Spartan Pan-American Championships

The first ever Spartan Pan-American Championship went down in Mexico City this month. We were in a historic military college campus on the 100th anniversary of the location. (That makes some sense as to why one of the OCR world’s biggest championships would be smack in the middle of the season.)

I had no intention of attending this event. I wasn’t actually planning on competing in any more Spartan Races this season before the Spartan World Championships. I assumed with a win in the regional series I would earn an invite to the World Championships. Thank goodness for podcasts and the OCR Community. I mentioned that I was only looking toward worlds on a podcast and Glenn Racz reached out and alerted me to the new qualification system. Not only were these events invite only but there were point standards to get into the events. You received 1 point for local events, 3 points for Elite Series events and 5 points for Regional Championships. To qualify for a regional Championship you need 4 points, for World Championships you need 5 points. Since I had won the stadium race in Baylor and the 3k in West Palm, I had a total of 4 points. 1 point shy of qualifying for Worlds. So I was left with a decision, do I do the minimum and find a local event or do I go ahead and go for the cash grab in Mexico? I suppose you already know where we went with it.

I had my 4 points necessary to attend but I hadn’t received an invite to Pan-Ams. Apparently they didn’t actually know that I had enough points to race because nobody is actually keeping track. Dope! Fortunately Gary B is a very cool dude and he sent me a link to get signed up. After that I reached to my guy Ismael and got our plans made for my arrival and he was super clutch in getting Nicole and I to this race. He picked us up from the airport, we stayed at his house and he brought us back. What a guy. Shout out to you man. 

I was actually a bit nervous about coming back to Mexico after the last trip. Bringing a bug back with me wasn’t a great experience and being sick for 6 months afterwards wasn’t great either. So I was hesitant of what to eat and what to drink. Ismael kept me safe though.

Friday afternoon rolled around and I was in the right state of mind. A few rounds of smash bros had me ready to throw down. I didn’t know exactly how I would feel out there on the course. I had some bad workouts leading in and things had just been off for the past few weeks. I wasn’t going to let any of that get in the way of winning this event. I knew some of these Mexicans had wheels and this course was literally a road race so it was going to be mad fast. All I had to do was execute on obstacles and the running would become a non-issue. There was no heavy carry and a solid balance beam that I knew would trip up a lot of athletes. As much as these courses change race to race the truth always remains the same, the best obstacle course racer will win. 

There was a bit of miscommunication when we arrived. No one really knew when the race would start, or how they would format the competition. Normally the men and women would run the race at the same time, alternating between male and female heats. Most of us had finished our warm ups and were ready to start racing when we got the news that all of the ladies heats would be run before the men would go. So we had another hour or so to kill. Sweet. 

As expected, Nicole dominated the women's field. Not much effort from her to land the win with like a minute lead. She did her part well, now it was time to do mine. USA was on top so far today and it fell upon me to keep it that way. We were called up to the start line in our respective heats and I could tell the Mexicans were lit up for this race. They were in their country, on a historic day at a historic venue with a chance to represent. They wanted it bad. The only one standing in their way was myself. So when we took off on that first heat, they were moving like I’d never seen on a Spartan course. They were running 5 flat pace up the starting hill, mostly people that had no business running that fast though. So I figured I would be patient and watch them crumble. 

The race was all concrete. Simple walls to start the first part of the laps, then a gnarly cargo crawl to start introducing the real obstacles. A balance beam, a multi-rig and monkey bars were the only challenges on the course besides the laser pistol which is actually a cake walk for a firearm owning American citizen like myself. These first qualifying rounds were all about staying consistent and smooth. Single mistakes would remove your chances of advancing to the finals. Get comfortable and make sure you’re moving just fast enough to advance you to the next round. 

This first round was a lightning round. They took off way too hot and I was probably still in 6th place 300m in. I moved into 1st after literally one wall. And that told me everything I needed to know, most of these athletes would struggle on almost every obstacle, not just the big ones. My only concern on this course was that large cargo obstacle called the Phoenecian Pass. I’m not known as the best crawler in this game, and we had to keep hands on the obstacle at all times. As I expected, I got passed right away on that obstacle, but it was a nice chance to catch my breath. After this was the balance beam. The sort of obstacle that would never be an issue if you casually came across one at a park, but in the heat of aggressive racing you can overthink and make silly mistakes. Imagine a 4ft wall that you would normally see at a Spartan Race but turned the long way with ramps going up the ends. So maybe 15ft of balancing in total. Not that hard. As I was running up I saw the leader of our heat fall off within 2ft of starting and I think I actually laughed out loud but I knew how simply that mistake could be made. I blazed through it rather easily and made my way to the multi rig. A great build for a rig. Probably the best build we’ve seen at a Spartan in years. A jump out to a rope suspended over water into ring, rope and bar traverse. Technical but not super tough. Obstacles should be doable for fit individuals but should showcase the abilities of the best in the world. This did that very well. I think I gained a minimum of 5 seconds through that obstacle. Well done. After the rig there were a couple obstacles that were non-issues for the racers, but right before the finish line we ran into the EcoAims laser pistol. I think we were 8 yds away from a 4in target. Manageable with a light weapon and no recoil. But clearly the athletes south of the border had never played Time Crisis before because the majority of them struggled a fair amount! I crossed the line in 5 minutes flat and felt good about making it to the next round, which I did. 

