Racing like a Spartan - WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-

Racing like a Spartan

When you hear about Spartans, historically people think of great warriors.

"My wife says I'm not very bright," said Sean Meehan, a Spartan Race competitor.

But to Sean Meehan, in this day in age, Spartans are competitors pushing their limits.

"When people see you do that they think it's a little crazy but it's a good workout," said Meehan.

Meehan has done many obstacle races in the past but never a Spartan race. Surprisingly for him, the race today might not have been enough for him.

"It's actually kind of funny, I wish I had done the ultra so I could have run a second lap," said Meehan.

The Spartan Race is the world's leading obstacle race series with competitions across the country. The mission of the Spartan organization? To challenge people differently than what they're used to regardless of ability level.

There are all different varieties of Spartan races but everyone consists of a certain kind of run swim and different obstacles like the one you see behind me.

"There's Barbed wire crawl, jumping over fire, to rope climb, to climbing up over cargo nets, to Tarzan swings, to shimmying over lakes, to big boulder carries," explained the race director, Mike Morris.

Mike Morris is the race director. With mohawk and mustache as his Spartan look, he says the Spartan organization is designed to serve strictly for the racers. It's a test of physical and mental strength. But the challenges are more than physical.

"It becomes a really mentally challenging thing. It's not just 'oh this is heavy' or 'this is tough to get up I'm going to have to use my strength,' it's 'alright, I'm starting to get tired and I really want to quit right now but I'm not going to,'" said Morris.

Pushing limits and having the full racing experience is key to all racers including junior competitors. Next year's competition isn't even worth asking them about.

Melissa Sheketoff: "Would you do it again?"

Junior Competitors: "Yeah!"

But they aren't the only ones making plans to be around when Spartan comes back around.

"I'd race Spartan races every week if I could," said Meehan.

Fighting a race of challenge as a Spartan that's intended to turn any competitor into a great warrior.