The Portland version of the Spartan Sprint is actually in Washougal, Washington. This is the 5th year in a row that this event has been held at the Washougal MX Park. The Spartan Sprint is a 3-5 mile course with 20-23 obstacles along the way. The actual course will not be revealed until right before race day, but with a mix of wooded trails and motocross track, expect a lot of ups and downs.
Pro Spartan Racer Brakken Kraker had this to say about the Washougal course: “[Washougal] was possibly the best overall course I’ve ever raced on. It had the perfect mix of steep and gradual climbing, technical descents, fast trails, and demanding obstacles. It balanced out the skill sets necessary to be successful in OCR, putting a wide mix of athletes together in the last mile.”
Although the obstacles are changed up regularly, you can expect to be climbing over walls and cargo nets, crawling through mud, traversing some type of “monkey bar” contraption, climbing rope, doing some heavy lifting and pulling, throwing a spear, and doing burpees. At Spartan Races, the penalty for being unable to complete an obstacle is 30 burpees. Unless you are an elite or competitive racer, you are allowed to have help from your fellow competitors with the various obstacles. Regardless, expect to do some burpees. Even the elite racers have to do them at times.
While this will be a challenging race, I encourage you to grab some friends and try this event. It is definitely not an easy 5K run, but you will be challenged, you will have fun, and you will walk away proud of yourself for accomplishing some things that you may have thought you couldn’t do. I’m looking forward to challenging myself on this course. I can’t wait to see what I can accomplish this year.
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Portland Spartan Sprint Details
Date: Saturday, August 6, 2016
Times: Sign up for your wave time at registration
Location: Washougal MX Park, 40205 NE Borin Rd, Washougal
Entry Fees: $109-$114 + insurance and processing fee
Race Website: Click Here