Sparta Race

I woke up to this sunrise. I decided to post it on facebook, one of the responses was, "Red sky at morning, runners take warning."

The Sparta Race

The Sparta Race is almost the last of my own special race series, the L.A. Marathon being the finale. (I have since signed up for several other races, but in regards to the original Danniells Epic Eclectica Race Series that was it) I had not been training regularly, but I was in decent shape, more importantly I was well rested and didn’t have any injuries. So while I certainly wasn’t looking to win, I envisioned a really good finish time. The race was local, at elevation, ideal weather and was short, a 5k.



I found this juxtaposition of the giant ferris directly behind the Sparta finish line to be pretty funny.

The crowd was pretty typical for these events. A lot of cross-fit types, runners and then a lot of people just looking to have a fun time. I chit chatted a bit before the race as one does. I would say most people are there in groups or have family with them, so I tend to seek out other loners like myself.

I ended up lining up for the second heat of the day alongside a fellow who got lose a few pounds but was a nice guy. I looked down at his shoes, they looked brand new. Now I know better than to judge a book by its cover as I have been bested by many that I would never thought could beat me and I’m sure that is true of me as I do not look as in shape as I am, especially when lined up next to a ripped cross-fit dude or bulging muscled Marine (I beat those guys on a regular basis and it makes me feel quite good.)




My tactic on this race was going to be to go as fast as made sense but to definitely take a slower pace to be the tortoise as opposed to the hare and to walk the up-hills if running would only gain me a slight bit of time but cost me a significant amount in terms of out put.

My portly friend had something else in mind. He left me in the dust.




This guy is all smiles cause pretty soon he’ll be blasting people with a fire hose. The first time I read about these being used in a race, I conjured up images of a full blast knocking people of their feet. It’s set on spray which ends up being like a sudden cold shower, bracing but not debilitating.



I had the same thoughts to fire elements which are really more of a photo-op than anything else.


I past my friend on the hill a couple of minutes after the fire. After climbing up hill for what seemed much further than I’m sure it was, we headed downhill, which I used to love, it was specialty. But now with the ankle, it has become a cause of concern. In fact, I was so focused on not twisting my right ankle, I ended up stepping on a loose rock and turning my left ankle.


Did I quit? Well that wouldn’t being very Spartan-like. So I hobbled on down the hill, limp-running as best I could.


I thought of one of my favorite Lance Armstrong quotes, “Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.”


My tattoo which means “Perseverance, never give up” and is a few inches over the area where the pain was emanating from helped me continue on.


There were a lot of hills to go up and down and they were steep. They had a bunch of obstacles and several real muddy areas. I had a lot of fun.



This was the second to last obstacle and was slippier than you can imagine.




Check out the guy who slides down before even getting the rope.


The final obstacle was to run past a couple of "Spartans" and get pummeled by a pugil-stick. Again sounds much worse than it really was and in fact sometimes the "Spartans" got the worst of it when confronted with warriors that out numbered them. Not quite like "300".