Vermont Spartan Beast – 2016 (Part 1)

Let me begin the review by making one thing abundantly clear, this race was by far the longest and most physically grueling thing that I have ever done in my life. But with that said, it was a great race and one that I hope to do again next year.

I plan to write the report in two sections; but, let’s see how that works out.

• Part 1 – The warm-up, miles 1-6, and
• Part 2 – The real race, miles 6-16

So before I get started into the race report here are the basic statistics:

• Time: 6:35 (the moving time subtracts most obstacles and nature breaks)
• Miles – 15.5 (will stick with that, but Luke’s GPS was on the low end of the scale most were 16 miles plus)
• Elevation Gain: 6,600 feet (some tracks have it 7,000 plus)

The Final Piece of the Pie – Spartan Trifecta Completed

This post is not about the Killington Spartan Beast, I will add that race report in a couple of days once I get a chance to write it.

This post is about Luke and I finishing the race and completing our Spartan Trifecta. What did it take to get here?

• Six months of hard training;
• Three hard races spread across three months and three states; and
• A bunch of trash talking that Kathy will never understand.

What did I get?

• Memories that will last a lifetime.

Vermont Spartan Beast – Packing the race gear

It’s time to get my bags packed and I am starting starting with the race gear.

It pretty much starts from the bottom up. The first thing into the bag are the trusty Salomon Speedcross 3’s. These shoes have served me well this season. They are comfortable and have great traction in any conditions. I just wish they were a bit better ventilated and a lot more durable.

Vermont Spartan Beast – Getting closer

Yesterday we got not only our start times, but our bib numbers were added in as well. The reality of this is finally starting to hit home. Tomorrow we are getting in the car and heading off to Killington!

I am going through all of the pre-race packing and sorting of gear. This is what I will be carrying on the course.

Vermont Spartan Beast – 1 Week and Counting

For some reason photos never do justice to mountains. Looking at that picture, I would think to myself, “Those mountains don’t look so bad.” But I have been to Killington before and these mountains are BIG and STEEP.

But looking at the picture below gives a better perspective of the mountain.

In exactly 1 week, Luke and I will be out on the course at Killington. Next Saturday at this time we will probably be right smack in the middle of out a climb to the summit of Killington Peak, 4,236 feet tall and about 2,000 feet above where we are going to start the the day. Most likely it will be one of either two or three climbs to the top of the mountain. That is one of the “joys” of Spartan races, you never know exactly what the course is going to be like. You don’t know the distance, the obstacles or route you will be taking.  For this race, all I know is that it will be long, steep and hard.