Big Results Require Big Ambitions | 2018 Race to $1 Million | Spartan Race

pristine and rugged these are the jagged peaks and tranquil hills of North Lake Tahoe California what once played host to the 1960 Winter Olympic Games has been transformed into a proving ground for some and a battlefield for the top echelon of the sport for founder and CEO Joe de Sena the Spartan world championships is a dream realized having witnessed firsthand the rapid growth in participation and athleticism that defines the event today we started in Vermont we barely had one country involved so it's pretty amazing that this thing has just taken over the world [Applause] early there's World Championship was Killington Vermont he was in our backyard it was ice cold water and it was mountains it was Dafa I remember wondering if the elite athletes were gonna make it to the finish that we had Olympians coming out quitting collapsing and crying it was just the way I wanted it but it didn't have that global feel yet we've come a long way and every year just somehow seems to get even better but no championships is unique in that it's the biggest international event on the calendar it's one of the longest-running at sea a seven-year four in Tahoe the spectator numbers are increasing the participation numbers a cap so you can only be 10,000 athletes it's one place at one time of the year where everything comes together for nearly a decade the world's greatest athletes have gathered with a belief that you can never underestimate the heart of a champion and although only a few have etched their names in the OCR history books every Spartan that sets foot on a world championship course knows that the journey is the real reward you know coming a Spartan Race Road champs that this is the most anticipated the biggest race of the season this is a race that matters races like this are so important because they really allow you to kind of see what you're made of it's like wow those races it produces the most all-around athlete [Applause] take that caveman type fitness if to be fast you have to be strong you have to be flexible adaptable define the limit of human spirit because it's just this monumental task you know that there's amazing athletes chomping at the bit to make their move the competition now is ten times tougher than it was five years ago it's deep there's no room for error whatsoever and people just don't have any weaknesses anymore [Music] there are too many situations in life that are just really easy I think putting yourself in these hard situations where you have to have those moments to have to have those struggles is important you're suffering with a whole community and you kind of get lifted up and showing that it is possible the energy is unlike any race in the world you have literally the best competition in the entire world at this one race you don't realize how hard it is to say on this one day of the year that you're gonna come out and be a hundred percent it's so hard that's what makes a little championships so unique and so special in the guy who comes out is really the best in the world [Music] thirteen miles four thousand feet of elevation gain and thirty-four obstacles with a stage now set all eyes turned to the men and women that will face this arduous beast course right now Spartan founder and CEO Joe de Sena for Joe de Sena a race of this caliber is an opportunity to showcase what many believe to be the world's greatest athletes athletes at the front of the pack a race like this are like no athletes in the world very very stacked this is what you expect paddle championships I think like the adrenaline is so high for this race there is no doubt in my mind obstacle racing will be an Olympic sport we've already had Olympic Committee's come out they've already looked at what we do we know we have the eyeballs we know we have participants there are a lot of sports in the Olympics that are are this big we are this big we will become an Olympic sport no doubt what has changed is obviously the depth of the competition every year it gets better and better my thought was we want to get this in the Olympics we're going to have to continue to make noise to put challenges out there that seem impossible to have tremendous purses on the line that draws Talent so obviously you know what we're gonna put a million dollar purse out there anybody who could win Tahoe Sparta and Iceland they're gonna get a million dollars man or one [Music] Spartan Race World Championships is absolutely brutal this is everything that I've been working toward literally the best competition in the entire world you know you're gonna hurt and you know you're gonna suffer it's sore this is what work so hard for this is what it's about strongest person the strongest mindset and the strongest soul will be the person who's champion this is the world championships this is it this is a sport in which anyone can change everything I'm someone that gets excited anytime we're mentioned in sort of mainstream press the Mac in this week's episode of off steal discourse this week is a doozy I was pleasantly surprised when I saw spark next to the word million dollars no less than a dozen times it's great for OCR as it brings in eyeballs top racers I think they're excited anything that rings that much money and that much attention has got to get somebody super fun is it impossible everyone is asking that question is the most looked forward to race all year you've got to have a perfect day and every year the fields get deeper and deeper then we have this thing in Greece it's a trifecta weekend so Spartan has these three distances short middle long so now you have to do that all in one weekend and then the third piece is Iceland alright I need to repeat that Iceland it's a 24-hour race period do