Spartan’s 2018 Tri-State Ultra event at the Mountain Creek resort was my first “big” race of the year. With the changes that Spartan announced in the recent off-season revamping the Ultra Beast into the Ultra, there was a lot of anticipation going into this event within the OCR community about just what this Ultra thing was going to be.
I was looking forward to getting back on that course, the place where I earned my first Ultra Beast finisher buckle last year along with a group of racing friends from the Green Bay area.
When the map was released on Thursday before the event, it was interesting to see how the event was set up to meet the 30 mile requirement without forcing beast racers to do a full 15 miles on course (aside from Tahoe, it seems like Spartan likes to keep the beast at around the 13 mile distance). On the first lap at roughly mile 8 there was a split indicated on the course for ultra racers that would add a little more than three miles and three additional obstacles, making the first lap a total of roughly 16.5 miles and the second lap roughly 13.5.
The map also included one new obstacle: “The Armer”. There was wild speculation about whether this was a rig type obstacle that has been seen in European events or something else entirely. I joked that it was a typo and that the race director was going to ask us to carry an armoire up and down the hill.
On Friday, my outbound flight ended up being delayed for roughly two hours due to aircraft maintenance which meant that I didn’t pick up my rental car until around 4:30 near the La Guardia airport. I’ve driven in a lot of traffic in my life but rush hour NYC traffic on a Friday afternoon is really something. Creeping along at 10-15 MPH through Manhattan and the Bronx, the traffic extended my planned hour and a half drive into nearly four hours.
Late last year, my wife and I decided to switch accommodations on these trips from hotels to house rentals through sites like AirBnB or HomeAway. It’s been a great switch for us as we typically get more space than a hotel room for the same money, especially if we rent a larger house and find other racers willing to split the cost, and we’ve been able to find places that are quiet and allow us to get a decent night’s rest. Additionally, it’s nice to save a few bucks on food by cooking in rather than dining out.
I made it to the house a little after 8:30 after stopping for some groceries and race supplies and got to spend a little time chatting with the other racers who took me up on an offer to split the house. Cool people all the way around. One was running the ultra and two were running the beast.
Race Day!
Having arrived in town well after the 6PM close of packet pick-up I knew I needed to be at the venue early to get my packet, drop my “bin” and be ready for the 6:15 age group start. I was really glad that I paid a little extra for the VIP parking which was the location of the registration area and right across the street from the venue.
Up at 3:45, dressed and out the door at 4:30. At parking at 4:50 and there was already a line of cars waiting to get into the VIP parking. I was glad to see that this year’s parking was all on the gravel portion of the parking area which eliminated the possibility that we’d end up getting the rental car stuck in the mud like last year! I got parked, got my packet and suited up.
I made my way into the venue and found a spot to drop my “bin”. To avoid extra expense and travel hassle I just use a duffel bag to hold the stuff I’ll need between laps. It fits well into the suitcase and is plenty big enough for what I need (water, food, spare shoes, and a place to store my jacket). Many racers had dropped their bins off the night before and even by 5:30 it was a hive of activity.
After all of the elite racers were in the starting area just before 6:00 I made my way close so I could hear the announcements given by the race director and officials. Regardless if I’m running in the age group or open category, I like hearing the information given to the elites as it details the distance of the course and any venue specific information.
During the elite briefing, it was revealed that “The Armer” was a carry obstacle that was an atlas ball with an attached handle. You needed to pick up one ball and walk a marked distance down and back. Since I’d done this in Tahoe (where we had to carry two) and in Las Vegas in March (one ball), I knew this was nothing to worry about. It was also revealed that both the Twister obstacle and the spear throw would not have burpee penalties for failure; there was a penalty loop that needed to be completed. While I was hoping to go two for two on the spear, I knew that announcement would likely save me some burpees on the Twister.
Beyond that, the staff confirmed the cut-off times. Racers needed to be out of the transition area by 2:00 PM and then there were two intermediate cut-offs on lap two before the final course closure at 9:00 PM. Knowing that we were starting on time, that gave me roughly 7:45 to complete the first loop and refuel for lap two. Spirits were high.
At 6:15, I hit the course with the age group wave. Much like the 2017 version of this event, the first part of the course was uphill for a little over two miles with some easier obstacles along the way. As we climbed the mountain, the moisture in the air got thicker and thicker until it was a reasonably thick fog at the top in the roughly 50 degree air. In that first part, I was super pumped when I successfully completed the Tyrolean Traverse obstacle for (I think) only the second time. For most elite and age group racers, this is an automatic/throwaway obstacle. For me, less so. I’d been using a technique where you hook your heels over the rope and then drag yourself along until you complete it. In most of my previous attempts my foot position would shift and then I’d fall off. Prior to this race I spent some time practicing a more “proper” technique where you keep moving and alternating foot position and it paid off. I didn’t set any speed records on it but I never felt like I was going to fall off. Spirits were high.
