MudRunFun Magazine Oct. 2013 | Page 7

(October 2, 2012 at 1:56 am) Well…I’ve been dreading/looking forward to writing this for about a week now. A part of me just wanted to rush through it to get over it but the flip side of me wanted to let it sink in, analyze it and then share. That half won.  So many of you know that I recently went on a trip to Vermont to run in the Spartan Ultra Beast, the world’s first ever marathon distance obstacle course race. While a marathon is 26.2 miles, in typical Spartan fashion, they went over the advertised distance and most people’s GPS’ clocked 28+. On top of the distance were the typical Spartan obstacles testing everything from agility (log balance, wall climbs, spear throw, etc.) to strength (atlas stone carry, sled pull, tractor pull, etc.) to those requiring both (rope and wall traverses, Tarzan swing, etc.). If all that wasn’t enough, the course itself was one big obstacle. At times it covered crazy ascents (one was rumored to be over 1100 feet in less than a mile according to some GPS’), to even crazier descents (across slippery, muddy rocks that basically forced you to go down butt first for safety). Most of you reading this article know how I finished…or more correctly, didn’t finish…already but there’s always a story within a story. This is that story.    4