that in Pleasant temperatures would be hard in cold it's really really hard and you've got to do this race after you've already spent yourself all year what are the course conditions gonna be like how many carries are they gonna have to do how many Burberry is gonna have to do all that is up in the air but it is absolutely possible everything is impossible until somebody does it the four-minute mile was impossible same thing with Everest before people do something with regularity it seems impossible thanks so much for watching enjoy they say it always seems impossible until it's done with a cool autumn breeze on their backs Spartans begin to huddle near the start line so as you can see that the racers starting to gather here at Valley far from ancient Greece than the violent Iceland chill whispers silent prayers and the fire in the hearts of thousands begins to swell creating an intensity for what will be the Superbowl of obstacle course racing you dominate the sport quite like obstacle racing power couple Ryan Atkins and Lindsay Webster and although they entered today's race and the race to a million as obvious favorites they remain humbled in the face of their competition and the daunting road ahead to win think it'll come down to who wants it most and who's willing to kind of suffer the most we're about to kick off the Malik feast here at the World Championship competition such a long and hard race takes so much out of you and ever since the word 30 now miles 4200 elevation gain one of the most challenging courses in Spartan history physically you're just trashed and mentally you only really have a couple of those efforts in you every year as the women's field has grown more and more competitive it sort of all come down to how you can do an obstacle half a second faster than somebody else how in your training you can eke out like point five percent that's gonna give you like a little extra edge over your competitors it keeps it really exciting and I think that's how the sport should be here makes you probably the greatest champions at the start line about to commence it's be palpable victory let's go up it is the world championships here at North Lake Tahoe the Liefeld have taken to the course be the first to lead the charge of the steep climb Robert Killian has taken lead already [Music] out of the gates races begin a massive ascent to the top of the mountain whether going toe-to-toe with the elevation obstacles or terrain each World Championship course provides unique challenges and unexpected features guaranteed to keep even the top echelon of the sport out of their comfort zones while battling for the my name is Steve Hammond and I'm course manager the course manager is responsible for the overall layout of the course Tahoe makes a perfect world championship course the venue visually is unbelievable it's epic there's nothing like it you got a close-up and you see the Olympic rings you got this little village feels like a European Hamlet and an obstacle scattered throughout 13 14 miles of course it is the perfect venue for this race whoa championship races we try and make it bigger that more people come in and we want to showcase the sport this year's course that we've gone for at between 13 and 14 miles as 40 to 200 feet of game and that's brutal we've definitely gone heavy on some of the carries [Music] we've gone for a very exciting battle we want to see lead changes we want to see athletes or fighting towards the finish [Applause] you have to kind of semi pace yourself but put yourself up there to win it you got to be effective over obstacles because it's a shorter sharper race there's gonna be windy it's gonna be tough the element should truly make it a world championship of course but what an incredible set in to have an incredible sport now two miles into today's course 2015 world champ Robert Killian leads the elite men from a frigid swim straight into one of the most physically and mentally taxing obstacles at the bucket brigade for Spartans elite men and women the mental demands of the sport are just as taxing as the physical for OCR and Spartans specifically the mental aspect is everything you have to be able to visualize yourself being successful one of the things I was dealing with in the season in 2018 early on I felt this weird anxiety to win races like I felt like everybody was expecting me to do well and I would get to the point where I couldn't sleep I would wake up my heart rate would be like 140 in a dead sleep [Music] [Applause] my mind is getting so amped up and ready for the race that if you like I'm racing even though I'm sleeping a race like this requires a mental game that most people just don't have every step of the way your mind is telling you like this is outrageous my legs are burning my lungs are burning my heart rates up 200 beats per minute I'm cold I'm hungry I'm just think I feel terrible but there's something that just keeps you going to be great at sport you've got to be able to push through the tough times not just in the training but the actual event you're in pain and suffering for a long time this is not a minute long swim this is not a multi minute ski race you've got to be able to redline and not for a minute not for ten minutes but for many hours and everything that can go wrong will go wrong the psychological push you need just to keep going during the race and keep giving it everything for that amount of time especially when there's so many things that putting your way just to make it so hard for you it's not like you just have to put one foot in front of the other and you'll make it to the finish line it's so much different stuff and it's really quite a painful experience [Music] Oh out of the freezing cold lake water spartans elite women begin to feel the effects of both