Spartan West Virginia Nationals, August 28, 2021

I flew to West Virginia to try and cement a spot in the Spartan Age Group Nationals podium for 2021.  I had finished 1st in Jacksonville, 2nd in Utah, and needed a 3rd race to qualify.  A good finish at a 3rd race, as well, of course!   

West Virginia is a nice venue, on the grounds of the national Boy Scout camp.  They've got all the fun stuff here, including lots of real bathrooms and water fountains spread out over thousands of acres of forest and pastures.   Real bathrooms can be nice at a Spartan race.   They would also be good shelter from a passing rainstorm on Sunday as well.  

It was foggy at the start of the Beast, with that East Coast humidity which brings no cooling effect whatsoever.   So many people fell off the rings that they put a penalty loop instead of burpees for the second day, just because it was so damp and wet.   Happy to say that I made it, but since I fell off the Twister just a few minutes later, I shouldn't be bragging.  

Yes, it's a hilly area, but jeez, we went up and down every hill in sight and then a few more.  The Beast lived up to its name.   An extra obstacle that got talked about a lot the next day was called "can you outrun the wasps next to the stream?"  Many people evidently couldn't, and were showing off their welts after the race.   After that was another hill, this one requiring that a heavy sandbag tag along for the ride.  

My favorite part of the race was the swim (with a floatation device), the longest one that anyone could remember.  Maybe 1/4 mile?   I passed a few people here, but I did not cool off.  The water temperature was as warm as the air if that was even possible.  

I finished 4th on the Beast, and that may or may not be enough to podium in the series.   Happily enough, that meant I got to go back to the hotel right away, shower and rest up.  Because my day was not over.

It was a struggle, and I had to talk myself into it, but I went back that evening for the 10k Night Run.  No obstacles, just a nice run on the fire roads around the Boy Scout property.   It was even fairly flat.   It was the most enjoyable run of the weekend, because I could actually run, and not get out of rythym on steep hills and obstacles.  It was actually really dark when I finished.  I passed a guy with a headlamp that was almost dead, but maybe that made it more fun for him.  

Bright and early the next morning I was back for the Super, which was actually less painful that I thought, the night run really helped stretch my legs out again.   The best thing about a weekend Trifecta is that the races and obstacles keep getting shorter!   In between races I showered off with a hose, had lunch, drank about a gallon of lemonade, and compared bruises with the other women running that weekend.  Oh, and I was 4th again.  

The Sprint was my fastest average speed for the weekend, and when I hit the spear I knew I was probably on the podium this time.  Problem was, it had started sprinkling with a mile to go, just after I popped out of the dunk wall covered in grime.   Minutes later, with the finish line in sight, it started pouring rain and lightning.   Volunteers were waving us past the final ring obstacle to keep us away from metal.  I finished 2nd.  I wouldn't find out until later, but skipping the obstacle even at the volunteer's direction and not doing burpees would take me out of the competition.   Oh well, no biggie, although I sat around a long time waiting for the awards instead of driving to the airport.   The good part was that the rain fell so hard that I pretty much got cleaned off without a shower!