They are
coming thick and fast now (unlike my blog posts which appear to have died a
death at the moment). I promise, again, that I’ll get back to posting more
regularly but, in the meantime, here is the review for Challenge #18.
Spartan Sprint Yorkshire was the
event, a short one by recent standards but no less difficult for it. So here is
Part 4 of Team MUBU’s "Seriously, How Good Was That?!"
Obstacle Course Race Review.
The
scoring criteria and categories are covered in a previous post which is somewhere
on this blog (see bottom left in the Archive).
SPARTAN
SPRINT YORKSHIRE
5km
Obstacle/Mud Run
28th September
2014
Ripon
Another “Team MUBU” effort with myself (Falloff Boy), Rick (Birchy Balls) and Nat (Lara Croft) partaking in this one. Rick had a time to beat so he left us behind after a few km but Nat and I stayed together and finished with a decent time. This was Nat’s first “proper muddy” race and she loved it.
General
Event Organisation
Relatively
easy to sign up but the way the website works isn’t as intuitive as some of the
other races. Checking in and printing off your event pass worked well though
and generally everything was smooth and simple. The races actually ran 30mins
behind schedule which suited us as we were late – but I imagine it was annoying
for some.
6 – Above
Average
Event Facilities
A couple
of small stores selling trainers and merchandise but nothing compared to Rat
Race events or the like. Food and drink was available and plenty of toilets for
use. I have it on good authority that the spectator route wasn’t buggy-friendly
so if that is important to you then beware. The “event village” itself was
small but you had a great view of the finish line and the atmosphere was great.
Plenty of parking available near to the start line.
7 – Good
Registration
Well
organised and marshalled. Seemed to run very smoothly and everything you needed
for the race was provided and explained. There were a couple of sizeable queues
for those who hadn’t pre-filled in the waiver but they seemed to move quickly.
7 - Good
Location
We had a
bit of trouble finding it but that could be down to the fact I didn’t check
where It was before leaving. Once we knew where it was it was dead easy. Not
far from the A1 and with decent access in and out this was pretty well placed.
7 - Good
On Course Facilities
Only one
water station but at only 5km this race didn’t really need more. There were
plenty of marshals where needed and the course was marked out very well. No
distance markers but, again, didn’t really matter with the short distance of
the event.
6 – Above
Average
Warm-Up
Not so
much a warm up but a rallying call! Could have done with a bit more stretching
and stuff but, to be fair, you shouldn’t be relying on someone else to do that
for you. Great build up though and we were pumped by the time we crossed the
line.
7 - Good
Variety of obstacles
Best
variety of obstacles I’ve seen so far. There were at least four things that
haven’t been encountered before and a really good mix of upper and lower body
challenges. Managed to pack a lot into 5km.
8 - Very
Good
Obstacle/Run mix
Plenty of
obstacles so no really long running sections. The hills early doors killed me
but they weren’t too long in all reality. Being a short race there was always
likely to be no really long sections but they managed to get a few places where
the quicker amongst you could stretch your legs.
7 -
Good
Terrain
Pretty
good use of the available resources. The forest sections were tight and a good
challenge while they managed to put the “big” obstacles in places where plenty
of folks could watch if they wanted to. Enough open space to make sure the
field didn’t get too bunched most of the time.
7 –Good
Post-Race
A cracking
medal and a very nice (non-Tech)
finisher’s T-Shirt. Throw in a free beer, free ice-cream, water, energy
bar and some energy sweets and you have a very decent post-race pack indeed.
There was a post-race “hosing down” available if you fancied it and a good
photo opportunity in front of the Spartan board.
8 – Very
Good
Difficulty
Short and
sharp this one. I struggled with the hills (as always) and they really sapped
my strength for the later obstacles. Some of the obstacles are really tough and
the punishment of 30 burpees for failing is brutal. Except it wasn’t policed
that well and I’ll be honest and admit I skipped out on my penalty a few
times!! If you complete all the obstacles though, you have done very, very well
indeed.
Course: 6
out of 10
Obstacles 8
out of 10
Overall Thoughts
This was a
lot of fun and we made a decent day of it with a now-traditional trip for a
burger on the way home. I thoroughly enjoyed most of the race (mainly down to
the company!) and the post-race banter and chat really is what makes these for
me. If you’ve got a good bunch of racers and spectators, these things are the
MOST fun you can have.
Overall
Score
70% - Some
might argue Spartan Sprint is pricey considering the distance but you get a
well put together event with a few things you don’t get elsewhere. However you
can pick up a good early bird if you plan well enough and it then becomes very
good value. Already got our eyes on another Spartan Sprint next year and we
hope to graduate up to the Spartan Super and Spartan Beast at some point!
A reminder that the scoring goes like
this:
90+% Sell
organs and/or children to do this event every single time
80+% A
very good event indeed, try to do this every year
70+% Will
definitely do this again if the timing/cost is right
60+% Very
enjoyable but would probably won’t do again unless cost/time work out and there
is nothing else on the calendar
EVENT
REVIEWS SO FAR
70% Tough Mudder North West
70% Spartan Sprint Yorkshire
65% Total Warrior Lake District
60% Stockton River Rat Race
Next one
up is Reaper on 18th
October. This is a 10km event that we have stupidly signed up for twice, once
in the afternoon and once in the evening with head torches on. Yeah, I know,
what was I thinking?!
Till next
time,
DT
No comments:
Post a Comment