South Carolina- Spartan Beast November 2017
You mud lovers asked for it, and Spartan Race delivered. A brand new venue for your dirty adventures in South Carolina. Spartanburg hosted their first Beast and Sprint for those last minute trifecta chasers. The new venue had every racing fanatic wondering what Spartan Race was going to bring. Spartanburg held the races at the University of South Carolina campus. The Beast tapped out around 13 miles and the sprint boasted 5 miles.
Spartan Race Beast/Sprint Course Map
Spartanburg, South Carolina
Photo Credit: Spartan Race
Obstacle Changes
Although the OCR season is still active until the end of the year, Spartan is using this time to try out new changes that may be implemented next season. One of the changes that was noted in Atlanta at the Lake Lanier Super was a penalty loop added next to twister and the rope climb. Instead of the traditional 30 burpee penalty for obstacle failure, the athlete is required to crawl under an additional barbed wire, or go for a small jog around a loop. Spartanburg did not have any penalty loops and just required the 30 burpees for obstacle failure.
Twister
A well known obstacle for failures, Twister, earned more failures in Spartanburg than ever before. Spartan added velcro grips to the handles for extra hold on the difficult obstacle. Whether or not Spartan did this in preparation for rain, or to make it easier is unknown. However what is known, is that 90% of the athletes did NOT like the changes implemented to twister. Team Southern Spartans athletes joined in to say that the grips made it very difficult to grab the bars because they were slipping and moving. Perhaps Spartan Race could modify this change and put the grips on half of the bars instead of all of them.
Unfavorable Grips Added To Twister
Elites and Scratchy Terrain
Tiffany Palmer won first place for the elite woman with a time of 2 hours, 7 minutes and 34 seconds for the beast ! Tiffany recaps her experience at South Carolina on her Instagram by saying “(the) Beast was definitely a race to remember. As in…it will most likely leave scars on me from all the briars! Beautiful clean race besides gashing my knee open at mile 1!! The terrain was the worst obstacle, and there was a LOT of screaming every time a Briar wrapped itself around me.” Although it took me double time to run the beast, I did experience the same terrain issues as Tiffany. The terrain reminded me of a post Hurricane Irma scene with all of the knocked over trees, branches and pinecones. There were thorns that would come out of NO WHERE and literally reach out and wrap around your legs causing nasty scratches. Racer, Troy King states “The course was hell! 13 miles of thick woods – running through miles of briars and hurdling waist high thorns. I was constantly watching the ground for hidden holes. It was literally miles of uncomfortable aggressive terrain.”
Top Three Elite Women (Beast)
Photo Credit: Tiffany Palmer
Troy King- Scratches from Spartanburg
Photo Credit: Troy King
I spotted this CUTE handmade tank top made from a finisher t-shirt and two spartan headbands !!
“Blondie” and her handmade Spartan Tank
MY FIRST EVER TRIFECTA, Y’ALL !!
Overall, for my first Beast, I found Spartanburg to be a challenge and a great time. I certainly recommend this course for those seeking to test their limits and get that green beast medal to complete their trifectas. Spartan is scheduled to bring this venue back next season, but will hopefully take into consideration some mild parking lot issues and the scratchy terrain. Can’t wait for next year!
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Photo Credit: Jessika Poppe, unless otherwise stated.
