International Championship Lake Tahoe Spartan Beast

While en route to Lake Tahoe, the man next to me on the plane (the plane full of Spartans mind you) asked, "So, what distance are you doing?" I responded with, "The Beast. I am double trifecta-ing this year". His reply..."Oh, that's cool. This is my 8th Trifecta. I'm doing the Beast Saturday then the Ultra-Beast Sunday".  "OH!" was my response (an Ultra Beast is the Beast twice). You gonna be good to do all of that? I asked. his reply, "Sure. It's just a couple of laps"! 

I had never had someone reference a Spartan race as a "lap" before. However, when I finished this course, I would truly know what it meant to do a few "laps".  Doing a few miles for a Sprint or a few more for a Super would take on a whole new meaning. 

First of all, Lake Tahoe was GORGEOUS! We were so excited to be there...but of course, the nice 70 degree temps decided to take a nose dive when we arrived. Right down to 37! YAY for freezing cold temperatures on a mountain that people usually ski on!

 

 

 

The green you see is the elevation change we got to experience!

This course was 14.99 miles long...7.5 miles up the highest peak in Squaw Valley and 7.5 miles down! You can view our course here. We were so excited to get started and were very excited when we finally finished...but the in-between...it was hard. Not exactly physically hard, but emotionally hard. It really played with peoples heads, some quit mid-way through and others had to be removed from the course. When we got to the last mile it started to sleet and lighting hit one of the cameras on the course and sparks flew. They were beginning to close the course and if we didn't hurry we would be stuck on the course and not be allowed to finish. 

A group of us began to run, at this point we were close to almost 7 hours into the race and still we persevered. We bypassed the last obstacle (bucket brigade) and opted for the burpees that they said we were not allowed to do. But, if we stayed, we wouldn't make it. We could see the finish and after a few rope crossings and a few more burpees, we crossed the finish line, 7 hours and 4 minutes later. It was dark when we finished and it was colder than when we started, but we finished! This marked the end of Trifecta number 1 for us! After doing this course, it all seemed down hill from there! Ha

 

I was so proud of us! I will forever know what it is like to run a few "laps" when doing a Sprint or Super! It's all about the atmosphere, course, your physical ability, and your mentality. Everything has its role in a Spartan race. Here's to the next one! Until then...

April