my hands, barely anything to hold onto, and nothing to support my feet. Did the penalty loop for this.

Beater

I am so mad I failed this one... I was all the way across and slipped off on the VERY last bar. This one is where it's like monkey bars, except each rung is like an egg beater and it rotates. They're also at varying heights. I was SO CLOSE. Argh.

Tyrolean Traverse

Shimmying sloth-style across a very thin (probably 1" diameter at most) rope... I made it probably 1/3 of the way before I gave up. The rope cut into my hands and calves too much to hold on.

Stairway to Sparta

During the Super, this one I was able to do - it was a flat wall with a ladder-like structure on top. This time the flat wall included rock climbing holds that started about 7' off the ground (so, I would have to jump up and grab them with my hands) and then you have to muscle your way up with 100% upper body strength before you can get your feet onto anything. There was again, no way for this short person to accomplish that.

Multi-Rig

Again, I've passed this obstacle in 2 previous events... the first had rings, the second had rings, a bar, and more rings... but this one had rings, a bar, and then 1' sections of rope hanging at about head height. aka just a section of rope with NO KNOTS as a hand hold. Nope. Didn't even try it.

Spear Throw

Yeah, this one just never happens. LOL

A few mid-course race photos:

"The Armer" - can't find info on how heavy it was.

Vertical Cargo Plus
(the "plus" is the 5' tall platform you have to get up on to reach the net)

Obstacles I almost failed/that were really hard:

Hurdles

This was a hard obstacle for me... the lack of anything to brace against plus it was on a pretty steep incline made it hard for my short self! John gave me a bit of a boost and I was able to get over.

Z-Wall

This one I'd succeeded in the sprint, failed in the super, and was able to get back on a winning side for the Beast. I think because it was one of the first half dozen obstacles and was not caked in mud, it really helped.

8' Wall

me: *runs up to the wall, stops, and stares at it*

volunteer: "You got this... it's not THAT tall!"

me: "Yeah... neither am I."

But somehow I did make it over! Surprised myself on that one.

Twister

This was kind of monkey bars, but it was handlebars that rotated around the bar... oh yeah that was tough. Somehow I held on though!

Dunk Wall

Oh myyyyyy yes submerging yourself completely in COLD muddy water was VERY unpleasant. Took my breath away and made the remaining few obstacles super challenging.

Yes, you go under it.

Rope Climb

I'm SO PROUD to say I am 3/3 on rope climbs!! This one was so hard because it was immediately following the dunk wall so both myself and the ropes were all completely soaked... somehow I made my way to the top though. What a rush!

Monkey Bars

Failed on this one at the Super due to my hands literally falling apart... they stayed intact this time and I was able to make my way across the monkey bars. They are SO FAR APART though omg. I had to swing like crazy to get from one to the next.

Hercules Hoist

Man this was frustrating. Lifting the 70lb sandbag ~30ft up in the air on a pulley and I could BARELY get the thing to move even using every bit of my bodyweight against it. I haven't struggled so hard with this one in any of the other races, but I think the fact that they put it like... 100ft from the finish line... so it was something we had to do after running 14 miles? Yeah, that was tough. I honestly probably should count this as a 'fail' because John had to give me a hand to move it.