Do you remember a time in life when you felt excited, how about a time felt doubt, had an epiphany, or a time you remember feeling so much joy you were cheering from the top of your lungs, or a time you went so far out of your comfort zone that you asked yourself, why the heck did I do that? We all have these feelings at different times in our life, but what if you could have it all in one day in one event? You’re probably asking, “Brandon what can I do in one day that can bring all these different feelings out in me?”
And I would say The Spartan Race will do exactly that. About 2 months ago I had attended a Spartan Beast race and it ended up being one of the toughest things I have ever physically done.
If you have been living under a rock and don’t know what the Spartan race is here is the jest. There are many different race tiers the first three are for sane and the next three are for super humans and the last one which is not for humans of any kind known as the “Death Race”. “The Sprint” which is 5 miles and 15+ obstacle course, “the Super which is 8 miles and 20+ obstacle courses, “the Beast” which is a half marathon and 25+ obstacle courses and then there is the “Death Race” which is basically a multi day obstacle course race with limited resources, shelter, sleep, and water in the middle of nowhere. Each tier of the race gets longer and harder and the makers of it do not try to truncate or make it easier by any means. They will test you and push you to your limit like what the beast had done to me. .
Let me put this race into perspective for you a little bit. It was 12 miles race with 25 obstacle courses that if you did not complete you had to do 30 burpees for each obstacle in 103 degree weather. The terrain was all sand and slippery rocks that you can easily sprain your ankles on if you were not careful. There was a water station every mile to a mile and a half which in the grueling heat and rough up and downhill terrain felt like 5 miles and the best part was that it was all open land so that meant very limited to no shade what so ever. I would tell you that I had trained properly for this but that would be a lie. I thought I had an idea of what to expect completing the 5 miles spartan sprint race but when I actually did it turned out to be a completely different beast than I had expected.
If you have met anyone or have started a conversation with someone that has done the spartan race you will never hear them say, “the Spartan race was a piece of cake. I smiled the whole way through it and gave everyone high fives along the way.” On the contrary you would probably hear them say, “I was miserable the whole way, it was so hot and I cramped like a mother going into that cold mud water.” I should know because that is what I told my friend when he asked me how the Spartan Race went. Hearing that you may think then why the heck did you sign up for it if you were that miserable? My answer would be because I knew I would be miserable and it would be a challenge.
The spartan race pulls together a community of people from all different races, ages, ethnicity and fitness background to get outside of their comfort zone and seek a challenge. Once you pass that start line it’s all teamwork from there. You will see no shortage of people helping each other get through obstacles, high fiving and encouraging each other to finish. if you ask me I would say that was one of the main reasons why I did it was because of the community.. We all love to connect, cheer for each other, and drink beer at the end for a job well done.
All in all I ended up finishing a 12.1 mile race with 25 obstacle courses in 4 hours and 25 minutes and it was the best worst experience of my life. I made a couple friends, got a little bumps and bruises (a lot), went through mud, and ran in the hottest weather imaginable, but I would do it all over again because once I crossed that finish line I felt like I had conquered the world and despite the hardships, it was all worth it for that medal and free beer.
They have Spartan Races all throughout the year and I encourage you to try one if you have never done it before. I train as well train other people for these races in person or through online training, so if you are interested please visit www.brandonjchau.com for more info. It is quite the experience and you get free beer! Who doesn’t like free beer? If you are scared after what I have told you remember this saying from an unknown spartan!
Below is a short video I made of one of the shorter races I ran called “The Spartan Sprint.
