A few weekends ago, several Aevitas Athletes put their fitness to the test with the Spartan Stadion race in Fenway Park! For those unfamiliar, the Spartan Race is an obstacle race series designed to test endurance, strength, agility, and mental toughness. Spartan courses contain many unique obstacles, requiring athletes to push the limits of their fitness. Spartan races are usually completed outdoors, at ski resorts, or in other areas with unique (and challenging!) topography, which makes the race all that more interesting!
The Spartan Stadion series includes the same Spartan Race characteristics but in a stadium setting. Instead of tackling a mountain, racers are taken on a course in and around and up and down (…and up and down…) the stadium, which creates its own level of challenge and fun!
Since Aevitas had such a strong presence at this year’s Fenway Park Stadion, we decided to interview the athletes who completed this race, and learn a little bit more about the event from them! Check out how each athlete answered our questions about the race, their preparation, and their overall feelings after the event below!
Was this your first Spartan and/or first Stadion? If not, how many have you done??
Emily: This was my first Spartan race but not my first OCR – I’ve done the Savage Race 10k in MA twice.
Dana: This was my second Spartan Race but my first Stadion. My first Spartan race was in May 2019 and while it was completed as a group finishing in just over 2 hours, I ended up having to burpee out on half of the obstacles.
Dave E: I’ve done a handful of obstacle course races before, including the Spartan Spring and a Spartan Beast at Killington. This was my first Stadion.
Dave L: First one! Considering going for the trifecta next year.
Rich: I’ve completed 5 Spartans. Two Sprint 5Ks and three Stadions at Fenway.
What was the easiest obstacle? what was the most difficult?
Emily: The easiest obstacle was probably the rope climb. The most difficult was the multi-rig rings.
Dana: The easiest obstacle for me was the Hercules Hoist. The most challenging was the Monkey Bars/Multi Rings. Need to work on those swings lol!
Dave E: The hardest obstacle was the monkey bars. They were spaced pretty far and were as thick as chain link fence posts… very hard to get a good grip.
Dave L: Easiest: Box jumps. Hardest: spear throw (because who ever does that?!)
Rich: They change some of the obstacles around year to year, but the easiest obstacle has been the Atlas Carry. Typically, I’ve found the Rings to be one of the easiest and the Monkey Bars challenging, but this time around the most challenging obstacle was the Rings and I hit the Monkey Bars.
Did your Aevitas Fitness training help you get through the race? any examples??
Emily: Aevitas training definitely helped! I did the “men’s” weight/height for most of the obstacles. The person overseeing the push-up station complimented my push-ups (15 unbroken!). For the weighted RAM burpees, I used the 55# and called on snatch training to get it overhead!
Dana: My membership and time so far with Aevitas made all the difference in the world for this race. In 12 months, I was able to accomplish the obstacles I burpee’d out on in 2019, such as the Weighted Cord Crawls (vest, bear crawls, squats), Sandbag Carry (sandbags for the win!), Wall Jump Overs/Climb Overs, Weighted Jump Rope, Z Wall (grip strength obtained in classes), Rope Climb (although not to the top, I accomplished two clamp pull-ups up). In addition to completing the obstacles, my endurance to run and tackle the stairs far exceeded my endurance back in 2019.
Dave E: My training at Aevitas definitely helped. Without a good rope clamp, I never could have made it up that skinny rope climb.
Dave L: I absolutely felt ready and fit going into the race. Wasn’t too sure what to expect but Aevitas does a good job of prepping us for anything 😎.
Rich: Aevitas did help me with this race in overall endurance from the running/cardio portion in classes, and the sandbag/heavy carries in classes provided a lot of extra strength to easily take on the carry obstacles
What is a “best memory” from the day?
Emily: Best memory from the day – running it with Sam and getting to experience this event that takes him all over the country and even overseas. Also, meeting strangers at the start and sharing the experiences and a drink with them by the end.
Dana: The best memory of the day was crossing that finish line and seeing that time clock. I surpassed what I even thought I’d come in at. It was such an overwhelming sense of accomplishment and growth.
Dave E: Getting to do it with Diana and Evan. We stayed together as a family the whole time, and this was Evan’s first OCR. Oh, and I nailed the Spear Throw on my first try, so that was a cool memory. Finally, doing the race inside such an iconic ballpark like Fenway was pretty special.
Dave L: Having my family there was awesome and running alongside a buddy of mine was memorable. Experiences are always more meaningful when they can be shared.
Rich: The best memory for me was actually seeing my wife (Dana) not too far behind me and keeping me on my A-game the whole way haha!
If you plan on doing the race again, what goals do you have for the next one?
Dana: I definitely plan to participate in this race again in 2025. Three items I’m solely looking to focus on aside from overall growth are: Rope Climbs, Rings, and grip strength for Monkey Bars.
Dave L: I may or may not be thinking about going for the trifecta next year which would be the Sprint/Stadion, Super, and Beast 😅
Rich: I plan on doing this race again. My goal is to continue beating my previous times from past years and conquer all the obstacles I may have missed the year before.
What would you tell people who are thinking about doing a Spartan race and have never done one?
Dana: I’d tell someone to not be intimidated by the sound of the obstacles and events. It’s honestly one of the most fun and most rewarding experiences, especially when you’re on a wellness/fitness journey. It only empowers you to be proud of your accomplishments and want more for yourself.
Dave L: I think I would tell someone to do it with a friend! Walk it or run it, who cares, just enjoy being outside and doing something good for your body!
Rich: I’d tell them try it out but most of all have fun and then use it to grow upon where you want to improve and train on the specific obstacles you may have struggled with so when you go back, you can see how far you’ve come.
There you have it! Sounds like this event was amazing, and full of firsts, accomplishments, and shared memories! Thank you to all the athletes who answered our questions, and way to go on being complete badasses!
Next time you see these athletes in class, make sure to greet them with a loud Spartan “HA-OOH!”
