The Spartan Schedule is HERE!
Spartan is BACK and our family couldn’t be more excited! We have signed up for 5 races so far this year, but that list could grow. We would love nothing more than for others to join us! The whole family is encouraged to participate from ages 4-99. If you can’t make any of these dates and locations, check out the Spartan schedule to find one that suits you and your family. It’s a new year and Spartan has a huge lineup of race opportunities around the US and world. Bring it 2021!
What is Spartan and why the excitement?
Spartan Race, in short, is an obstacle course race that started back in 2010 and is now the leader in obstacle course racing worldwide. There are over 250 events around the world, in 42 countries, and growing. The founder, Joe De Sena, ‘inspired by the warrior society of ancient Sparta’, set out to create a community of Spartans who would encourage, inspire, and lead each other to be the best versions of themselves through camaraderie and competition. He noticed that in the modern world, where technology has made life ‘easier’, that many were depressed, overweight, lonely, and less motivated.
Here we are in 2021, where Joe De Sena’s vision of ‘getting people off the couch’, has come to fruition and continues to grow. In fact, over 8 million Spartans have jumped the fire to the finish line, become healthier mentally, physically, and spiritually, and discovered just how resilient they really are. The Spartan community has brought family, friends and strangers together, and is now on the path to making Spartan an Olympic sport! Don’t let that fool you into thinking that this sport is only for athletes though. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Spartan is the most inclusive and welcoming sport, from those just beginning their health journey to elite athletes. We are ALL Spartans!
Our Spartan Story
We first heard about Spartan in 2015, while living overseas. At that time, I had a 6 and 1 year old. I was desperate to get back to training and to find a new, fun, tough, gritty and exciting challenge. Spartan seemed fit that need and better yet, the whole family could get involved.(except the 1 year old, of course). We signed up for our first race back home in Texas in 2016 and have been hooked ever since!
The race was located on a Texas ranch with views for days. It was a perfect, no-cloud-in-the-sky sunny day, but what stood out even more than the gorgeous venue, was the contagious energy that I had never seen or felt before. EVERYONE was HAPPY. How in the world could this exhausting, muddy, wet obstacle course race where you have to run, crawl, jump, climb, swing, and carry produce such joy and camaraderie?
As the Spartan motto goes…you’ll find out at the finish line – the rewards will be worth it. We jumped that fire pit and the rest was history. Full-on smiles, feelings of accomplishment, resilience, grit, overcoming fears….the positive mindset list goes on. We were officially Spartans.
Okay, so that wasn’t the whole story…
To be honest, I thought that we were simply just trying to find a fun family activity to do together and for me to be able to escape Mommyhood…alone…for an hour outdoors, while I challenged every ounce of my being. You may wonder why the heck I didn’t just go get a pedicure to escape and relax. As much as I do love a good pedi, I needed more…I needed to find that She-ra inside me again…
***Insert Gods humble eye-opener and more important part of the story.
THIS KID. THIS HAPPY, ENERGETIC, KIND, SMART, FUNNY, and FULL OF LIFE BLESSING. He is the reason.
Just look how smiley he was. Every picture that day looked like these. He was having a blast and was in his element. This hasn’t always been the case when it came to sports with Bryson.
Coming from athletic backgrounds with both Cory and I, we just assumed that Bryson would love sports too. When he was a baby I remember getting excited at the thought of watching him play baseball when he got older. I played softball growing up, so naturally he would play baseball, right?
Nope. He hated it.
We tried so many different sports – baseball, soccer, swim, tennis, jiu jitsu – but nothing. Team sports were definitely not his thing and playing at recess with boys was a bit hard to navigate. They all loved playing soccer and football, which he would participate in for a short time, then get bored. It just wasn’t fun for him.
Not only was this affecting him at school, all the boys played sports after school together on teams. This happy and energetic child was starting to feel left out and fizzled, although he never said anything. A mom just knows.
October 30, 2016 – Age 7
Bryson ROCKED his first ever Kids Spartan Race. It was epic in so many ways. Did he come in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd? No, and that didn’t even matter. He had found a sport that ignited a fire within him. To see this, will forever be engrained in my memory file.
So why so emotional, you might be thinking? You see, it’s so much more than ‘just a sport’ and the physical/athletic aspect. What he gained that day is setting him up for life.
Spartan instills:
- Confidence
- Resilience
- Perseverance
- Grit
- Camaraderie
- Mental Toughness
- Work ethic, ‘Earned, NOT given’
- Strength
- Conquering Fears
- Inclusion
- Empathy
- ‘Leave no man/woman behind’
The list of benefits goes on. Not only did Bryson thrive that day, we all did. Even as adults, we lack in many of these attributes, or in the least, could brush them up a bit. Life is more than living in mediocrity!
To conclude the story, over the last 5 years (he’s almost 12 now), I have seen an incredible change in his confidence, resilience and strength. He enjoys sharing with other kids about Spartan, joined the track team at school the last 2 years (AND loved it!), asks to attend HIIT training, where he is the only 1 or 2 kids in a class full of adults, understands the mental benefits of fitness AND most importantly, he is PROUD of who he is….quirkiness and all!
We would love nothing more than for all of you to join us! Sign up the whole family, start training, and find out for yourself why a Spartan race is full of happy people. We promise, you won’t regret it!
Our family is looking forward to meeting up with you somewhere in the Spartan world in 2021 and beyond. If you can’t make one of the dates above, let us know where you are and we will make our best effort to schedule it in. See y’all on the course….Aroo, aroo, aroo!
Have questions? Let’s chat….shoot us a message!
