Spartan Super Chicago 6/1/19 Richmond, IL
Weather: 60 degrees, thunderstorms
Terrain: Extremely flat and muddy recreation area and farmland
Distance: 8 miles, 28 obstacles
This was not a typical race, so this will not be a typical recap. I will start and end with timelines.
7:15 AM: Arrived at venue, got on bus from parking lot to festival.
7:30 AM: Arrived at festival. Lightning in the area, have to stay on the bus.
8:30 AM: They let us off the bus to pee.
8:45 AM: They are evacuating the festival area, so we have to go back to the parking lot.
9 AM: Wait in car.
9:30 AM: All clear to get on buses back to the festival! Problem: there are now a thousand people in line for buses.
9:45 AM: I decide there is a zero percent chance that I will get to start racing before noon, and go back to the hotel.
1:20 PM: Weather looks pretty good and I feel guilty, so I go back to the parking lot, jog to a bus, jog to registration, jog to bag check, jog to a port-a-john, and jog to the start corral BARELY in time to run through with the 2:30 PM heat.
The race started with some crazy mud that reminded me of last year, but it wasn't nearly as bad as last year because there were dry patches. Got through overwall, then needed a boost on the 6' wall because my muddy shoes could not get up there. Monkey bars were the toughest I've ever seen. One of the gaps was at least 4 feet and it took me 6 swings to get enough momentum to reach out. Lots of folks failed this one but I rang the bell! Next was a water stop at mile 1, where the volunteer told me that weather was coming. I moved on to Atlas Carry, then ran a ways to the sandbag carry. Next was the vertical cargo net, where the volunteers told us to NOT climb the net, and instead keep going to the next water stop just before mile 2.
3:03 PM: Started waiting at water stop. Hung out with a group of awesome superheroes. Literally. Gave one of them Biofreeze for his knee.
3:45 PM: Told that we might be allowed to finish a shorter course of the race if we move a bit down the road. We do.
4 PM: Told that we are going back to the festival area but the race is NOT CANCELLED.
4:10 PM: Told that the race is definitely cancelled and we need to GTFO of here RIGHT THE HELL NOW.
4:20 PM: Standing in a mass of a thousand people in an open field waiting for shuttle buses back to the parking lot. Pelted with rain and 1/4-inch hail in 30 mph winds as lightning and thunder booms all around us. I embrace a hypothermic shirtless man to keep him alive. After five minutes of cuddling, I introduce myself.
4:50 PM: Rain clears up. Spartan race official arrives with mylar blankets.
5:20 PM: We finally get on a bus and are taken back to the parking lot, where I find that my vehicle is now in 4 inches of water. Thankfully I have all-wheel drive.
I will say this for Spartan: they did a much better job communicating the delays this time than at the Minnesota Sprint last year. However, there were still issues. There was a lot of tittle-tattle about how long the open waves would be delayed, with the general consensus being 3 hours. Nothing was confirmed by Spartan about the open wave times. As it turns out, even if I'd stayed in the morning and gotten out in the earliest open wave, I would have had to run the race of my life to finish before the afternoon evacuation. Fortunately, Spartan was on the ball and sent out an email telling people they would get a free credit for another Super. I'll be using it for the Fort Carson Super in Colorado Springs on July 13.
7:15 AM: Arrived at venue, got on bus from parking lot to festival.
7:30 AM: Arrived at festival. Lightning in the area, have to stay on the bus.
8:30 AM: They let us off the bus to pee.
8:45 AM: They are evacuating the festival area, so we have to go back to the parking lot.
9 AM: Wait in car.
9:30 AM: All clear to get on buses back to the festival! Problem: there are now a thousand people in line for buses.
9:45 AM: I decide there is a zero percent chance that I will get to start racing before noon, and go back to the hotel.
1:20 PM: Weather looks pretty good and I feel guilty, so I go back to the parking lot, jog to a bus, jog to registration, jog to bag check, jog to a port-a-john, and jog to the start corral BARELY in time to run through with the 2:30 PM heat.
The race started with some crazy mud that reminded me of last year, but it wasn't nearly as bad as last year because there were dry patches. Got through overwall, then needed a boost on the 6' wall because my muddy shoes could not get up there. Monkey bars were the toughest I've ever seen. One of the gaps was at least 4 feet and it took me 6 swings to get enough momentum to reach out. Lots of folks failed this one but I rang the bell! Next was a water stop at mile 1, where the volunteer told me that weather was coming. I moved on to Atlas Carry, then ran a ways to the sandbag carry. Next was the vertical cargo net, where the volunteers told us to NOT climb the net, and instead keep going to the next water stop just before mile 2.
3:03 PM: Started waiting at water stop. Hung out with a group of awesome superheroes. Literally. Gave one of them Biofreeze for his knee.
3:45 PM: Told that we might be allowed to finish a shorter course of the race if we move a bit down the road. We do.
4 PM: Told that we are going back to the festival area but the race is NOT CANCELLED.
4:10 PM: Told that the race is definitely cancelled and we need to GTFO of here RIGHT THE HELL NOW.
4:20 PM: Standing in a mass of a thousand people in an open field waiting for shuttle buses back to the parking lot. Pelted with rain and 1/4-inch hail in 30 mph winds as lightning and thunder booms all around us. I embrace a hypothermic shirtless man to keep him alive. After five minutes of cuddling, I introduce myself.
4:50 PM: Rain clears up. Spartan race official arrives with mylar blankets.
5:20 PM: We finally get on a bus and are taken back to the parking lot, where I find that my vehicle is now in 4 inches of water. Thankfully I have all-wheel drive.
I will say this for Spartan: they did a much better job communicating the delays this time than at the Minnesota Sprint last year. However, there were still issues. There was a lot of tittle-tattle about how long the open waves would be delayed, with the general consensus being 3 hours. Nothing was confirmed by Spartan about the open wave times. As it turns out, even if I'd stayed in the morning and gotten out in the earliest open wave, I would have had to run the race of my life to finish before the afternoon evacuation. Fortunately, Spartan was on the ball and sent out an email telling people they would get a free credit for another Super. I'll be using it for the Fort Carson Super in Colorado Springs on July 13.
Pros:
-Bus driver in the morning was awesome. She seemed just as annoyed as the rest of us and tried to make it a good experience.
-The two miles of course that I managed to get out on were just lovely.
-The two miles of course that I managed to get out on were just lovely.
Cons:
-Venue. I hate when they make parking super far away from the venue. Get a venue where this isn't necessary.
-Mud. The mud that was there was too damn sticky, honestly. I don't mind mud, but I don't like mud where you actually get STUCK and can LOSE A SHOE. That is too much.
-Communication. Spartan needs to find a better way of communicating with their volunteers. The volunteers are kept extremely ignorant and it helps no one.
-Mud. The mud that was there was too damn sticky, honestly. I don't mind mud, but I don't like mud where you actually get STUCK and can LOSE A SHOE. That is too much.
-Communication. Spartan needs to find a better way of communicating with their volunteers. The volunteers are kept extremely ignorant and it helps no one.
Race Grade: Incomplete. Honestly, maybe an E for effort. But the remote parking location makes the logistics of bad weather in this race so dangerous that I may not do this venue again. Change venues, Spartan!
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