Yesterday afternoon, Obstacle Racing Media released a story that detailed accusations of sexual harassment, bullying and rape against Ameer Haroun.
In an unprecedented move in the obstacle racing industry, Spartan Race has banned Ameer Haroun from any Spartan Race, permanently.
Spartan released the following statement today.
Rumors of Ameer’s (whose given name is Ameer Krass) inappropriate behavior have been circling the OCR community for the last few years.
In light of yesterday’s article, there have been scores of comments across all social media platforms with from people who have corroborated information from the accusers.
There have also been comments from those who state that Ameer as a very helpful member of the community, being wrongly accused.
Obstacle Racing Media has been approached by more women since the article came out. They have additional accusations and are wrestling with the idea of going public.
It should be noted that we did not take this story lightly, nor would we post an article of this nature without doing intense research over the last year.
Many are asking what the future of the group Spartan 4-0 will be. Spartan Race, the company, does not own or manage that Facebook group, so it is difficult to say.
We reached out to Ameer Haroun shortly after the article was released. We did not reach out prior to the article’s release as he had been accused of bullying and intimidating potential witnesses. Our goal was to ensure the alleged victims could safely get their story out first.
Ameer has yet to respond to us directly, although he posted a comment attacking Matt Davis and Obstacle Racing Media stating every accusation stems from “consensual adult relationships”. He went on to say that what the article is not based on facts but “twisted truths and libelous statements to damage my name and what we (4-0) have built together”
This morning we reached out to the admins listed on the 4-0 group, Toni-Anne Canora, Anne Marie Spencer, and Renee Poisson. We have yet to hear a response.
However Toni Anne Canora sent us the following as we were investigating this story. “He has always been appropriate with me and have no knowledge or proof of him ever being less than a gentleman.”
ORM wants to continue to be a resource and safe space for those that want to come to us with any behavior that is troubling. You can always remain anonymous if you choose to do so.
We also want to refer you to the National Online Sexual Assault Hotline.
Update October 23rd, 2019:
#MeToo Update: New Group To Join For Help
Thank to all of the men and women that have reached out in recent days. It has been overwhelming. So many of you are sharing your stories about what has happened to you in the OCR community.
ORM will NOT be doing another follow up story at this time. I have to get back to the business of running the company and providing news, information, and entertainment about OCR. I am a not mental health professional, nor law enforcement.
We want you to keep coming forward. Keep telling your stories. The more light that shines, the more darkness can not hide.
There’s a women’s only group that has been started. You can find women who will listen to you, believe you, and help direct you to those professional resources and or law enforcement, if and when you are ready. You can go there to talk about ANYONE, not just about the story we wrote.
Men and women, if you have a friend reach out to you, please listen, and then kindly suggest they check out this group. – MBD
Update October 23rd, 2019.
Tough Mudder and Savage Race have also banned Ameer Haroun Krass from participating in their races. Several other races are looking into the situation and doing their own internal investigations.
Update October 25th, 2019.
Spartan 4-0 Admin Toni Anne Canora posted that as of this morning, Ameer Haroun Krass is no longer in the Facebook group. We are unsure if he was asked to leave by the admin team, or stepped away on his own accord. In addition, 7 additional admins have been added in recent days. The group is down nearly 2,000 members since our first article went live.
Matt B. Davis
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This guy needs an ass kicking! A serious ass kicking, and jail time.
THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!! You and the accusers should be named the OCR person of the year…I believe all these women because their stories are consistent. He was sending me private messages and acted innocent but he is sneaky SON OF A BITCH!! I am so glad that you wrote the article and it’s never too late to seek justice for these amazing and brave women. I wish I could share my story as well but you can’t guarantee my safety or avoid being bullied. Obviously, 4-0 don’t know the whole story and the above members’ comments and support for him makes me sick to my stomach. This have been going on for YEARS and the admins and ambassadors in that group continue to cover it up because they all love the attention and their popularity within the group. They are also guilty of his behavior and for supporting him 100% even when they knew all those accusations were true. Fucking unbelievable! They are all trash just like Him. I hope this is the end of Ameer’s reign (all his accomplices) and the 4-0 group, the Ameer CULT. Someone needs to bring this up to Mark Zuckerberg and every social media connection to this group to shut it the down for the safety of others.
