* From: Christopher Provost
* Event: Barre Spartan Sprint
* Date: 2015-08-29
* Event Details
The Spartan Sprint was held at the same venue as the Spartan Super earlier this year: Carter and Stevens Farm in Barre, MA. The parking was held a mile or two away on Hubbardston Road in a big open field. There was good signage directing you to the parking area and a traffic cop directing traffic at the entrance. Parking seemed to go smoothly and there was plenty of space. It was a short walk to the shuttle bus area, which generally had 3 buses waiting at any one time, and there were port-a-potties just before boarding the shuttle bus. The only hard part was trying to find your car when you got back! Parking was $10 but I found $3 in the parking lot, so I took that as a sign of good luck. You could also get VIP parking right where the shuttle bus dropped you off for $40.
After getting shuttled to Carter and Stevens Farm, it was a short walk to get to the usual stuff like waivers, registration, etc. There were more port-a-potties in the venue, a bag check area, rinsing station, men’s and women’s changing tents, DJ cranking tunes and announcing elite finishers and other information, beer tent, and plenty of other vendor tents that I didn’t take advantage of. There was also a lovely biggest team tent for that bastion of friendliness and badassery known as the New England Spahtens which allowed me to forgo the bag check fee. Upon completion of the race, you were given a Muscle Milk protein drink, a Body Builder protein bar, a banana, some water, and a finisher t-shirt denoting that you finished the 2015 Spartan Sprint.
* Race Details
I had been hearing a lot of buzz on social media and from friends who had raced on Saturday about how good the course was, so I couldn’t wait to run it. Having run the Super sufferfest on Father’s Day in the pouring rain, I was curious to see how it stacked up. After jumping a short wall to get into the starting corral, we listened to the starting line guy go through his Mini Mighty Machine routine at light speed which was entertaining. Two or three “I am Spartan” and “AROOs!” later we were off and running.
The first few obstacles were pretty standard – hay bales, walls, over/under, and through. One thing I liked immediately was the fact that the monkey bars and rope climb were in the first half of the course. This meant that my upper body was fresh and I had a better chance of completing them. I generally don’t have a problem with the monkey bars, but the rope climb gives me trouble. The rope climb had ropes without knots on the left and ropes with knots on the right, which I thought made for efficient traffic at this obstacle station. I chose the ropes with the knots and am happy to say I completed it for the first time with little trouble (= 30 fewer burpees for me!).
Later in the course were (in no particular order) the Atlas carry, the sled pull, inverted wall, barbed wire crawl, the trenches followed by a submersion wall, a series of more walls at varying heights (8 ft., 10 ft., etc.), the huge A frame (this time with a cargo net on top instead of 2 x 4s), sandbag carry, bucket brigade, etc. The sandbag carry for men was 40 lbs. I don’t know how heavy the bucket for men was. I did notice that they felt remarkably easier than at the Super though. The Z traverse wall also made an appearance, as did the spear throw (standard), and the dreaded rig. I think the rig is destined to be a standard obstacle going forward, much to my dismay. I failed the spear throw (making me 0 for spear throw) and the rig but I made the Z traverse wall…barely. I almost fell off the Z traverse, but caught myself by hooking my arm around the corner and getting my foot back on a block, garnering impressive kudos from the volunteer at this station. I failed the spear throw and the rig for a total of 60 penalty burpees. Near the end was the Hercules Hoist. I was dreading this obstacle because the Herc Hoist at the Super was the equivalent of trying to hoist a Volkswagon 50 ft. in the air. I got to the station, braced myself, pulled with all my might, and nearly fell over backwards because it was so light. I didn’t even have to brace my feet! I cranked it to the top in no time and let it back down. I double checked to make sure I didn’t accidentally go to the women’s hoist, but it was the men’s. By far the easiest Herc Hoist I can remember in a long time. I guess Spartan was feeling guilty about the one they gave us at the Super! The race finished up with the rope climb on the slanted wall, an up and over cargo net, and the fire jump.
The thing I liked most about the race was the spacing of the obstacles and the amount of technical single track trail between obstacles. In the past few Spartan races I’ve done (from Sprint to Beast), the upper body intensive obstacles seemed to be grouped together in such a way that you cashed yourself in and were almost guaranteed to fail at least one of the obstacles in that group. I’m a trail runner at heart and I love technical single track trail. This venue delivers. There were sections in this race that had pretty long stretches of technical single track where I was able to make up any ground I lost due to penalty burpees or having to walk because I was gassed from the upper body work required to complete an obstacle.
All in all, this was a very well designed course in terms of obstacle choice, obstacle spread, obstacle difficulty, running vs. upper body, and more importantly…FUN!
* Rating
Excellent
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* From: Kristin Parker
* Event: Boston Spartan Sprint 2015
* Date: 2015-08-29
* Event Details
This was my first time running elite, so I left my house at 5:15 AM to make the drive. I was rewarded by near front row parking super close to the shuttles, and a very quick journey to the race venue. No line at registration or bag check, and all of the facilities were still clean! Win! Loved the overabundance of protein drinks post-race. They hit they spot. They handed me not one, but two drinks upon finishing and there were more upon exit. No complaints about showers, porta-potties (which were still fully stocked with TP even at 11:30 AM!), or changing tents.
* Race Details
I enjoyed this course much more than the Super they held in June. I always feel cheated when the course ends up running short of the typical range (7.5 for the Super vs. 8-10), so I was happy to see that my GPS said this Sprint was 5.35 miles. I loved that the monkey bars and rope climb were early on because my hands were still dry. The dunk wall actually was a dunk wall this time and I was forced to go under completely. There were some nice running sections, only a small bit of super deep mud towards the end of the course, and the perfect placement of water stations along the way. Loved the double log carry (a new one for me) especially after having beasted the men’s weight by mistake. The course was VERY well marked. I felt like there was no chance of getting off track. I like that they keep changing up the contents of the multi-rig. The bar to ropes to rings combo was a new one to me. I have new skills to master now.
* Rating
Excellent
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* From: Aaron Ngo
* Event: Kids Spartan race in Barre, Mass
* Date: 2015-08-29
* Event Details
The event was great, parking went smoothly! The Buses were fast and on time! We got to the race in a timely manner! Vendors were also great and the biggest team tent was the best of all!
* Race Details
Aaron who is 4 yrs old, and this is his second Spartan race! He enjoyed every moment of it! This by far was the best set up race! Aaron enjoys the walls, the rope climbing and the crawling under strings! He was so in tuned and hype that he ran right pass the medal person looking for more OCR! Aaron will definitely be signing up for more Spartan kids race in the future!
* Rating
Above Average
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* From: Kevin “Mudman” LaPlatney
* Event: Spartan Sprint, Barre MA
* Date: 2015-08-29
* Event Details
http://www.mudmanreport.blogspot.com/2015/09/spartan-sprint-barre-ma-83015.html
* Race Details
see above
* Rating
Average