the elements and the obstacles the big question right now with the women approaching the bucket brigade can and the rest of the field stay in step [Music] for Canadian face tanning years of falling short of her world championship title dreams and the ever-increasing level of competition and an additional weight carried for the better part of the year leading up to Tahoe that swim like just destroyed me I just got so so cold I had a bunch of nerves going into this I had left my friends and my family it was so hard it gets more competitive every year and it's the things you need to do to remain at the top are just ridiculous I'm having to take Subway's hours a day to find out like mountain and trails I sleep in an altitude 10 [Music] you're just doing these extreme things because you have to because it's at that level of competition and you don't do those things your sponsors aren't gonna sign you you're not gonna make prize money and then you're gonna have to find a real job ray is there Alisa is there susana coats up over there and Rebecca Hammond from West Virginia is there as well like most sports top tier athletes vary in technique both physical and mental now hot on the heels of face tanning Harvard med student Rebecca Hammond finds herself in a battle with race leaders poised and resolute leading up to this race I was a little bit anxious for the past couple days I was able to kind of like push it down I didn't have my sights set on any place I wasn't thinking about where I wanted to be I was just you know ready to go okay have it looked like she was having a walk in the park at that point we're seen an amazing race as the pack still very tight and Lindsay Webster has worked her way in the first place the defending world champion and now leads the charge but will try to get a good look on the rest of the pack the battle for second third fourth ought to fit it's just interesting to see how many ladies coming into the spear are still going to be in the game and that silhouette with the fantastic background is miss Rebecca happy well I am a full-time medical student right now I am in my final year and so I'm doing elective rotations where I can kind of schedule them how I want we have up to like five to six months to have like flexible so that's been really key like I wouldn't have been able to do this my third year I spent July altitude training then Arizona Colorado and then I came to California so I've been able to spend this past almost month that altitude which has been cool and every seat Lindsey Webster first place followed by Susanna cooks of OVA face setting you know yeah the smiling med student Harvard Rebecca Hammond still in the mix right there with the majestic Peaks of Tahoe as a backdrop the elite women approach a world championship game changer the spear throw after an unforgiving climb to the mountains peak races must now lower their heart rate and focus if they have any hopes of avoiding what is possible so many races victories in the past spear throws before the twister and I was in the top pack of girls then I saw Lindsey makers I saw this on and this hers people were missing their spears Lindsey Webster just gave herself a gigantic lead heading down the mount as Rebecca Hammond stepping up to the spear right now as the ability to steal away second place position and I threw it my spear like hit the hay bale like that down was like that far from the ground like yes are you and just hung on enough to pass and Rebecca him and his mommy down the hill I really was just looking at the ground in front of me and like I'm just on around so now Rebecca Hammond she'll move into second chasing Lindsey Webster in these races I just try and like smile and have a conversation when I'm running practically like I'll like crack jokes I just try and treat it like a run and that helps me focus and when it's when I'm really digging deep because I do you know I dig deep it's it's it's hard this is not easy I just look at the rocks in front of me look around like pay attention to the sounds and just try and be in that moment and that really helps and now the downhill a chance for Lindsey Webster to gain some ground but the question and Rebecca Hammond told her in it's all intimidating I guess but this is such a new sport there's so many moving parts to OCR racing that you just don't know what's gonna happen it's not just about who's the fastest runner who's the strongest so Robert Killian he has started his descent Allen in second and Cody Moe rounding out the top three kin of the rest of the field stay in step seven miles in race leaders begin to separate from the hungry head behind them for army captain Robert Killian currently sitting in first place today marks his third attempt at recapturing the title he claimed in 2015 when he shocked the obstacle course racing world as a relative unknown when I want Spartan restore championships in 2015 I kind of took it for granted a little bit I was like oh I can come back out you know the next year and just continue to do this he's coming right now into the EEPROM Carbonite I think the past two years are really painted the picture of how hard it is [Music] Barn World Championships is probably one of the hardest endeavors out there you're basically just playing a game before you're flipping cards and eventually you're gonna have a stronger card than the other person you slowly build yourself up or you slowly fall back in the pack so this is where that grip strength and efficiency that he just used on the Tyrolean Traverse comes in I kind of use the water to clean everything off unfortunately that material wasn't absorbing the water like I thought it would so I still had wet hands when I got to the tire now answers away because they just came in on a hanger they're gonna have to use what's