09/22/2012 - Vermont Spartan Beast

Race Date: Saturday September 22nd, 2012
Race Name: Vermont Spartan Beast
Race Price: $64.47
Race Description: 10-12 mile Obstacle Race from Hell. If you have done any race anywhere in the world: whether a mud run, fun run, olympic run, bike race, death march or any kind of event claiming to be the "toughest race on the planet" you will be happy to know that this is where it ends..THIS IS THE SPARTAN BEAST...Step up and get out of your comfort zone, many will arrive, but few will leave!
Race Location: Snowshed Base Lodge, 3800 Killington Road, Killington, VT 05751

  

Race Distance: 14+ miles
Distance Traveled: 203 miles

Race Time: 10:00 am
Weather: Mostly sunny, cool and breezy

Swag: Shirt, Beer, Finisher Medal
Food & Drink: Water, Bananas
Number of Participants: 2290
Results: http://www.spartanrace.com/spartan-race-results-2012.php#raceid=215777&gender=a&page=1&courseid=297989

My Results

Time: 5:17:43
Pace: 24:15
Place: 223 of 2290
Men: 206 of 1645
Men (Age 30-34): 43 of 337




Personal Race Info
Pre-Run: 2 Bagels
                 Coconut Water

During-Run: Water | Gels | Lemonade | Larabar

    This race was my original goal for the year. Since signing up I've gone on to sign up for 3 marathons which are my new goals.
    This will start out 4 days before the race when I was at work in the afternoon and my chest started feeling tight and my heart rate started doing strange things. I ignored it for the first day but it was still happening the second day. I took some aspirin and said I would head to the doctor in the morning before I headed off to Vermont. I woke up Friday morning and luckily my chest/heart felt good but I had a sore throat. Got a doctor appointment a few hours before I had to leave and they checked me out. Everything came back normal related to my heart and I didn't have strep throat so off to Vermont I went.
    I left around 1 for the 4 hour drive up to my hotel in Rutland, VT. The drive was pretty uneventful and I arrived at the hotel without incident. Checked in, got settled and headed out to pick up my race stuff at the pre-race pickup and to check out the race site. I took some pictures along the way but sadly my phone lost it's life during the race. More on that later. The pre-race pickup was at Outback Pizza in Killington not far from the race site. There were a lot more people here than I expected. I went in to pick up my stuff and ran into a few people I had met at other obstacle races. I chatted with them for a bit and headed out. I ran a few errands, picked up some food and headed back to the hotel to prepare and relax. One thing I really enjoyed was that all over Killington were these weird animals made out of bailed hay. I wish I had pictures of them all. In searching it looks like there is a Hay Festival - Here are some pictures courtesy of google. I went to bed pretty early so I would be nice and fresh in the morning.
    I woke up early Saturday morning, got dressed and headed off to the race which was about 30 minutes from my hotel. As I approached the site there wasn't a lot of traffic and parking, which did cost $10, was perfect and right near the race site. This was one of the best places I've been for parking for an event. We were told ahead of time that we needed to have a way to carry water with us on the course as only 2 water stops would be available and no cups. I bought a camelbak type device and had all my food / gels / phone / accessories packed into it. I made sure everything was secure in ziploc bags. I learned from the Super Spartan that I needed to be extra prepared with food/water.
    As I was walking from the car you could see the clouds moving across the mountain. It was quite cold and breezy. I knew this wasn't going to be an easy race considering the temperature.  I walked around and checked out the scene. I was pretty early so I got to watch a couple groups head out. I headed towards the front of the pack for the start and got ready for what I knew would be 5-6 hours of fun.
    There is not much I can say here to truly give you a feel for what the course was like. The mountain was tough but felt nowhere near as bad as the mountain at the Super Spartan. Maybe this was because I was better prepared with food & water but I never felt that pain in my legs like I did in NJ. There was 1 section towards the end which was a pretty steep single trail that seemed to go on forever. I had to pass multiple people on the trail but thought I made pretty good time up it. Here is a rundown of the obstacles in order for the race. You can find explanations for lots of these on Wikipedia

• Ditch jumps
• Over unders
• Dirt mounds w/ water pits
• Vertical cargo
• Barbed wire high crawl
• Double 7 foot walls 
• Barbed wire crawl #1
• 2 short walls 
• Monkey bars
• Trench crawl
• Traverse wall - First time I've completed this in 4 tries!
• Rope climb #1 - Failed! I couldn't even get past the first knot (30 burpees)
• 40° water swim - This water felt freezing
• Tarzan swing - Failed! Again no upper body strength. There was a long swim to the other shore to do burpees (30 burpees)
• Memorization poster (Echo 023 7101)
• Herculean hoist
• Atlas carry
• Barbed wire crawl #2
• Double 7 foot wall #2
• Wall climbs w/rope
• Tractor pull
• Sandbag carry
• Memorization test (Echo 023 7101! I got it!)
• Sled pull
• Tyrolean traverse - This was super long and I didn't make it. Cold swim to the other shore.
• Giant dirt mounds with water
• Rope climb #2 - I completed this one with a lot of effort. I fell and my timing chip broke off my wrist.
• Log Hop - Failed! Lost my balance and was super mad. (30 burpees)
• Vertical cargo net #2
• Double 7 foot wall #3
• Hobie hop
• Spear throw - Failed! 0 for 4 on this (30 burpees)
• Barbed wire crawl #3
• Slippery wall
• Fire jump
• Gladiators

    The downhills on this course were by far the steepest and slipperiest I've ever done. Normally my Inov-8 shoes handle things pretty well but I was slipping in multiple spots. I am surprised more people didn't get hurt. The last downhill section most people were sliding down on their butts just to not get hurt. At the end of this race I had much more energy and sneaked out multiple smiles and talked to the crowd as I finished. 14+ miles later and 6000 feet of elevation gain and I had finished the longest race of my life. I did my best to clean the mud off of me at the cleaning station but the water was absolutely freezing.
    I headed back to the car to get out of my wet clothes and change into something warm and dry. Getting back I unpacked my pack only to find that every ziploc bag had water in it. This included the bag with my phone which had been in multiple other bags. Sadly my phone did not survive or come back to life. It took me a really long time to change as I had to keep crawling around into different parts of the car. I also realized that once you close the back door on the CR-V you can't open it from the inside.
    I headed back to the race area to pick up my Trifecta badge! This was a major part of this year. Having completed the Sprint, Super and Beast I got a special medal. I also got a sticker for each event so that I can put them on my car. Really felt good to wear the medal.

    I had a burger, hot dog and soda and then headed out on my drive back home. As I walked away from the race site I said I would not do it again. 3 days later I signed up for next year. I guess I like punishment. The drive home was tough considering I didn't have my phone available to listen to my music. There's an awful lot of stations that have things related to God on them. I was definitely happy to be home again after the 4 hour drive.