The Spartans

Starting line

What a fun weekend! Our son-in-law had the thought, way back around Thanksgiving, that it might be fun to run the Spartan race in the spring. So he and Jessica signed up and invited Big Sister and her boyfriend, both high school seniors, to join them. And as we sat around the kitchen table, Jessica said, "Mom, y'all ought to come watch us." And right that minute I made reservations for us to go for that weekend.

And then we all forgot about it. Until suddenly THE weekend was upon us. All of us were thinking, "Now whose idea was this?" "Why are we doing this?" But it turned out to be a great weekend. I had never heard of the Spartan Races. But these events are held in different locations around the globe and there are people who do many of them. The folks in the red headbands were the serious competitors, most of whom had completed the course before the black headband competitors (like our family) had even begun.

This course was 3+ miles with 22 obstacles. Every fifteen minutes, from early morning to mid-afternoon, a large group of racers started the course. As spectators and cheerleaders, we could only see a few of the obstacles. The really muddy ones were not accessible to us. And as a mother/grandmother, it's probably just as well I couldn't see everything they were doing.

Ring that bell!

We found a spot to watch and waited for our spartans to get to these obstacles. These were near the end of the course so everyone was getting tired by this point. We saw people of all ages, all shapes and sizes and in nearly every state of fitness taking part. Some zipped through this part. Others struggled mightily. If you were not able to complete an obstacle, there was a "make up" option to do instead.

It was fun to watch as people tried and tried. Competitors cheered each other on. And we saw some instruction happening, too. The experienced people helped the first timers. The next day Little Sister asked us, "Who won?" This wasn't that kind of event.

This event is about struggling and pushing yourself. It's about not giving up when it gets hard. It's about having fun while being challenged. It is a way to learn about yourself and what you are made of.

I loved that it was such a positive, affirmative event. We live in a world filled with so much negative news, but on this day all we heard was "You can do it!" "Good try!" "You're almost there. Keep going!" "Just one more pull!" It was easy to get caught up in the spirit and we cheered for people we didn't know. We wanted them to succeed. Huge crowd cheers would go up when someone achieved the almost impossible. I am so glad that we went and watched. We spent a day outside in a beautiful location on a day with perfect weather.

A few hours after the starting bell rang, our family made it to the end. With blisters, bruises, sore muscles and huge sense of accomplishment. The challenge was met. No one gave up. There are no quitters in our family.

No participation awards here.
You must complete the course to receive the medal.