called a pinch grip which is a different technique overlapping your hands on the backside to tire so I struggle a little bit on the side that was not facing the Sun tried to get it again couldn't quite get it so I went down and looked for another couple tires just wasting time and I'm like just pick a tire commit to it here's the page and he's got I finally you know I just grabbed one my hands were dry and it came up like no problem killing me no rookie mistake after the anger he put his hands in the water the mountains the carries the incredibly talented athletes tear down the mind it tears down the body it tears down the soul it's just gonna end up playing out how it plays out if you're doing this John Abbott he kept his hands up he kept my strongest person the strongest mindset and the strongest soul will be the person who's champion just with that you saw Albert closed that gap and it's one obstacle that can tip the scales that quickly our 26 minutes on the clock here at the world championships as they approach the tail and just a handful of features left for the men to go the gap closing with Killian the rest of the pack I saw Robbie kid in just ahead of me on the field okay I think I might try and go a bit faster did that for me about ten times until I actually caught it Jonathan is taken to mean industries robbery Killian for the first time in second place Albin had a little bit left in the tank when he got to the very top we were side by side Atkins went right by me and I knew at that point I had to try to turn it on and hang with those guys on the final descent Joan Allen would be on that climb that we did not expect well Albert starting to make his track down to the bottom of here Valley you talk about the downhill abilities of Albin a lot of the fastest but the real story is Brian Atkins and how fast he can run we started sprinting at about 4:40 a mile pace and I was able to hang back maybe 400 meters and then I don't know what pace they were running but they just left me here he's a John Alvin just hammering down this single track coming down towards the Avenger really the downhill I started got really hard and looking back it was leaving it wasn't even Robert behind me it was right and I know Reich and descend like hell and he'll push himself all bourbon is I had to go really hard right up until the finish markets right now it's like a bowling ball coming down the mound flying after it an elven in a world championship title [Music] John jumped off old this is the last one this has to be textbook perfect I think there's too much other stuff going on to get nervous in the final stages race like that you're just fully focused and trying to push out every bit of energy you have no mistakes could happen at this point that kids just behind him watch every single grab at this point it has to be flawless [Applause] album to fill act it's breeded at this point he's down [Applause] official Jonathan Alvin across the unbelievable finish packets making his way across the bulge earache gorgeous defender what a finish Robert Killian absolutely row agrees in the moment we have [Music] is the first person every single world he earned it today it wasn't a win good racing pasta [Applause] [Music] valiant effort he grabs third place [Music] what a league of legends there with the elite men's race decided all eyes turn to the elite women as Canadian superstar in 2017 world champ Lindsay Webster has stolen the lead unbelievable back and forth on the women's elite as Lindsay Webster faced steady lead the charge on the women's side I moved into the lead essentially at the spear and twister Lindsay Bader's beautiful throw high basically half the girls failed their spear and then the other half of the girls field their twisters Susanna has missed it faced miss low as well and so all of sudden they're second in position where I was just running by myself so dizzy Webster as she works her way into the festival village here at the bases wah Valley I kept telling myself you know you've gotten this lots of times before so just hold on tight yes you kind of threw a wrinkle in my plants because I never expected to be running alone I assumed I would be in a pack right up until last I see westerns just clearing that the a banger you can see trying to shake it out and she continues on record if you're not both mentally and physically prepared for it it can be totally miserable Lindsay Webster right now is overcoming the obstacle is has a tremendous climb she has not gunned down her knees yet they got one point I did spot her back Hammond Rebecca Abbott a huge threat still ahead of 40 of his race I've raced with Rebecca once before I know that she's a really smart racer and I know she's pretty good downhill runner and I know that Suzanne is better downhill rather than me so at one point I was running to trying not to fry my legs but still around really fast the defending world champion charging her way down this mountain and I did look back and I could see her back there Rebecca Hammond its second place [Music] so I assumed that they were closing the gap eating but now Rebecca Abbott is coming down to the last dead lobster go anything can change during an obstacle race at any point in time [Music] [Applause] we're the defending world champion she is how the 2000 there she is Lindsay Webster [Music] [Applause] today fitzy Webster was a story means a lot to me like when I hear that people think I'm a most consistent race or both home title to me what makes a really good racer is [Music] Rebecca Hammond now is it a to be reckoned with [Music] heaven second place here at the World Championships you see a lot of athletes who some races there on the podium other races they are to the top 15 or 20 Vova even third if you're able to consistently make up