* From: Heather Gannoe
* Event Details
Many athletes, myself included, were genuinely on the fence about a 1.5 mile race that cost $150. Needless to say, Reebok and Spartan race did NOT disappoint, and in my opinion, the event was well worth the cost. Being that the Spartan race was a part of the entire Reebok Fitness Experience, this event seemed like an introduction to Spartan Race for those unfamiliar. Similarly, the event gave an insight to other parts of the Reebok world, as there was a CrossFit competition going on, a Les Mills master class, and BOKS kids events.
Parking: on site, and free.
Registration: fast.
Spectators: free
Bag check: quick and free.
Shwag: Event specific t-shirt. Event specific dog tags in lieu of medal. $150 worth of Spartan Fuel. Advanced copy of Joe DeSena’s book “Spartan UP”. One free beer (good beer at that!). Free food voucher (and they even had veggie burgers! ). 40% off coupon for Reebok retail product on site. Needless to say, the shwag was excellent.
* Race Details
Being only 1.5 (+) miles long, waves of 5 competitors were sent off every minute. This resulted in a LONG wait for the start, however, truly paid off in the long run as I never had to wait in line or experienced bottle necks at the obstacles. 30+ obstacles over the short course was incredibly fun; you almost literally ran from one obstacle immediately into the next one. This format is exciting and I hope to see more of it in the future. That said, the difficulty seemed to be scaled down: the rope climb was short, the low crawl was under rope instead of barbed wire, the herculean hoist seemed short, no fire jump, no spear toss, etc. Keeping in mind that this was more of an “experience” and an introduction rather than an actual competitive race, the scaled down version made sense. The volunteers were all great, and a good majority of them appeared to REALLY enforce proper burpee technique.
I would love to see the shorter distance, obstacle heavy with standard obstacles in place as a future addition to the Spartan Race series.
* Rating
Excellent
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* From: Michael Downey
* Event Details
this was a first time ever event but spartan knocked it out of the park on almost every level. parking was right in one of the garages on the reebok campus and made for a 2 min walk to registration. the check in was done a bit different no bib # in advance, you put your name into a laptop then they people pulled a random bib packet out and scaned the barcode and loged what number you got, this was a great system for small races but i hope it dosent become the norm because i see GIANT lines to check in if so. i dont think the vendors were there for us specifically there was a crossfit event going on right next to us and most of them seemed to be geared towards them but for this event we given a meal ticket and could get great burger from B GOOD along side our normal free beer. the schwag for this event was part of the high reg fee that was a source of sour notes for some thinking it was priced way to high. but what we got was free parking SAVINGS $10.00 free bag check SAVINGS
$5.00 free meal and beer SAVINGS $10.00 copy of spartan the fuck up savings $25.00 spartan fuel supplament pack SAVINGS $100.00 so right there you already saved $150.00 and still have a super amazing one off spartan course. so if ( and i was told a return to this event is already in the works ) just sign up you will not be dissapointed
* Race Details
this was there new Olympic distance course advertised at 1.5 miles but most GPS reports came in at about 1.9/ hands down the flatest even terrain spartan race you will EVER see. we started out with the 4ft wall to enter the start gate then groups of 5 took off ever 60 seconds and a quick sprint to another 4 ft wall and then a quick jog through some sidewalks and parking garage then a tiny over bridge into 2 5 ft walls and then right into the rope climb, then a bungie cord crawl through the woods then some over under bungie cords. next up was the 50lb sandbag carry up and down the parking lot and right into the tire flip. after that was the only aid stop on the course and then into what was being unofficaly called the gauntlett. where in the space of going down 100 yards and goiung back you got hit with o.u.t o.u.t.,modified rollling mud with logs to get you low in the pits, herc hoist, traverse wall, slippery wall, balance beam, slead pull, inclined wall, log post jump and
a short crawl. after that was the home strech 6 ft wall, log carry, stadium style monkey bars, 8 ft wall then up and over and up and over again the 20ft cargo net then the marine hurdles and done. even though its a short distance the tight packed obstacles dident leave much room to catch a breath. i found it challenging and very fun and will be doing this again in a heart beat if i cant
* Rating
Excellent
