Spartan Race USNS Shakeup - Utah Now Postponed

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Update June 5 – Utah is now “suspended” – Spartan sent us a message (screenshot below) that they passed along to their Pro Team this afternoon.

We asked what this means for the rest of the points season and were told:

USNS point layout will remain the same – 300 points for first place, 264 for second place, 236 for third place, and so on. We intend to hold a full 5 race USNS, so in this case we will allow athletes to count their best 4 out of 5 races. If the scenario exists where 2 USNS events take place on the same weekend – there would effectively be 4 weekends of racing – athletes will be allowed to count their best 3 out of 4 races.

We just came across an email sent out to the 250+ plus member Spartan Pro Team. Spartan Race will be changing the scoring for the United States National Series to racers best 3 races out of 5 possible events. This looks to be because Utah and West Virginia are both USNS events and fall on the same date. The email goes on to say that North American Champs in Tahoe, World Championship in Abu Dhabi are currently still a go:

US and Canada Pro Team Athletes:

I hope this finds you well. On a positive note, I’m particularly glad to see so many athletes on the roster have found this unplanned pause in the season as a great opportunity to adjust training plans, take on new athletic challenges, focus on weak areas and recover from injuries, as well as get fired up for the return when it comes.

On the Spartan management side, the team has been working long days and nights pivoting to offer incredible content 24/7 globally, to virtual racing, establishing SOPs and operations planning for the entire world’s events, to designing training content that so many of you have been part of.

That being said, emails will be going out shortly with the news that several upcoming events will be cancelled, and the Utah event will be postponed to the weekend of August 29 and 30.

There are many moving parts to opening events that change literally on a daily basis. Health officials’ decisions, permitting, venue availability, timetable clashes, staffing, travel restrictions, SOP compliance, new laws and legislation, and many other factors play a role.

For those that are concerned with the USNS structure, as you may have noticed that the updated Utah date is the same weekend as West Virginia: For the first time in Spartan history, we are going to host two US National Series events on the same day, in two different locations – Utah and West Virginia. Both will be held as Sprints on Sunday, August 30.

We strongly considered several restart scenarios. While there are many reasons the decision was made to host both events on the same weekend and shift the distances to Sprints, it boils down to this: this is a restart to the season – events are coming back online in the US and Canada, it’s looking to be a very full September and October racing schedule, and we want to give you every opportunity to compete in as many of the biggest events in the shortened time frame.

We intend to schedule 2 more USNS events (either 2 Supers or 1 Super and 1 Beast), for a total of 5 US National Series events across 4 weekends, and will be counting your best 3 events – more details to come. Same goes for the Canadian National Series – it will remain a 3 race series (1 Sprint, 1 Super, and 1 Beast), and we will be counting your best 2 events. Locations and dates to be released soon.

The major events – North American Champs, Ultra World Champs, Trifecta World Champs, and World Champs are still tracking to take place.

I don’t have more information regarding Mountain, Stadion, or Ultra series at the moment – it’s something we are tracking on closely and as soon as I am able to provide an update, I will.

We appreciate your understanding and flexibility during these trying times as we work tirelessly to get back to racing. If you have any specific questions, please reach out to me directly and I’ll provide as much information as possible.

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Matt B. Davis

is the host of the Obstacle Racing Media Podcast and the author of "Down and Dirty-The Essential Training Guide for Obstacle Races and Mud Runs". He is also the only (known) #wafflehouseelite obstacle racer.