that just goes to show the here like really strong athlete Susana Bobo a two-time champion with Lindsay Webster now the it's finished on the podium in all former World Championship in Syria people tell me that they think you know I'm and I'm the most consistent invested in the world I mean that that's huge so it is official our top three finishers on the women's elite field Lindsay rubs world champion [Music] Jonathan Albin gray prick who is now again joins a group of two times Spartan world champions there's not too many of them just shows his other dominance commitment to staying fit and just being is it okay if we just call him Sir John at this point is a two-time world champion he's been knighted with that medal around his neck and at first place Spartans back and just as importantly a really really big check that he gets to take home it meant a lot to win my second more championships it was a bit of a monkey on my shoulder to have won the SPAWAR champs back in 2014 and then a lot of people did say I got lucky no one knew there was no just turned out and somehow managed to win to finally actually manage to win and the entire where it's at altitude is pretty satisfying [Music] now this leads into my next door it's time on the World Championship it should be hopefully now looking a trip to Greece for the trifecta World Championship and true Sparta and then there's able to win that will it go to Iceland and nail that hundred miles that would win a million dollars pledged by Georgia Senate the first time I really read about the Spartan million-dollar challenge wisdeth on well I've got no idea to how to feel about that but the first thing was you had to win the spot more championships I knew that was gonna be the hardest thing for me to do a year anyway so there wasn't really much point in dwelling on the million dollar challenge until I'd won the small more championships and to be honest I thought that was pretty unlikely so I surprised myself day in the fact that I won and then actually realized that maybe there's a chance that I can go on to win a million others obstacle racing seasons are quite long other sports will have four month three seasons but obstacle race day we started in February and we're not done until November so I just knew that it wasn't gonna be a realistic goal for me I was ready for a break so I made the decision not to go after it once I won entire I actually didn't want to think about the million-dollar challenge whatsoever I didn't want anyone to mention it to me I just wanted to enjoy the fact that I'd actually won this race it wasn't long until I started thinking about the fact that you only live once I'm the only one that came going to do this challenge so why not give it a crack welcome to conference of 7,000 miles from the jagged peaks of Tahoe California sits the city of Sparta Greece for John Alban to win a million-dollar prize purse he will have to be the overall points champion across all three events this weekend only then and he set his sights on Iceland and the 100-mile Spartan ultra world championship race for Spartan founder and CEO Joe de Sena what started as a seemingly impossible athletic challenge to raise awareness for the sport has quickly become possible and now he must come to terms with the fact that John Aldens historical accomplishment will cost him 1 million dollars when I saw how fast John Alban ran Tahoe somebody actually can do this somebody actually could win this million dollars can he win Sparta so in Sparta we had to do a try fact the editors sprint a super and a beat so I quickly put phone calls out there and said send us the best athletes in the world to go up against John because we've got to stop him [Music] [Applause] I'd be lying if I didn't say that my main motivator was the money because I'd already raced a lot in 2018 and I've already been quite successful and I was kind of feeling like my body was ready for an offseason like try and take quite seriously in fact I want to be racing for many years I don't want to really push my way too far but a million dollars I mean that is pretty much a life-changing amount of money and it's hard to even think that it would mean that I can pay off my house loans I've helped my wife's to debts we can live a bit surreal in the fact that we know a lot more attention there is pressure and people expect me to win and if I do get beaten is almost surprising and I don't want that to happen to be honest when I when I went to Sparta I expected to win so it's a walking start from her from there are we starting there someone I thought it was it suited me a lot more and theatres racing against has a lot more confident that I could beat them obviously I had to perform over weekend but I figured I could do look at this here we go join Albert to put on the accelerator I'm out on the course and he loses the first race and I think to myself home run you're not gonna win [Music] super first and then the sprint I managed to beat myself up with two separate fours it was incredible when John took that spill it looks very quick but the damage was done very quickly as well we were worried that he played the obstacles he managed to hold off now and battle and then of course he made a big big statement yesterday afternoon and came back in first this is a statement I am UK's John Albert he's going home he is not leaving Shanghai is really the screen that's for sure there's spot traffic to watch I mean it was just like any other words you turn up you do your thing this is history in the making and it's also just so entertaining to watch an athlete of disability navigating such difficult obstacles with such ease I think you're not gonna win and then somehow pulls out two wins and he wins the weekend and so he's still in the running now for the million not