Millions of competitors know Spartan from its popular obstacle course races (OCRs). It stages the run-and-maneuver events in more than 40 countries around the world.
Last month, the company announced a pivot toward trails. A dozen trail-running events will take place in 2019, including one July 14 at Fort Carson (south of Colorado Springs).
The Spartan Trail Races correspond with existing OCR race locations. In addition to the July 13-14 weekend at Fort Carson, they will be held in Washington, California, Texas, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia and New Jersey.
They come in two distances: 10km and 21km. And, in Spartan fashion, courses will be technical, rugged singletrack trails with natural obstacles like river crossings and log hops.
Male and female athletes from ages 14 to 60-plus can compete in races divided by group.
Some have suggested Spartan is branching into this new area because the sport of OCR is on a decline. Meanwhile, the activity of trail running is in growth mode, nearly doubling in participation in the past few years.
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Joe De Sena, Spartan founder and CEO, said in a news release that “the ancient Spartans were known to run on the mountainous trails of Sparta, so it’s a natural extension of our brand.”
Ready to tow the ancient line? See race descriptions and a lineup of the events at Spartan.com/trail. (There is another Colorado event scheduled for Aug. 17, but the location remains TBA).
Stephen Regenold writes about outdoors gear at http://www.gearjunkie.com.