* From: michael downey
* Event Details
parking for this event is easy the stadium has a nice large lot right next to it so no school bus ride into the race, the facility itself is nice but the staff flat out sucked. the security people were beyond rude and at times yelling at people and making it seem like we were a hassle by using there venue and the security check itself was a joke and they should be ashamed of themselves for being called security,there ” check” if you can even call it that did absolutely nothing to keep anything unwanted out of the stadium and all they did was slow people down from entering the park. the merch tents carried all the same shirts they have for the last year or with the addation of the race specific shirt for todays event, also the placement of the merch tent in the upstairs area couldent have been worse and at times made it tricky to get around the park. there were zero vendors at this race and based on how they layed it out that was a good thing. also the bag check location wase
nt in the most idea spot either being that was smack dab in the middle of the path heading to the start line.
* Race Details
this was quiet a bit of a different course than last year. this time around they changed the start gate and cut out that quick sprint portion we had last year and started right at the big ramps with the over under bungie courd til we reached the third level and then had to go all the way down to the street level of the park via stairs and theb hobbie hop ALL the way back up ( can you say calf screamer) then you went right into a 5 or 6 ft wall right to the giant jump rope with legs hobbie banded again then a run out to right field in the stands and then the up and down and over the sections till you got to a new : obstacle ” the Hawaiian squat ( first thing i thought when i heard this was what happened to hitler in little nicky” then you worked your way out to the parking lot and got atlas carry with the 5 gal bucket stones and not the giant round stones, traverse wall that they now had used 2×4 over the top to secure the wall and stop it from having that 2-3″ sway it would
have and spear throw. next you went into the bowels of the park out to the visitors dugout and in to the clubhouse for hand release pushups more running and working your way up a few levels to herc hoise and then 8 or 9 ft wall more running then you got sand bag carry , farmers carry and the new style monkey bars, box jump and then out to the warning track for rope climb, military hurdles, cargo net climb and sprint to the finish where they have replacd the gladiators with a bunch of hanging boxing heavy bags. i would say this was a nother solid stadium series event and spartan has shown there ever evolving events and constantly working on changing things up
* Rating
Excellent
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* From: Paul Jones
* Event Details
I wasn’t supposed to do this race. Late Saturday night, my wife told me to go use my season pass, hit the road in the AM and enjoy the day, so with a 4am alarm call, I found myself parking in front of the registration tents at 7:30am. At that time, and on aSunday, there were no lines and very few people around. Using my season pass for race day registration for the first time was zero hassle.
Entering Citi Field proper, and going through Citi security, was also a breeze and things were easy to find, and well sign posted. While I didn’t need to use bag check, it was right there.
There were a couple of schwag tents with the usual generic (but high quality) Spartan Race T Shirts and other stuff. I was sad they had ran out of Citi specific shirts some time on Saturday, so the ONE piece of schwag I actually wanted wasn’t available.
Having never been to Citi before, I had heard of last years terrible crowds – and none of that was present this year. I heardSaturday, while understandably busy, also wasn’t anything like as crazy as last year either. Very good improvements!
* Race Details
Stadium races are a different animal. With different obstacles, unique layouts, amazing spectator options – you see more at a stadium event.
Much of your typical stadium experience was here. From traverse walls and spear throws in the parking lot, to hand release pushups in the locker rooms. Lots of stadium seating running, and being a bigger venue, Citi has more options for concourse running than Fenway, the other venue I have experience of.
25lb slam balls, atlas stone carries, water jugs up and down the stairs are all stadium staples, as are several walls and a nice and heavy herculian hoist and sandbag carry.
Unique to Citi were new monkey bars – much thicker than previous years, with a taller bar every two. They also had an 8′ wall at the bottom of a flight of stairs stopping you from getting a run up, and much taller rope climbs than most venues see.
Most uniquely, with the absense of Gladiators these days, there was a large rig with many hanging heavy bags. From a distance, this didn’t look like much, but once you got in it, the bags were … well, heavy. With a little bit of motion going on, you were getting knocked around – nicely played!
While Fenway is easy to get to, Citi has more space, and was a ton of fun. Won’t miss this one in 2015.
* Rating
Excellent