only in the running but it looks like he's actually gonna do this John Albert ladies and gentlemen crossing the bar jump Smits around through the finish time he is the spa trifecta world champion of 2018 it wasn't so much a surprise when I walked away having won but then it opened more doors to continuing with the challenge so there's a little bit daunting it's nice that I've managed to stay ahead of that curve and continue winning to go back and win at traffic to whatever chips that boosts my confidence quite a lot but I knew the next race to come was gonna be a completely different challenge way different to any other race I've done during that year and way different about any Spartan races [Music] [Applause] [Music] John Alvin one of the greatest obstacle racers in the world this guy stuff to be it's like a chess player he's a really smart guy he that never shows all his cards don't always know what's going on in there his head watch them come up through the ranks and for whatever reason this is the year where he's putting the hammer down I think actually to be honest my first running event was an obstacle race so it's actually how I got into training and being an athlete I think I really gravitated towards I really like the type of fitness it's not just running it's not just strength it's really it's all around type of fitness which is it's really fun to train for and also it's kind of how I want my body to be my season was split into two it's the racing season the training season in the winters when I'm training most and racing least I do a lot of skiing a lot of cross-training and then in the summer it's a lot more running training a lot more specific training for the event so we're doing for some reason I've just naturally been ok at running or a good runner and then I've had enough strength to be able to do the obstacles you know an obstacle racing for a little while now so I've grown with the sport so as the sports got harder and more competitive for me the sports developed I've developed as an athlete and I've tried to stay ahead of that curve I'm a full-time athlete I've got a part-time job apart from that I'm training pretty much every day my season is split into two you sky running and obstacle racing sky racing is like a really extreme form of mountain running this is like big wild mountain go up to the top and go down again normally or you can have places where you forward off diet scrambling running biking like a whole combination so it's a really really fun form of racing a man die running is a really good preparation for their spawn World Championships [Applause] I think over the last years I've become more and more competitive as people expect me to win more and I want to keep winning whereas back when I started racing I was actually just doing it because I enjoyed training and I enjoyed the races and I just wanted to push myself as hard as I could go I think I'm also a little bit better just because I don't want other people to win it's not so much that I want to win I just don't want them to win big results require big ambitions few know the challenges of the Spartan ultra beast as well as 2015 world champion Robert Kelly although he has decided to sit out this year's ultra Championships he is well aware of the daunting task at hand what you're essentially doing is two laps of the beasts race and they also in addition to that add some extra mileage a lot of people really love doing you know these endurance challenges it's one thing to go out there and do a really fast lap which there's so much more that goes into an ultra preparation wise mentally and they're just ruling you as if a 100 mile trek into the unknown and the potential life-changing prize purse of $1,000,000 weren't a heavy enough load to bear Joan Alban arrives in Iceland Warren from the physical and mentally taxing championship season and the unexpected qualifying event needed to compete in this final race of the Year last weekend I took a quick trip to Malaysia to qualify to race in US this event so I wasn't officially qualified in order to do so I had to complete a spawn ultra race in the last year I think so I chose the races one weekend before this one's almost too bit like it's raining give me weed like running it up like shouting I think it'd be really fun actually I've never done the race down here so you're pretty cool those are really excited picking people and just sort of absorb the atmosphere and fun [Music] I don't think many races were planned to do an ultra a weekend before ultra water championship [Music] to go to Malaysia and be practically in a jungle and do a lot of sweating as made by around there 55 chromatin about race course the weekend before I think I knew that the iceland's were to be dealing with ice snow and - degrees 24 hours it was kind of a big shock to the body so I'm here in Iceland and I'm getting ready to run my final rest of the year they spawn Ultra World Championships the 24-hour race I had to think between 14 and 15 laps you get the hundred miles and if I won and ran 100 miles then the million dollars would be like I'm really looking forward to just being done I mean psychologically I've raced so much this year and I'm just ready done I think running any 24 hours takes an extreme that a physical one energy as well as that mental it's really psychological so just to keep moving for the amount of time also keep moving at a pace fast enough to do $100 it's gonna be a pretty PD ask me I know I've done events like this before but different terrain different obstacles different time of year different weather I mean there's a lot of unknowns out there and I'm just gonna have to take it one lap at the time being prepared for the the unexpected is good the entire race is just a big string of unexpected events you