Make Me Healthy!: Spartan Race

Spartan Race: Vernon, NJ, April 18th

My friend Hannah and I agreed to test our physical abilities at the Spartan Race this weekend with our friends James and Garrison. Hannah and I weren't feeling like we were in our best shape and haven't been training, although the boys had kept on their regular workout routines. But we all decided we would stick together, not get hurt, and finish strong.

So, we had to start the adventure by filling our bellies with carbs the night before to get us through the 13+ miles and 35 obstacles up a mountain.

We arrived at James' house on Culver Lake, about an hour and 15 minutes NW of New York City. Hannah and I were both surprised at how beautiful NJ is, and how much activity was about to come our way!

We started off the morning of race day with a boat ride with James' dad, Mr. Bentson, and we were ready to go! With a high of 75 degrees and clear skies, we couldn't have gotten any luckier.

...Or so we thought. Instead, the luck kept coming our way! We found a free parking spot closer to start than the actual parking lot. Then, we all found our bib numbers quickly and discovered that I was the only one registered to start in the 1:45PM heat instead of the 1:30PM heat as the rest of them. So, we were going to see if we could all start in the 1:45PM heat so we could stick together. But we lucked out again and were able to start in the 11:00AM heat! This was great news because we could start right away in the morning temperatures, not have to buy a headlight to run in the night time, and be able to finish earlier in the day.

We had 20 minutes to get to the start line, but we were ready to go! We started off by running uphill through a snowy and muddy terrain for the first mile. Then, we reached the top and had to climb up a rope obstacle and ran down hill. Mile two greeted us with more running and balance obstacles. We also were told to remember a phrase but weren't told why. Mine was "Tango 782-8568," and I still remember this because Hannah said if you write it out on your forehead then it'll be burned into your mind. I guess it still is.

Here's a look at some of the kinds of obstacles we had to do:

Jumping over muddy terrain.

Carry a weight through a half mile up a muddy path and back down.

Throw a spear into a wall and make it stick.

Crawl a rope upside down to reach the bell on the other side.

Crawl under barbed wire through the mud.

Pick up the stone, drop it. 5 burpees, then carry the stone back.

Scale this wall.

The race was more fun than brutal like we thought it would be. This is because there was more scenic hiking included than we had anticipated. Also, if you couldn't complete an obstacle on the first try you had to do 30 burpees. I completed the day with the most from the group and did 180 burpees, while James only did 60!

There were other challenging obstacles like carrying a bucket of at least 50 lbs of pebbles up a steep hill and back down again, moving monkey bars, and many more walls to be scaled. Though, the hardest was the end. James and Garrison left just after mile 10 so they could finish at their own pace. Hannah and I continued on and began running downhill towards the crowd where the loud music was blasting. We were getting so excited for it to be over, only to this obstacle at the bottom:

Since my upper body strength was completely lacking that day, I hardly made it past the first knot. Hannah pulled herself up to about the third knot, but it was just too high. So we had to head to the burpee zone. Then, we climbed another wall and had to jump into a mud pool. We had to hold our breath as we had to dive beneath a wall to get to the other side of the pool. On the other side, we saw people crawling up the steep mountain. Hannah and I thought they were doing this because they were so tired, but we soon realized they were crawling because there was another barbed wire obstacle. It looked something more like this:

Except imagine it on a mountain where half of the side is filled with cold snow and the other half is muddy. Since we were freezing from the mud pool, we decided to stick with the mud. The obstacle was about as long as a football field. It was the hardest thing I had to do in my life! But I am so proud that Hannah and I kept good attitudes and kept strategizing until we made it through.

But it wasn't over yet. We proceeded to crawl through another tunnel with our eyes wide gazing up at the massive slope we had yet to climb. We knew this was the last push, so we pushed through to the top making only a quick rest half way through to eat a granola bar. Then, we hiked more rocky terrain until we saw the real finish line in sight.

We jumped over burning logs, into a mud pool, and into the finish line! We were greeted with the ripest bananas, Crunch bars, and the best celebratory music! The smell of BBQ and sight of free beer was a joyous vision for the the finishers.

Hannah and I completed the race in seven hours, and the boys beat us by forty minutes since they departed from us. We were all just happy that we had fun and everyone finished!

But the fun of the weekend wasn't over yet! We concluded the evening with the best burgers in NJ, and a trip to the ice cream parlor.

Then, we spent all day playing on the water where I had my first tubing and paddle boarding experience. We also watched the boys wakeboard, went kayaking, and drove a pontoon boat.

This weekend was filled with challenging activities, great food, and new friends. My lesson learned is to say yes to each new opportunity you have and don't doubt your physical capabilities! Hannah and I are thankful we had the boys help us out throughout the race, and we plan to return again next year and try again!