3.10.12 Georgia Spartan Sprint-Hurricane Heat Recap

Hurricane Heat 011

I was long since registered for the Georgia Spartan Race, when I got an email 3 days prior to the event asking me to do a Hurricane Heat.

The email basically said it was a more challenging version of the regular Spartan Sprint, plus there is a larger focus on teamwork than in the regular heats.

Once I registered, here is what the welcome email promised:

Burpees. Running. Jumping. Falling. Mud. Water. Barbed wire. Burpees.
Be prepared to spend 2-3 hours on the course. The Hurricane Heat is intended to be more difficult than the race itself.
You will be assigned to a team. You will rely on that team, and they will rely on you to get every member of your team to the finish line. You will not leave anyone behind, even for a minute. You will finish as a team.
We will not have volunteers to hand you a cold sponge to cool down your neck.
The only people cheering you on will be your teammates.
These people will be your new best friends.

I was now even more inspired/excited to compete in this event.

Here is how the day went
4:00am Wake up. Try not to wake sleeping wife or two sleeping children.
4:30am Drive to Conyers, GA.
5:ish Arrive on site, no staff present. Start meeting other racers.

At this point, even though it is cold, and I have a little fear of the unknown, I am telling myself that there is no way this can be harder than my recent Tough Mudder. (Mudder blog still to come, promise).

I mean it is 41 degrees . The Mudder was only 20 degrees when we started!

However, I am wearing considerably less clothing than the Mudder, because, in my head, 21 degrees warmer, is SO much warmer, I don’t need to be as prepared. All I am wearing is one long sleeve compression shirt and my now infamous women’s XXL running tights from Target. I mean, any minute now, we are going to start running and my body will warm up, right?? Well, 5 minutes standing in the cold was all I could take.

I had brought 2 extra running shirts for my regular heat to take place at 2pm. I decide to throw those on as well. Right about that time, our leaders show up. Two great guys from Spartan HQ named Tommy Mac and Todd “Sgt” Sedlak.

The first thing they do is have us circle up and do 30 burpees to start the day. Not the hardest thing in the world except the ground is frozen solid. So by number ten, my hands are going numb. (I did not wear gloves as I had done for the Mudder (again, soooo much warmer). So this proves to be difficult. Then the 63 of us are split into 4 teams.

Realizing that only 63 people are brave/stupid enough to try this thing has me feel very confident and even more excited about the day.

Then they take us over to our first real obstacle. A climbing rope. I am terrified as I do not work out with weights or do any body work, plyometrics or anything else. I don’t do any of that stuff because it does nothing that running does for me. Also, they bore me. Also, I am bad at them.

I look around at my team of mostly 20 something guys and girls and do not want to be the one person on my team who can not do this….

More to come in part two.

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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.