just deal with them as they come whereas if you've got a game plan and you turn up and you've got an idea with how you think the race is going to go it's not going to turn out that way and 90% of the time things go completely I will just grace and you just got to deal with the outcomes I think I've kind of almost managed to put the medium builders out of mind by now a lot of people have been asking me questions about it but I still can't really fathom that amount of money so I'm just going to go into the race it's a very long race I think it's going to take a lot of energy and a lot of concentration so concentrate on on that and see how it goes with Tahoe and Sparta now etched in the history books John must do his best to remain calm and resolute as he prepares to attempt what many consider impossible two qualities shared with a man guaranteed to give John a run for his money as he's done in countless races in the past OCR superstar Ryan Adkins every shot a fair bit he's a great runner especially on this time screen a lot of talk about 100 miles I think what anyone can easily expect from themselves is just put down the best performance that they can on that date and so that's what I'm looking for an epic venue that we have here in the course is that it's a 6.5 miles and crazy terrain there you go everything on the mandatory kidness that's kind of an important thing you're still in all gloves to use but anything anyone goes to be on it be fun to see on the first lap who's but their choice right so the terrain is probably the biggest obstacle in itself and they'll be running over rocks if we run arrow so these past four rivers but it's unrelenting and Stalin they get a big mix of different emotions you have this feeling that you're about to ask your body to do something exceptionally painful it's almost in two different harsh you got there sort of mountainside and then you go central so on the mountain there's a long couple of mile section where they're going to be up and in in amongst the the mountainous terrain which is we are waist-deep snow yesterday that's kind of to solid a to be a super brain last night and and it froze you're almost sorry if your body that you're about to put it through what you're about to put it through so you know you're probably in a really good shape and your body's in a good place and you're ready to race but in 24 hours time it's gonna be completely the opposite so you're gonna swim from being completely healthy and fit to being completely broken the conditions are pretty horrendous but which makes it rubbery my entire career if you will ever since I started running everything has come together what I've done how I started training and moved to Norway and all these sort of like pieces seem to be coming together to really suit a race like this even how this year worked out that randomly I managed to get myself in this situation to be here and being the chance of doing it if fate is a theme hopefully it steam me up for a good result this weekend Oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] the hardest part of any race for me is normally first half because that's when I'm breaking my body down which is something to read out like doing I like to I like to be strong I like to be healthier when you'd like to destroy it completely once I've actually broken my body down it's not as bad anymore because then you just continue going anyway and you're tired you're tired but there will definitely be really dark points in the race when I just think kind of I've got enough energy left I really want to stop is really miserable and hopefully I've got the strength just pushed through those and think about just take the next step against it so it was cool and knowing that many people have been in a much worse situation ground conditions in iceland's were some of the toughest to run on to be honest it was a mixture of frozen and snowy mountain side and then coming down to kind of wet boggy grass it takes a lot of energy to run on it and it's really tough your ankle was no your little muscle so it's actually some of the toughest terrain I think you can run a race like that all this is trained I'm more comfortable more familiar with than these really hard rocky played trails but can take more energy to run I think it's a little bit kinder to you because there's a little bit softer on the foot but then over 24 hours you're gonna get pretty pounded just three hours into the 100-mile journey Joe de Sena becomes increasingly concerned as the seemingly impossible task continues to seem more and more likely with John Alban on pace [Music] two hours and 45 minutes to transition burpees start dropping so it's gonna be tight but it's doable yeah you got to assume knowing him knowing him first lap he went easy yeah right I wonder if Atkins is gonna pick up the pace did you need coffee or anything Brian you want coffee with what was once an impossible prize purse Joe must rely on the one man who can stop John his longtime rival Ryan Atkins Ryan's an incredibly strong athlete who looks kind of bulky and heavy and you can run incredibly fast so whereas I'm a slightly stronger runner maybe Ryan's a slightly stronger athlete so sometimes the courses can read just decide which of us is gonna have a better day I think me and Ryan are just two athletes which seemed most naturally suited to obstacle racing and we we are just pushing a little bit harder than a lot the other athletes maybe but we're also to the ethics which training a completely different way to the other athletes I don't think either of us trained specifically for Spartan racing we're both a little bit more all-around athlete respect to get out and just go out and train in nature and do rock climbing and mountain running and that generally prepares us for the