The new year is fast approaching. Many look at this as a time to set new goals or resolutions. You want to run faster, lose weight, gain muscle, wake up earlier, buy a house, etc. Then we have those who scoff at resolutioners saying don’t wait for the new year, start now, don’t wait, it gives false hope, etc.
Both of you are right and both of you are wrong. If New Years Resolutions work for you? Do it! If they don’t? Start when you are ready, don’t wait. We each deal with things differently. Instead of knocking what the other is or is not doing, let’s simply support each other in our goals all year long.
As for you gym goers. Frustrated when the gyms fill up in January? Anxious to see February roll around to get back your favorite treadmill? How about this year, you welcome the resolutioners who are committing to health. Say hello, ask how their training is going, interact. You might not remember what it is like to be the newbie at the gym, but I still do. It sucks. Even when you are a gym goer and start a new gym it sucks. People struggle enough to get in the door. Let’s keep them coming in the door all year long.
At the end of the day, whether your goals are fitness related or not, whether they start with the new year or not, I hope one of your goals this year is to do more of what makes you happy.
Chris Marinin, AKA Lunchbox,
What quote would you use to describe them? 
How has your racing changed because of the Spahtens?
I am not proud of the June 2015 side. I had left myself get that big. I didn’t eat healthy or eat for what my body needed. In Jan 2016 I started eating for my body. I started belly dancing and Zumba. I then started walking. In June I did my first Spartan Sprint. Thanks to the support of 
I started ocr this past June. I did my first Spartan Sprint in Barre, ma. Prior to that I had heard of ocr but hadn’t thought I would ever be able to do one. I asked my friend Chris about Spartan because I knew he had done a few. He told me all about it and had me join the group NE Spahtens. My first race I was excited, scared, nervous, hoping I didn’t kill myself on one of the obstacle and just hoping I could get to the finish line. My friend Chris was right there beside me, along with other NE Spahtens, rooting me on and challenging me to try every obstacle. I’m not sure I would have made it through without him there. I was so happy when I got to the finish line, I just wanted to collapse. I couldn’t believe that I had done it. 6.1 miles 20 something obstacles! I think I was in a state of shock for a few days afterwards, but what a great feeling to have accomplished it. I did my second Spartan race a few weeks ago, the Super in Barre, ma again. This time I brought my friend Amy to do her first Spartan. I was excited this time and new I would finish no matter what.
What made it your biggest accomplishment (overcame a fear, injury, disability etc?)
My next goal is to do the F.I.T Trailfecta with my mom! We just signed up for all three and I think it is going to be a great thing to do together. I am also thinking of signing up for the F.I.T Challenge with my husband. It would be great to get the whole family involved. I know my two little ones can’t wait until next summer when they can do the Spartan Kids race. What is in my
I cut way down on carbs and sugar. I stared walking more and for longer distances. And guess what? The weight started coming off! I could do it. Was it hard? Yes in the beginning it was, I had cravings. I was obsessed with the amount of carbs in each thing I ate. Did it become easier? Of course. I have now lost 55lbs. I still eat low carb/low sugar but I don’t deny myself the occasional treat. Like the yummy ice cream at Carter and Steven’s Farm at the end of the Spartan Race! If I can do it so can everyone else. Start small; don’t try to do it all at once. Take each day one step at a time.
One piece of advice you would offer to a newbie?
Danielle Mitchell’s Nomination
My first OCR was Fenway Park 2012. I had no idea what I was getting into but because it was at Fenway
obstacle course race? What made it your biggest accomplishment (overcame a fear, injury, disability etc?)
What are your goals? Next race, next season … what’s in your future?
Set a goal. It gives you something to push towards or something to push beyond. The way you set your goal is your choice. You are going to go as long as you can, regardless of how many laps that gets you. You want to get at least 5 laps or more than 3 laps. You might want to go the entire time and take less than 20 minutes between each. Whatever will drive you forward.