The next obstacle was Bender. This was the obstacle that I was most mentally invested in along this course. During last year’s Ultra Beast event at this venue, I spent probably 15 minutes trying to get over Bender on lap one before admitting defeat and knocking out the required 30 burpees. That wasn’t so bad but on lap two, I had one of my least proud Spartan moments and simply walked by the obstacle without attempting it (or doing the burpees). That moment has stuck with me for over a year and I was determined that no matter what happened I was going to do this race by the rules, with any and all earned penalties. After completing the obstacle without much difficulty, I smiled, and I knew that demon was behind me. While (again) this is a throwaway obstacle for many seasoned racers, it’s something that I’ve struggled with since it made it’s way onto the course last year. Spirits were high.
Up next was Olympus. After only completing this once in 2017, I decided to build an adjustable version of it in my garage so I could figure out the technique. I felt like I had a pretty good shot at this one but with the muddy ground leading up to it I was unable to keep my feet in the position I had practiced so I had to attempt it with my knees on the wall. I hadn’t practiced that and ultimately failed the obstacle but I was able to hang on for well over 30 seconds as I attempted to move my grip. It’s certainly the best failure I’ve had and know now that I need to spend time practicing that position so I’m ready if I come up to this one at future races and it’s wet and slippery. Spirits were still high.
During the next stage of the race, we were mostly descending and heading back towards the festival area to take on the rolling mud/dunk wall/slip wall combo. I noticed that I wasn’t able to run down the hill as quickly as I would have liked and was doing a lot more “pumping the brakes” to keep under control. If you’ve not spent a lot of time trail running, the concern here is less that you’re losing time but rather that trying to slow down on a downhill puts a tremendous strain on the quads. I was thankful to get to the bottom and since the water station here was the only place on the course we were allowed to fill up our packs, I took a few minutes to top off. Spirits still mostly high, though I had to fight off a low patch on that descent.
We continued up the course, completing the barbed wire (mostly high enough to crawl under so no need to roll…woot!), the Armer and then over the A-Frame cargo net.
The next obstacle was the Z-wall. Seems that the 2018 version of the obstacle is like what used to be only at stadium races with the middle of the wall missing. Also the outside corner has a pretty consistently long reach. That outside corner is a nemesis and while trying to get my hand on the grip block, my foot slipped off. 30 burpees. I knocked those out and kept moving.
At Twister, there was a bit of congestion with lines of racers 2-3 deep waiting to attempt it. Since I knew I wouldn’t be able to complete it, I immediately started on the penalty loop which was a section of trail that took me roughly three minutes to complete. It was nice to avoid the burpees.
At the monkey bars, I slipped off and had to knock out another 30 burpees. It was at about this time that I noticed a bit of stomach distress. Nothing crazy but it’s the first time that I’ve gotten any sort of sour stomach at all during an event. I forged on hoping that would fix itself but being mindful of how much water I drank to avoid worsening it.
The bucket carry was the final obstacle before the split onto the ultra spur. Spartan’s change this year to have all of the buckets pre-filled is nice and saves a few minutes plus offers some additional options for carries. I also think that the men’s buckets are a bit lighter this year than the “fill your own” style from 2017 and before. I was able to blast through this fairly quickly without needing to set it down.
I reached the intersection that marked that start of the ultra spur at just after mile 8 on my watch. The first part of this was a relatively flat trail run and I wonder if the course designers did this intentionally to lull us into a false sense of hope about this additional mileage. The first obstacle, the low crawl, was pretty easy and didn’t actually require us to crawl. Very similar to the stadium version of the obstacle, this was simply some cord strung from trees across the path at about waist height.
Somewhere around here, my watch hit the ten mile mark. I had been out on the course for roughly four hours at that point and I thought that if I could maintain that pace, which seemed reasonable as I had failed several obstacles and lost time to penalties, that I’d be on pace to onto the second lap in under seven hours, about 30-45 minutes ahead of the cut-off. It seemed like I was on pace to complete the course in roughly twelve hours, a full hour ahead of my goal pace. My stomach still seemed a little fussy and I was having to be careful but it was manageable.
The trail began to change and we ended up doing a lot of bushwhacking, which is essentially making your way through terrain that doesn’t have any clearly marked trail. The elite and age group runners who had gone through first had left me something to follow but I was being careful to avoid a bad step onto a leaf covered rock that would result in a twisted ankle. Through this section of the course, there was also a fair amount of technical downhill terrain and this is where my race started to break down. Downhill running, especially on technical terrain, is a big weakness in my game.
Coming into this weekend, I hadn’t had a chance to get out on any of the more challenging trails at home due to persistent snow and ice and even though I had practiced a TON of climbing at inclines from 15-30% on the treadmill it’s really no substitute for the demand that trail and downhill running place on the body. As the minutes ticked by and I kept having to pump the brakes to control my descent (and feel my quads continue to fatigue and tighten), I first started to think that I might be in trouble.