unknown I think Ryan's definitely helped up the up the competitiveness of obstacle restaurants barn racing because he's he is definitely competitive guy and he wants to win and he wants to make himself into a better athlete and that just generally makes everyone raised raise their game I like races that are hard I like having moments in a race when I kind of have to like look inside myself and say this is so hard and soul crushing and then to have that kind of internal struggle and like overcome it and then to keep racing and keep performing at your best I find that's when you have the most meaningful like growth forty-two point two miles into the race John begins to fade Sunday mornings 3 a.m. and the leaves have been on course for about 1415 hours while I'm at Lake first half of the course the professor thought the conditions got super I sees that the course has slowed down at least seven more mountains we've still got a long way to go and I think there are a lot of bad things can happen [Music] downhill but more and more dangerous it started off with a little bit of snow so you could kind of ride down at quite a speed and then when we came down a little bit lowers a really frozen ground made it really slick and really really slippery so to come down that mountain even in daylight there's kind of dangerous and then to think that you've been you know expected to have been running for many many hours and then fry down there at night there's this pretty tough then all the boggy sections as well they they started off kind of boggy but then by the time people run on them so much they turn to be really bogging Rudy wet and getting continually wet muddy feet during a challenge at this over 24 hours it's really really tough on your feet the longer the race the more things that will go wrong physically you're just trashed for days or weeks afterwards and I think mentally you only really have a couple of those efforts like in you every year and so yeah kind of really be smart about what you're gonna use them and expend that mental strength I just totally got more and more tired really didn't nail my nutrition after about nine or ten hours so my energy level started to go Rudy down instead of trying to like take a little break or manage it I just stopped because by that point I wasn't going to make the million dollars and that was my main reason for being there so I kind of lost my motivation to bother to keep going I mean maybe I would have pushed on further if I was on pace I would have hit my energy high and stuff I wasn't gonna make the million or the hundred miles and I always said like before I started I'm hoping to make the Andreea for about 24 hours and I go off ice I tried a second place as long as possible but they trade three laps on ice properly and then after that so yeah I'm happy it's been a really good year firebug to stop then also it's pretty miserable they've got love's not a cougar for anyone stood out the edges have buried it is tougher than like Tahoe ultrabass tougher than a bunny the Malaysian trapeze rhymers I guess tougher than any old trees either yeah yeah Jon Albion I'm 40 guys and six laps in decided to and so no more million dollars but the hundred thousand instead of Brian Atkins he is out there actually ossetra spoke to him and he's doing amazing [Music] how is he doing good he's alright after a record-breaking eighty two point two miles Lian Atkins decides his body can last no longer with a deep breath of the cold Icelandic air he crosses the finish line one last time and is greeted with a hero's welcome 20 hours of pushing and pushing and pushing just like collapse was it a harder [Music] it felt kind of strange actually to be done once I finally stopped in Iceland because it's been a two-month journey since I'm on this farm World Championships kind of massive weight nipped off my shoulders I feel part of myself to get as far as I did within the challenge [Music] [Applause] I think I certainly learned that I can do it a lot more racing and I feel so much more than any or group even conceived possible [Music] I think which is really important because people love to try and find their boundaries and this is kind of one of the ultimate ways they can do that to see how far they can push themselves is great people don't really have it that tough in their lives anymore so they kind of need a reason to go out push ourselves I push myself to find my limits like anyone else but then also I just know that maybe I can do a little bit more than other human beings so it's kind of nice to really try and find where that limit [Music] so John you can't blame us all right three championships in a short period of time his body was exhausted but I can prove I believed that it was possible [Music] I think if we want to get this in the Olympics we're going to have to continue to make noise to put challenges out there that seem impossible to break records so have tremendous curses that draws talent that draws interest I think we have to do this [Music] you know they tell me running 100 miles in Iceland winning three World Championship is not possible but we know it's possible and it will happen [Music] [Applause] you [Music]

Channel: Spartan Race

Views: 32,913

Rating: 4.8627968 out of 5

Keywords: Spartan Race, Spartan, OCR, Obstacle Course Racing, Spartan UP, Spartan Ultra, Spartan Beast, Spartan Sprint, Spartan Stadion, Spartan Trail, Spartan Kids, Spartan Trifecta, Trifecta, Trifecta Tribe, Ryan Atkins, Lindsey Webster, AROO, OCR Videos, Spartan Race Promo, Spartan World Champion, Spartan World Championship, Robert Killian, Nicole Mericle, Trail Running, Obstacle Course, Spartan Pro, Spartan Pro Racer, Steve Hammond

Id: 7USJkeFjfzU

Length: 63min 34sec (3814 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 14 2019