OCD FOR OCR

Just say the word “Killington” to anyone familiar with Spartan Race and you will get a reaction. If you’re reading this article or visiting this website, I doubt the venue really needs any introduction. But just in case you’re one of my supportive friends who doesn’t do or follow obstacle course racing, but just came here to see what I’ve been up to, be assured, it is the original Spartan Beast (I believe the ski resort’s nickname “Beast of the East is the namesake for the distance) and it remains to date the gold standard upon which all other Beast courses are compared. Its “Death March” is the longest and steepest single continuous ascent of any one race that I do regularly, and it provides a great mix of steep ascents and technical trail running that is everything I crave from the Spartan Race promotion.

• Registration and Festival:

Check-in and packet pickup were, in characteristic Spartan Race fashion, an uneventful step that happened in real time. From there, we were ushered through the merchandise tent before coming upon the festival. The weather was beautiful on Sunday, so I saw plenty of friends and family standing around waiting for their loved ones to finish. Several vendors were on hand, not just the main sponsors like Darn Tough socks and the US Air Force Special Ops, but a couple specific to this venue as well.

In addition to my finisher beer (served in the main bar of the ski lodge with plastic wisely covering all the seats and stools), Athletic Brewing Company was on hand giving free cans of their non-alcoholic brews (which were surprisingly good and convincing for NA). I didn’t see a lot of athletes hanging out, but that’s a function of a longer race coupled with Sunday numbers being smaller than Saturday for sure.

• Pre-race MC:

In prior Spartan recaps, such as my reviews of Tuxedo and West Point, I mentioned the great energy Justin T. Manning brought to the festival area. I was wondering how he might do as a start line emcee.  At this race, I got my wish and he was fantastic, really breathing life into a standard script and providing just the right mix of his own character and liveliness working the crowd in the corral. He really got me in a mood that I forgot about my own pre-race jitters.

• The Course:

In the week leading up to the weekend, rumors were circulated on social media that the former designer of this course, Norm Koch, was spotted at the build. Those perpetuating the rumors were intentionally coy about his exact role, whether he had returned as a course designer, whether he was assisting and the nature of his assistance. I am still not sure what he was doing there (assuming he really was at all), but I do know the course director was Missy Morris and she truly held nothing back this time around.

The consensus among all I’ve talked to, is that this was the most challenging Killington Beast course in years and I for one can see why. While I was not subject to the inclement weather conditions as Saturday racers were, I swear the main “Death March” was steeper than ever, especially at the very end. There was plenty of technical running in the woods (which helped me keep my mind in the game, I love that stuff!) and the full Beast lineup of obstacles were there including the Beast Mode Stairway to Sparta, as well as others not usually found on shorter courses such as the Box (which I finally figured out how to get my 5’6” frame over) and Beater (I do not find the beaters themselves that difficult but I’m thankful for the techniques learned at Syracuse Ninja Barracks that help me reach far apart monkey bars despite short arms).

On Stairway, it seemed to me like the rock-climbing holds were higher and further apart than they were at the New Jersey Beast, but I found a strategy that worked and got up there just the same. My failed obstacles included the Yokohama Tire (men’s tire is double the women’s, I say let’s up the weight for the ladies by about 30 to 50 pct 🙂 ) and the Killington exclusive, swim to Tarzan swing under the bridge (wet grip is always the hardest, so I can sympathize with those who ran in the rain Saturday, at least on that one).

All told, the mix of obstacles complimented the tough terrain and it was Spartan Race at its best. I may have suffered as I should, but I truly enjoyed the challenge and it was overall the most fun I have had doing a Beast to date. My only disappointment was that the vertical cargo and the multi rig were on their easier Sprint incarnations, due to a Sprint being offered at the same time on the same course.  And then there was the piece du resistance, the sandbag carry placed shortly after one last unexpected steep climb that came after passing a 14-mile marker. I was feeling like I could take on the world all race until I went through that slop trudging uphill through ankle deep mud, then seeing the Sprint athletes getting to turn around before it got even steeper and I had a good 100m or more to go before I could also descend. 

I should also note that on Saturday the Ultra racers were treated to not only two loops of what was about a 14 to 15-mile course, but also had one extra spur to do on the first lap that included an extra sandbag carry. This made the Ultra course, even longer than last year’s record setting length course.  Couple that with miserable, slick weather conditions and you had one of the lowest success rates ever for an Ultra. I personally know more who came up short than those who garnered the coveted belt buckle this time around. I originally planned to take part in the Ultra and was disappointed that I could not arrive at Killington until Saturday evening, thus thwarting my plans for a chance to repeat my earning a buckle here last year. Maybe it was a blessing that I had to “settle” for just the Beast. Big props to anyone who gave that 2019 Ultra a good faith attempt, regardless of the end result!

• The Bling:

This was part of the US Mountain Series so we got a Beast version of the great medals I got for my efforts at Palmerton, so I now have a pure Mountain Series Trifecta. This was also the day I hit my second Trifecta for the year, so I was able to claim the respective 2x medal for that as well. The finisher shirt was the standard Beast shirt for this year. I’m not so nuts about the material, but the design isn’t bad and I appreciate the gesture of a free t-shirt with finishing the race.

• Overall Feelings and Event Rating:

The course was nearly Spartan Race perfection. Beautiful vistas of the Vermont mountains earned only by surviving the Death March, technical trail running, challenging carries and obstacles that made me think about how I was going to get over them making up for my physical shortcomings. I felt like I was on my A game, getting my fastest Killington Beast time by over 90 minutes, coming in 5th in my Age Group and likely squaring away all of my desired championship qualifications for the coming year.  More importantly Spartan’s team led by Missy Morris brought their A game in putting together their flagship Beast course for us.  Five out of Five Stars.

Article Written by: Brian Kellogg, OCR Aficionado.