The officials had their jobs down to a science. Within moments of finishing we were put into the leaderboard and could see how we ranked. Less then 5 minutes would go by and we would be called to line up for our next heat. It was efficient but not great for recovery. The second heat was organized in a strange way though. They took the top 11 and bottom 11 and put them in their own heats, No stagger. So we were about to get a small preview of the final if anything, and they took off even faster than the first heat! Eugenio came out of the gates absolutely flying! I was mildly intimidated by it but I told myself to just be patient through the first few obstacles and wait to capitalize on the back half. After all this was just about qualifying for the final. I stayed the course and found myself in 3rd or 4th going into the balance beam. I swear everyone stopped for a second or two before getting on the beam and they were very hesitant and slow. In my experience, it’s easier to balance a bike when it’s going faster. So I maintained my run pace and went right up and over that piece and found myself tied for the lead! Money! Going into the back half of the course, the upper hand was mine. That’s where the real obstacles were. I opened up a lead on the rig and stretched it all the way home through monkey bars, 6ft wall, rope climb and laser pistol. With that dub I was seeded first for the final.

This final would be the fastest race of my career. Only 15 minutes or so from start to finish but lots of room for error. I find the most nerve racking events are the ones that you should win. There wasn’t a single athlete there that should have a shot at taking me down in this event, the only thing that could take me out would be a mistake on my part. That’s the stuff that starts running through my mind as we're waiting to take the start line. But once the gun goes off, all of that fades and you just focus on the task at hand. When we started the final, Everyone took off way too hot, and I was no exception. I got too nervous to let them gap me. I wanted to not take the lead til the 2nd lap but I was so worried about wasting this trip across the border that I couldn't let them go. I came across the timing mat with my fastest lap of the day to open up the final. A major mistake to make at altitude. But I had opened up a 16 second lead in the first lap and my only goal for the second lap was to hold that lead. I tried to slow down and get my respiration under control. At altitude, heart rate recovery is next to impossible and I had crossed my line. It’s not like me to make that mistake but I let my head get in the way of this one. 

Coming through that second lap, I was taking my time on all of the obstacles and running pretty freaking slow. Nicole was nice enough to give me updates on my competition. My 16 second lead still stood as the lap came to a close. The only downside was that I hadn’t recovered one bit in that lap, but with only one lap to go, anyone can suffer for another 1000 meters. I leaned in and made sure to not let anyone catch me. I nailed every obstacle and made sure to keep my transitions nice and efficient. One thing the Mexican athletes really struggle with is obstacle transition speed. I’m not sure why the top dogs over there haven’t figured that shit out yet but you can always count on them walking into obstacles. I swear I was only running like 8 minute mile pace on that lap but somehow I opened up another 15 seconds or so on the final lap and I crossed the finish line as the Spartan Race Pan-American 3k Champion. I was happy to come away with this win but at the same time I was very disappointed in my performance and the way my body felt on the day.

I was relieved to be leaving with a $5000 dollar payday because things have been pretty tough financially this year. At the same time it’s bittersweet because I know I probably won’t see that money for a year or so. So where I’m glad I claimed another title and technically made money, I did just spend more travel money on a race with no return and no sponsors this year. I arrived home the next day pretty upset about how my race went and what I thought it said about my fitness. On top of that another 7 or 800 dollars down for a trip that just left a bad taste in my mouth. I know this probably comes off as a bit of a shitty outlook but it’s been a rough year for your boy. I have no complaints about the race itself or the trip either. I actually had a great time in Mexico City seeing everyone and it was a great experience overall. But returning home with a bad performance by my own standards and less rent money almost felt like a waste. I’m still mulling that over now and I’m not entirely sure what to think of it.

Overall, it was a good experience and it’s something I’ll get to carry with me forever. I think it was good to get a look into my fitness and to get some motivation to get my ass in gear for the upcoming training block. Still big goals this year that will require much more from the kid than this did, so a kick in the pants was necessary. I’ll be fit for the championship season and the world title will be mine this year.