After the sled obstacle and a brief water station stop, we began a long and grueling climb which lasted almost until the end of the spur. After completing the 8′ wall and re-joining the beast racers I was able to run past the first memory test station (and chuckle again as it’s one of the only obstacles I have never failed), and then complete the hurdles. We continued to descend towards the spear throw and my quads just kept getting tighter and tighter.
At the spear, I made a dumb mental error in not noticing that the spear targets were notably closer than they usually are. I use an underhand throwing technique, much like tossing a pitchfork into a hay bale, which has resulted in a roughly 75% success rate rather than overhand which was more like 10%. However, none of that matters when you throw the spear OVER the target. Uugh. I looked at the penalty loop which was probably a 35% incline up a nearby hill and back down and began slogging through it.
I was able to smile a little watching one of my new friends from the house hit her spear though. I found out later that she finished in the top 10 in her age group and I was super pumped for her.
As we made our way towards the sandbag, there were plenty of areas that were relatively flat which I should have been able to run but I just couldn’t get my legs to do much more than shuffle along… kinda like that horrible zombie death shuffle you often see people rocking out in the last few miles of their first marathon. The realist in me started to wonder if I could complete the second lap of the course, even if I did make the 2:00 cut-off out of the transition area. I tried as much as I could to shut that down and just focus on the course in front of me but the downhills, even relatively gentle ones, were rough and my quads felt like someone was applying an electrical charge.
Just about as I made it to the sandbag carry, a guy flew by me and I noticed that he was wearing a white pinnie. Holy shit, I had just been lapped by the first place elite Ultra runner. It’s awe inspiring to witness that level of athletic ability. He went on to finish the race in 6:21.
The sandbag, as many racers commented, was brutal. We began with a long and gradual descent and then looped around for a long climb back up the path. Other than when I filled up my pack, this was the only time on the course when I stopped moving and it was primarily to let my stomach issues (which had resurfaced) chill out for a few minutes.
After the sandbag, there was another long climb. Very little of this course was super steep but the demand was constant. The next obstacle was the 7′ wall. This is another one of the “gimme” obstacles for most people who run OCR and usually it’s no issue for me but I honestly wasn’t sure what my quad/hamstring/calf would do as I hooked it over the top of the wall. Thankfully it didn’t seize up and I was on my way. I soon ended up at the top of one of the ski runs where the vertical cargo net was located. Words cannot express the joy I felt that this was the standard version and not the “2.0” setup I’d seen in Vegas with the Irish table component in front of it. I wasn’t sure that I would have been able to muster enough jump to get onto it.
As I worked my way back towards the festival area, it was obvious that I wasn’t going to make it out onto the second lap before the cut-off. While I was able to accept that, I told myself that until someone told me I missed the time hack I was still going to do every obstacle and penalty that I earned. The Herc Hoist was no problem even though the bags seemed a little heavier than normal, probably from all the rain earlier in the week.
As I hobbled down into the final gauntlet, I asked a volunteer what the time was and he told me I missed the cut-off. With that my race was over so I bypassed the multi-rig and rope climb and got my timing chip cut off, ending my race and hopes of earning that rad buckle. While the result was disappointing, I was happy with my effort overall. I showed improvement on a few of the obstacles that have given me problems, and I learned a few things.
After a bit of reflection…and some food….and a shower, here’s what I’m taking away from this event.
- While foundational skills and fitness are important, training specificity is critical. I could tell that the lack of technical trail running and downhill running practice in the first part of the year cost me dearly as my quads could “fake it” until around mile 11 but after that I was in a world of hurt.
- Sometimes, stuff just happens. I’ve never had digestive issues in any event that I’ve done, including two 24 hours events last year. Everything that I used to fuel myself during the race was stuff I’d used in training and had worked great. While I’ll likely revisit my race nutrition before the next event, it’s entirely possible it was just a fluke. I was glad that I worked through the issues as well as I could and that I did not quit on the race or any of the obstacles.
- It’s OK to fail. I’m a big believer in setting lofty goals that you might not reach on the first try. I reflected during the race that I certainly could have completed the beast course, even with leg and digestive issues, but I don’t know that doing so would have raised the bar for me. Like Ivan Drago professes late in the final fight in Rocky IV, I do this for me, not to accumulate medals and swag but to push myself to the best athlete I can possibly be. If I don’t occasionally find the limits, how will I figure out how to push past them?
- The people that do this stuff are all crazy, but they’re tremendous. I made new friends this weekend and I think it says something about the sport when people who have never met in person and simply decided to pool resources to reduce housing costs can sit down after a race and talk for hours. I draw so much energy from being around people trying to be the best versions of themselves.
With the race season now officially underway, I’ve got two weeks to heal up and prepare for the Ice Age 50 mile trail run. Not sure what will happen, but I’m reasonably sure I can avoid burpees in that one!
(For those paying close attention, the pics of Bender, Olympus and the Z Wall were not actually from this event. I added them as a visual reference for those readers who are less familiar with Spartan Race.)
Average Dan Runs 