As you know here at True Protein HQ we are the official nutrition partner of Spartan Race Australia. Spartan Race is a gritty obstacle course race designed to test the passion and resilience of its competitors, including our very own True team who have given it a crack time and again. Spartan offer three primary course distances of escalating difficulty, obstacle count and challenge level: the Spartan Sprint (5+kms /20+ obstacles), the Spartan Super (13+kms/25+ obstacles) and Spartan Beast (21+kms/30+ obstacles). Think running through mud, swimming over dams, leaping over fire and scrambling over challenging obstacles.
Over the years the True team has put Spartan to the test, enjoying some friendly office camaraderie in a little light competition. To be honest, some of the team were hesitant before signing up to give it ago. A few even declared they wouldn’t be able to do it and, to be fair, based on the videos we've captured over time, it did look like a grueling experience! Although the team lead a healthy lifestyle and many workout regularly, there were more than a few aprehensions about successfully crossing the finish line of a Spartan race. However, we managed to pull the team together and rounded up a True Spartan wave of 20 competitors in the most recent race in Sydney's Olympic Park.
It was quite challenging at times and sometimes even painful but most of all it was an amazing experience! Everyone surprised themselves as to how much they could accomplish, especially as a team. One of the best take aways? Working together and encouraging one another as a team. This allowed all of us, even those not as prepared, to complete the race. It might not have been everyone’s ideal race time but every member of the team crossing that finish line together felt like a sweet victory.
The most surprising thing about the race was how much fun it was (despite the mud!) and what a great team building exercise it turned out to be. We would highly recommend it to anyone looking to try something new and to push themselves to the next level of fitness.
Here is what some of our team members had to say about the race:
'I was a bit nervous before the race knowing what my weaknesses are in fitness, but I have to say I had so much fun throughout the race! There were a few moments of discomfort but more moments of laughing at myself, and moments where I was astonished I could complete so many obstacles. I would do it again for sure!' - Monique
'Any nerves that festered on the drive down quickly disappeared once we arrived in the community atmosphere of the festival area. The race was enjoyable and it was a great opportunity to push myself to the next level in the True Spartan environment. Despite the cuts, bruises and sore muscles, I'll definitely be racing again.' - Will
'I had no idea what I was in for with Spartan, deliberately choosing not to find out. Despite not training for the event, I found the course to be a mixture of both fun and challenging obstacles. My attitude was to just ‘give it a go’ and I had a great time doing it. The course was longer, muddier and more physically demanding than I could ever have imagined but the team spirit on the day was fantastic and I finished with a real sense of achievement.' - Vanessa