The First ever US Spartan Winter Sprint! and boy was it a cold one!! I could not believe that Spartan decided to do a Winter race and I am glad I was able to participate in the first winter event!

This race took place on March 4th at the Greek Peak Mountain Resort in upstate New York, located near Cortland.

I carpooled with friends the day prior and finally learned the definition of a ‘snow squall’. You don’t see these very often in the DC area!

We hit multiple snow squalls along the way up. One minute it was clear, then the next, it was snowing so bad you could barely see 3 feet out in front of you! But wait! All you had to do was wait about 10 minutes and then it would be clear again and then boom! another snow squall!

I could not believe how drastically the weather changed which made the car ride that much more entertaining. As seen in the video, the weather definitely had me feeling slightly nervous for this race. Those pre-race jitters always tend to get to me….

This was my first race of the year and by far the coldest race I have ever done in my entire life.

It was 9 degrees at the start of the race and it did not seem to be getting much warmer. I made sure to layer up because I can be quite the baby in the cold sometimes.

One of my friends brought hand and toe warmers which really helped with my circulation! (which I highly recommend if you’re ever doing a race this cold in the snow!)

             

My friends and I used trash bags as an extra layer to keep us warm. We conveniently were staying at the resort across the street, which saved us the headache of taking shuttles for parking.

It was so cold out that the start times for the race got delayed by 30 minutes. Everyone seemed to be all over the place. Check-in was packed and swarming with people. The normal check in tents were outside, but the weather was too cold for the equipment that everything got moved inside.

Once I was checked in, it was time to make my way to the start.

I started in the competitive heat. I still had my trash bag on at the starting line, bouncing around trying to keep warm.

I was debating on what I should do with it during the race.

I took the trash bag off when the race started and carried it for a bit, but then decided to ditch the trash bag at the first obstacle.

It became too cumbersome to carry around.  I was wearing 3 layers of clothing and figured that had to be enough to keep me warm.

My goal for this race was to keep warm, not slip, or aggravate anything in my side (which has been bothering me more some time now), and finish.

The trails were a heck of a lot more treacherous due to snow and ice. I almost slipped a few times on some ice. Some of the terrain was so steep that people were sliding on their behinds to avoid slipping.

Some of the obstacles were much harder than usual because they were frozen over! The Hercules Hoist and Sand Bag Carry felt twice as hard because they were frozen solid!  I really struggled picking up the Atlas Carry because of the frozen ice all over it. Everything felt so much heavier, which made me feel so much weaker.

It was still in the single digits and snowing out. This race allowed me to push myself in the cold even further than I ever have before. I had never trained in conditions as cold as these and I love pushing myself to endure difficult weather conditions.

The course map to include 23 obstacles!

It was so cold outside that my orange neck gator would freeze just from me breathing into it! I had to keep rotating it to avoid the ice!

I was so glad to see a few photographers out there on the course to capture this frigid Spartan race!

And last, but not least…the famous Spartan fire jump just before the finish!

Not bad for my first race of the season at the First US Spartan Winter Snow Sprint!

I love the custom made winter medals! I cannot wait till the next Spartan race and will definitely be doing another winter sprint again in the future! I now know what to expect and hope to be even more prepared for next time! AROO!