Sprint to Race: FitFam Takes Over World-Famous Spartan Challenge in Shanghai
A few months ago on May 21st 2017, 50+ FitFam hopefuls participated in the Spartan Sprint at Sunland Greenland in deep Pudong. Presented by the Spartan Race Inc. organisers. There were over 5000+ participants completing 23 Obstacles with a distance of 6.4km. Obviously FitFam smashed it out of the park having 6 of the FitFamily finishing top 10 in the male/ female/ open categories. The participants built up their strength, fitness and endurance with FitFam workouts and combined it with skills sessions with Habi at Torque Wellness.
Our WeChat Moments feed was flooded with all our heroes posting their results and muddy faced pics. Our top 10 Finishing Superstars were:
Male Category:
#1 Yann 37mins
#4 Papa Yann 41mins
#9 Igor 45mins
#10 Jordan 45 mins
Female Category:
#1 Veronika 54mins
#2 Katie 57mins
We asked them about the experience:
Did you think you would finish top 10? Where you happy with your time?
Papa Yann #4: It was my first Spartan Race, I didn't really think about the ranking before the race. I'm happy with my time with some regrets due to my inexperience. I'm not happy because I'm behind the other Yann.
Katie #2: No way! I hadn't done any running in 2 months and I thought I was super slow, haha. I was really surprised with my time - 10 minutes faster than last year!
Jordan #10: I knew almost nothing about the race when I arrived, beyond seeing some photos on the Spartan website, so I had no expectations about results. My only goal was to try to keep up with Igor. I was very happy with the results because I had fallen behind at the beginning and did not expect to catch-up with the other FitFam racers.
What was your favorite obstacle?
Igor #9: I was pleasantly surprised to nail the spear toss but I must say the water barrier that you had to submerge under was refreshing as we neared the end of the race.
Katie #2: My favorite obstacle were the rings. I had been practicing them a lot at Torque with Habi so I was very excited to have accomplished that obstacle.
Yann #1: Definitely the sand bag rope lifting (Hercule Hoist). At first, when I tried to lift it up, I realized that the bag was really heavy and located almost at the end of the race. What an achievement for me when I saw the bag touching the top of the rack?!
What was your least favorite obstacle?
Papa Yann #4: Hercules hoist, I'm too light for this obstacle, it's impossible with my weight.
Katie #2: Mt. Olympus which is a horizontal traverse was really difficult. I didn't prepare well for that one.
Veronika #1: Hercules Hoist
How many burpees did you do?
Veronika #1: 150
Jordan #10: 45-50 out of 60
Yann BF: 60 (failed at javelin and monkey bars)
Would you participate in the Spartan Race again?
Papa Yann #4: For sure, but longer distances, I hope one Spartan Beast and Spartan Ultra Beast distance in 2017 (in Europe)
Igor #9: Definitely got my sights set on that Super in Beijing now
Veronika #1: Yes, I would like to do longer distance next time.
Yann #1: Hell yes. I plan to do Beijing and Qingdao Sprint and Super version.
Don’t you wish this was you?
Join us again on 24th September 2017 we are putting together another group of FitFam Spartans to participate in the Reebok Spartan Super in Beijing. This course is 13km and 25 obstacles. However, this is not for the faint hearted, it’s a longer distance with more obstacles. The Super will test your endurance, perseverance, strength and grit through more rugged terrain. It is a demanding race and competing requires performance level training, but anyone can go have fun get muddy and do burpees.
Please check out the website, watch some videos online… and if you are determined to train and join us scan the QR code below for more information!