Spartan Sprint- Miami 2018

Address: 401 E 65th St, Hialeah, FL 33013

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This was probably one of the more special obstacle course races I have done in a while; the only reason (since I have done so many in the past) was because I got to do this race with my partner in crime (Marilyn) for her first obstacle course race ever!

Of course as the title suggests, this was the Spartan Sprint that took place on 02/24/18 and was held at Amelia Earhart Park in Hialeah, FL.

We got there bright and early and were able to catch the elite wave going off vying off for that first place podium spot; we decided that day to register for the age group waves just so we can get in and out of the event early enough to not deal with any bottlenecks at the obstacles and the traffic bottlenecks leaving the venue.

Marilyn was nervous, but entrusted her speedo superhero (me) to help her through the entire course.

As you would expect, they say there will be 30 obstacles in a 3-5 mile distance race, but some of the obstacles were anything but. They had the usual walls to jump over, the over-under-through, the water crossing was in about ankle deep water, but what was most surprising about this event was that they didn’t even use the bike trails to add some sort of elevation when in the past most of the race was in the trails.

There were a few surprises though that I did not expect. Some of the newer obstacles I encountered that I haven’t in the past were the “Ring The Bell/Twister” and the “Olympus”. Those were the only two I failed minus the dreaded spear throw! I had perfected the toss a while back, but I guess I was super out of practice and missed it twice, so more burpees for me.

I think my favorite (I might sound like an asshole) obstacle that Marilyn and I did together was the “A-Frame”. Mari is terrified of heights and about halfway up she clenched to the cargo net and didn’t want to go one rung higher; but I was right there by her side; I stayed close the whole time and we conquered that obstacle together. I can’t tell you how proud I am of her in taking on something that gets you about twenty feet in the air when she’s afraid of heights and she had the courage to finish the obstacle!

And honestly, I think the best thing of all was the smile she had on her face once we crossed the finish and she successfully completed her first obstacle course race ever. I think I may have accidentally gotten Mari hooked on OCRs (obstacle course races). Can’t wait for the next one!

Happy trails!