spartan | Adventures with Ashley

Palmerton Spartan Super and Hurricane Heat

May 9, 2018 Ashley Barlow Comments 9 comments

The infamous Palmerton Super, located on the Blue Mountain Ski Resort in Palmerton, Pennsylvania! I ran this race last year and really enjoyed the difficult terrain of the course so it was good to be back! The Palmerton Spartan Super is an 8+ miles and 32+ obstacles course located right on the black diamond ski slopes of Blue Mountain! This race took place July 8-9th and is definitely one of the harder Spartan Super courses around! This race sold out pretty quick and I signed up to compete in…

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Charlotte Spartan Sprint

December 5, 2017 Ashley Barlow Comments 0 Comment

The Charlotte Spartan Sprint, by far one of the muddiest Spartans I’ve ever done! I had never raced in Charlotte before and I heard this was a runners course so I just had to do it! This race took place just outside of Charlotte at Porter Farms in Concord, North Carolina. It was quite the drive down there and took around 6 hours from Northern Virginia! My friends and I rented an Airbnb place for the weekend. This was my…

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Greek Peak Winter Spartan Sprint

March 14, 2017 Ashley Barlow Comments 7 comments

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…

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DC Spartan Sprint

September 9, 2016 Ashley Barlow Comments 1 comment

Oh Spartan, I have fallen in love with obstacle course racing and have become quite addicted! This was my second year doing the DC Spartan Sprint and my first time ever competing in the competitive division. The DC Spartan Sprint is a 4+ miles run with 24 different obstacles. This year’s event came out for 2 days instead of just the one day compared to last year. Pictured below is a map of the course. I decided to volunteer the…

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Pennsylvania Spartan Super

August 9, 2016 Ashley Barlow Comments 12 comments

Oh Spartan, one of my favorite obstacle course races around. This was probably the first race I seriously considered skipping (yes, you heard me right). Now I am not one to quit, but please believe me when I say I felt like I was dying from the plague just the week prior. I had just returned from Costa Rica and my body had completely shut down. The amount of hiking, running and waterfall chasing throughout the entire country was finally…

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Virginia Spartan Super

September 26, 2015 Ashley Barlow Comments 3 comments

Oh man and I thought the DC Spartan Sprint was bad! Boy was I in for a treat. “The Ultimate Goal is to really peel their muscles back like an onion,” said Jim Snyder, Director of the Reebok Spartan Race. He also calls it the Wintergreen Death March. I could not have said it any better myself. This was my toughest race yet and never have I been happier to see the finish line. The Virginia Spartan Super was located at the…

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DC Spartan Sprint

August 23, 2015 Ashley Barlow Comments 6 comments

The infamous Spartan race! Oh boy where do I even begin!? One of the toughest racest I have ever done! Mudderella was a joke compared to this race!! Those who have never done a Spartan race will never truly understand how hard they actually are until you actually complete one. Spartan is not only a big challenge physically, but mentally as well. To get a better idea of the race here is this year’s video of the DC Spartan Sprint. For…

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