I also hope he gets what he deserves, but you can’t call everyone in 4-0 an “accomplice”. We are 15,000 plus, not everyone in the group has direct interaction with him or even knows him. Part of maturity is not generalizing. There are creeps all around us, but to put every person in the same class as someone else based solely on the fact that we are part of a team is ignorance.
I can assure you, I am not TRASH. I’m an intelligent, educated woman who has never been any trouble to anyone. I’m a mom and a grandma. I am also a victim, not of his, but still a victim. My rapist was a guitar player in a band, are all guitar players trash?? Think before you spew.
I am not calling all the 15K members accomplices or trash but I am calling those that knew from the very beginning his doings accomplices. They kept their mouths shut and defended him. The admins are showing their support by keeping him in the group. He has to get the same treatment it was giving to others for lesser reasons. Why keep that ASSHOLE in the group? I do not understand. Please don’t write innocent until proven guilty. That’s BS.
Oh wow!! I never join 4-0 group because I got sick of all the 1/2 naked picks women would post on that page, it was so disgusting. I literally told my husband and this was 6 years ago this page was not encouraging, not motivating it was more like tinder, everybody wanted to hook up. Seeing weird yoga positions vaginas in the air,legs twisted, bras and underwear Pics. And I would walk by the tent and EVERYONE would be drunk. Everyone needed to respect themselves!! What I saw was disgusting. So I’m not saying he a saint & noone should be violated against their own free will but 4-0 in general wasn’t good as a whole.
I am disgusted by his behavior and I hope he gets what is coming to him. That being said, I have run many races with 4-0 for years and I have never had a drink at a race ever. I do occasionally drink, but I never do during the day. so for you to say EVERYONE would be drunk, that is not at all accurate. I’m a parent, I work in law enforcement and I do respect myself. Please don’t judge an entire group based on the actions of a few people.
I’m very pleased with the decision to post this article in order to bring justice to the women who were abused and mistreated in this manner. Myself having a daughter and also being a victim of sexual abuse(I’m a father), this news is both disturbing and revolting. I’m also a member of Spartan 4-0 so this news is also gravely disappointing to me as well. Personally I’ve had a really good experience and have met some great, inspirational people during my time with 4-0, but make no mistake, I don’t support the abuse or mistreatment of any individual. The men and women that came forward to shed light on what was hoping on are extremely courageous individuals and have my deepest respect. It’s not easy to come forward with information like this, trust me I know. Moving forward, I hope that the OCR community doesn’t judge the rest of the 4-0 group for the actions of one individual. I was in the ARMY for 8 years, a Ranger and one thing if anything I learned is that a leader is only as good as his soldiers. The success of the 4-0 group is not based on the leadership but the outstanding individuals that make OCR a enjoyable, safe experience. So if you see a Spartan 4-0 jersey on the race course, try not to judge them on the actions of one individual but rather their dedication to a collaborative team that promotes camaraderie and friendship.
He pursued me as well. He told me he was separated and offered me free race codes. I wish I had not deleted the pictures and messages he sent me. I’m glad these women came forward and I 100% believe and support them. My heart hurts for the verbal attacks they have been getting in the 4-0. The victim blaming/shaming is awful. No wonder victims are afraid to come forward. 4-0 claims to be a family, but the verbal attacks going on in there right now are just disgusting. I am glad this finally came to light. So many people warned me several years ago to avoid him at all costs because he’s a predator. I hope justice is served.
When your car gets a flat do you get rid of the car? No. You change the flat so you can continue to move forward. Spartan 4-0 has a flat that desperately needs changing. Hell it might have 2 or 3 flats. Change all of them!! It is still a good team for the most part. I have never seen a tent full of drunks at a race (as mentioned above) let alone vaginas in the air. There are a lot of good people on that team so hopefully they will still be able to fly the colors of their choosing at future events without being condemned for the actions of 1 or a few out of 15,000. The admins in charge right now, as I am sure the rest of us, have most likely never had to deal with something of this nature and there is a bit of a learning curve here on what actions they should take. Hopefully they figure it out soon or the whole team will be in the scrap yard.