Spartan Race - Beast Distance

Yesterday I competed in my first Spartan Race of 2019, it is the Beast distance which is 21km and 30 obstacles. Most of the course was going up or coming down a mountain.

I awoke at 4h42, ate a bit, then drove and got there at 6h50. Parking was quick and easy this time as there are fewer Beast competitors then there are Sprint ones. It actually turned out that I got to park three cars away from the entrance to the start/finish site, so that made it really easy for me to leave any items I had with me in the car.

I watched a few of the ultra and elite racers depart, and then my departure was at 8h30. I would say about the first hour was to ascend the mountain, with just one or two obstacles. It was pretty grueling to start this way, but I was still feeling pretty good by the time I got to the top to begin the descent back to the bottom. By about the half way point, though, I really started to wane, and had to take numerous breaks to recoup my energy.

In past Spartan Races there was only one obstacle that I would have trouble with, the Spear Throw. This time was no different, I did not get the spear to stick. In past Spartan races I also managed to get through 'The Rig', but this one I failed yesterday also. Finally, the sand bag carry I just skipped altogether; it was in the second half of the course and I just didn't have it in me to attempt/complete this obstacle.

Here is an example of a Rig video, though the one I did did not have that easier bar at the end of it.
https://youtu.be/8ad3tk-VuxU

It is mentioned in the Spartan Race info site that the Beast Rig setup is more difficult than the Super, which is more difficult than the Sprint, so hopefully when I do those other races I'll be able to do this obstacle successfully.

Soon after I crossed the finish line I asked someone for the time and it was 15h20; so I knew I was closer to 7 hours to complete this race, compared to the 5:40 I managed to do when I did the Beast race in 2017.

These two guys, Vincent and Colin, they came in first (in the 'Open' competition, not the Elite racers) and they were right next to each other, finishing at 3:56:56 and 3:57:02 respectively.

Matthis, who was the last to finish the Beast Open, was the 614th participant to cross the finish line in 10:29:22.

I finished 229th with a time of 6:50:42. Out of 441 men, I finished 181st. Out of 54 in the M45-59 range, I finished 26th. So, in all groups I finished ahead of at least half of the participants.

My next two Spartan Races of 2019 are back to back, with the Sprint distance (5km) on July 27, and the Super distance (13km) on July 28.