We Are Sparta

Have you ever thought to yourself: “Hey, I want to run, but just running sounds boring, so I also want to  climb walls, roll through mud, throw spears, and haul around a variety of awkward and heavy weights; if only there was some way to combine these myriad passions.” Probably not, right? Because that would be, well, crazy. But should you be the rare soul longing for such a challenge, know that yours desires need not go unfulfilled.

Enter the Spartan Race.

Thanks to the magic of smartphones and the inspiration that comes during Priesthood Opening Exercises, Jonathan and several friends decided to sign up for a Spartan Race. After training intensely with a semblance of regularity for several months, the much-anticipated day finally arrived.

We packed up and headed to Leesburg for the Race. We were lucky and the weather cooperated; instead of the stifling August humidity that we expected, we were greeted with an overcast sky, low 70s temperatures, and a few brief sprinklings of rain to help cool the runners down.

After a inspirational speech from Mr. Leonidas and some smoky race theatrics, the runner are off!

As the runners Spartans wandered their way through hill and dale, Hillary and Conan spent plenty of time relaxing and posing in photographs.

Jonathan ended up looking a little less photogenic. (This is probably one of our favorite pictures. Due to an earlier splash, the contact in Jonathan’s right eye was covered in mud and completely opaque. Here’s a nice shot of him reflexively closing his eye while rolling through the mud and under the barbed wire.)

The race itself involved a lot of running (and leaping over a seemingly endless number of hurdles, logs,  and walls)

And, of course, a variety of obstacles. (Sadly, we don’t have pictures of very many of the obstacles, but here’s a small sampling of some of the fun stuff that Jonathan faced throughout the race.)

And if you failed to complete an obstacle, you were forced to do thirty burpees.

The final brief stretch was a run through a sort of gauntlet.

 

And then it was over, and Jonathan could relax a bit.

Here’s the team at the conclusion of the race. Out of the 239 teams that participate, we came in 15th -- not bad for a bunch of weekend warriors. And amazingly, they all want to do it again next year.