Amidst an unexpected Nor’easter with heavy rains and temperatures ranging from a 53-degree high to 45-degree low, which was 20 degrees colder than the 2016 Citi Field Stadium Sprint 0f 73 high / 56 Low, many residents from the tri-state area found logical reasons to stay indoors, but thousands of Spartans did not.
Conditions were less than stellar with many unknown variables at play prompting Spartan Race to send weather advisories en masse via social media and to registrant emails. Though a slippery and dangerous course it was, the overall winner’s times appeared unscathed as 2016 Stadium Series Champion Brakken Kraker 31:13, Michael Miraglia 32:49, and John Yatsko 33:31 swam to the podium alongside the Tsunami of Spartan Pro Team Females Kate Kramer 34:19, Cassidy Watton 35:00, and Orla Marie Walsh 37:41.
Many Elite and Competitive racers expected the monkey bars to be closed due to the heavy rain as in other Stadium races, but instead, they were greeted with slick metal, a few face plants, and 30 burpees.
Note: No serious injuries were reported from a day of slippery monkey bars except for the deep bruising to human pride and ego.
The low temperatures were no match for the highs found during the Special Spartans and Spartan Kids Race where these athletes lit up the stadium and ran as hard as they would on any other sun-filled hot summer day. Another race day high point was witnessing paralyzed and wheelchair bound Lindsey Runkel wheelbarrowing the venue then roll her wheelchair through the Atlas Carry with double-amputee Andrew Bateson on her lap and the concrete Atlas block on his. They also attempted the Spear Throw in the same fashion and with a few warmup throws and several tweaks to their technique this stack of adaptive athletes hit the target.
In retrospect, the course was more physically demanding in 2016, where racers practically touched every bleacher and stairwell at Citi Field, however, the inclement weather of 2017 created mental challenges never before experienced in a stadium series race.
At the finish line, racers were greeted with the sorely missed and familiar voice of renowned Spartan Race emcee Dustin Dorough who is pursuing other aspirations but knows he belongs among us…at least once in a while. Welcome back…and forth Dustin 🙂
As with every Spartan Race experience, there is opportunity for both the brand and the participants to continue building on past successes and correcting current missteps.
At the time of this publication, we remain uncertain if the distribution of the finisher shirts in the parking lot outside of the venue was attributed to contractual limitations of Spartan Race, bottlenecking at the finish line / photo area inside the stadium in years past, or a trial run for future standardization. We did, however, notice that some volunteers at the registration area were not aware of the finishers shirt tent behind them, just like in 2016.
If you were on the course and not pleased with your individual outcome regardless of poor training, poor nutrition, poor attitude, or poor climate, you can always (insert Milli Vanilli song here)
Courtesy of Super Mario Bros 3 – Kooti Pie Rocks Episode
God Bless and keep running…
Photo Credits: Rosa Farciert Lopez, Adam Ortiz, and Spartan Race
Nelson "Runaway" Diaz
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Great review of this soggy stadium race! Love the description of the monkey bars- admit that I’m part of the faceplant gang on this one! Despite the rain, my memories of being with Team Believe 923 that day are warm & sunny.