My wife has a way of inspiring / tricking me into getting healthier and better. First she got me running and then doing P90X. Until then I hadn’t really been too active except for chasing our kids around. I was a smoker on and off for over twenty years and really struggled with quitting. My brother, who’d done the Sprint the year before, asked if I wanted to give it a shot since he knew I’d started working out and trying to get healthier. A mixture or terror and excitement were all I felt for months leading up to that first race. The adrenaline, the fear, the challenge and afterward the feeling of accomplishment had me hooked immediately. When a Sprint was announced for Killington that would run alongside the Beast a few weeks later I signed up and then right away signed up for the Fenway Sprint and convinced my wife to join me.
Finishing the 2014 VT Beast with has to be the hardest thing I’ve ever accomplished. It wouldn’t have happened if my wife, Andrea, wasn’t there to keep my spirits up and not let me quit when my legs cramped up somewhere around mile 10. The one I’m most proud of is finishing the 2015 VT Beast penalty free and with a pretty decent time. I ran solo on that one, but ran into some great Spahtens, like Kevin Grant, along the way who kept me going with encouragement when cramping was slowing me down greatly.
double trifecta. The new goal for this season, is to see how long I can continue to train and race without drinking. I had a tendency to finish a race and go a little crazy with the feeling of having done something super healthy, which meant I could indulge that much more afterward. There was nothing better than drinking a ton of beer and smoking a bunch of cigarettes after a race. I’m not kidding. 
I’ve got at least one OCR a month booked this season to keep me focused and training. So far, so good!
e with a matched level of enthusiasm and as a result an obstacle race where I’m surrounded by blue team jersey’s has become one of places in the world where I feel at home even when it’s miles from Massachusetts. I love seeing the same faces at different races. I love when the crew that I tend to run with, recently dubbed Al’s Crew at Blizzard blast, encounters another Spahten who asks if they can run with us because they’re new, or got separated from the people they were supposed to run with. If it weren’t for the Spahtens my races wouldn’t be as full of smiles, laughs and pretty cool swag too.
Larry King was nominated by a friend and since I neglected to ask who was doing the nominating in my original form, I have no name to thank! If this was you, please step forward as I would love for Larry to know who finds him inspiring. 
lifts people up (figuratively and literally) on and off the course. I am a better person for knowing him. He is the one on the course to high five and clap every person he meets, lend a hand or a knee to complete strangers, and always pushed me further than I could have dreamed.
What was your biggest accomplishment at an obstacle course race? What made it your biggest accomplishment (overcame a fear, injury, disability etc?)
finishing them and seeing the smiles of everyone else who finishes makes it all worthwhile. Ok, the beer at the end is a kinda nice treat too…
How has your racing changed because of the Spahtens?
On February 1, Stephen Sweetser shared a photo of himself going over an 8-foot wall and a small story on the challenges he faced before the race and how his own courage and the encouragement of his battle buddies got him through.
Yes, I’m overweight. You can say I’m obese. It’s obvious, I can’t hide it, Yet society never lets me forget that I am. So therefore, I’m fat, and I’m not fit. Right? It was so easy to be discouraged by stereotypes. I’m 340ish pounds, and thanks to society, I thought that I was basically “going to kill myself” at this event. I didn’t think I could do a single obstacle. I thought that I was going to be a quitter and just throw in the towel half way through. But thanks to all of the NES I met so far, and my family running beside me, I gathered the courage to go out there. I felt like a totally different person while I was around you. I wasn’t fat anymore. No one looked at me and said “you can’t do this” or “what is this guy doing here?”. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more accepted in my life. And for that, I thank all of you, even those I haven’t met, because I already know that you all have the same mentality.
turn things around for myself. I look forward to MANY new adventures with you all, and I hope I get to meet more and more of you. It was so much fun out there, and I feel like a new person in just one day.
Stepping outside your comfort zone is never easy, especially when mocked and jeered, but you did it. How hard was it to not give up?
