Jerry, his friend Chris, and I all ran the Spartan Sprint last Saturday at the Smith Lake Recreation Area near Fort Bragg, Fayetteville. It was a tough 5.5 miles, but we triumphed! So now everyone's favorite part, my review of the race.
Location
The Smith Lake Recreation Area had so much to offer a race such as this. There was plenty of space for obstacles and the festival area. One of the best parts about this race was the lake that awaited us at the end to rinse off and cool off. Rather than wait for the hoses to become available we simply headed for the lake. While I realize this isn't the best way to get clean, nothing really gets you clean until your get home to shower.
Obstacles
The obstacles were definitely typical of a Spartan Race. A rope climb, 8 foot walls, cargo nets, fire jump and spear throw (which basically no one can conquer). I do feel like there was a missed opportunity to use the lake. I realize that swimming is not typically part of the Spartan, but I think a little dunk in the water to retrieve something would have made for a good time.
Additionally, there was a lot less mud than I've experienced in the past. Not once did I have to put my head under water or in mud. While it made for an easier clean up once we finished the race, I'm used to being completely coated. I'm torn on whether or not this is a bad thing.
The race was fairly spread out, but the trails were often fairly narrow. Usually when you release 250 athletes at a time there is some congestion in the beginning, but after about 10-15 minutes it seems to thin out. This really wasn't the case during this race. I attribute this to the trails and the obstacles that were meant for only a few people at a time. It was difficult to pass people on the course, but at times it was a welcome break to walk for a bit. For those that were interested in running, this definitely caused some issues.
Festival Area
While the festival area was spacious, there wasn't a lot for the spectators to see. Most of the course was in the woods. Some of the wooded areas were visible from the parking lot, but for the most part it was hidden. We didn't have any family and friends waiting for us, but for those that did, they didn't get much of a show.
Parking
The one awesome thing about parking was, there was plenty of it! The not so great thing about parking was that there was one way in and one way out of this location. With just a two-lane road (one lane each direction) it created quite a traffic jam. As instructed, we arrived an hour early to the location. Then we proceeded to wait in traffic for about 25 minutes. This left just 20 minutes to walk from our car (quite a distance from the check in), to the check-in, get our stuff, use the restroom, orient ourselves and find the starting line. Because all of these things were fairly spread out this took some time. We wound up missing our wave and had to join the wave 15 minutes later. It wasn't a huge deal, but certainly caused some anxiety for the person that likes to be on time!
Our Last Hooray!
So this Spartan Race marks our last of the season. We will be taking it easy over the next few months and will hopefully be back at it at some point in the spring.