Vancouver Spartan Sprint/Super & a X2 Trifecta

My husband and I woke early Saturday and drove to North Vancouver B.C. for our first Canadian Spartan race. This weekend called the Vancouver Sprint and Super weekend has the "Super" event that we both need to complete our X2 Trifecta. An X2 Trifecta medal is given to those that complete "2 Trifecta's" in one calendar year. One Trifecta is the completion of these three events: Sprint, Super and Beast. I got my first Trifecta in 2016 and last year both of us got our Trifecta's, so my goal this year was to get 2 Trifecta's.

We got to the place where the shuttle buses were early enough to get to the venue and to register before my husband's Sprint race. Whenever we go to an event that has two events or as I call them a back to back weekend, he does them both just for the fun of it. I was happy to be a spectator on that day. The race was at Mt. Seymour & we’d start at about 3000 feet elevation. We’d never been there before and I was excited to see the views. 

The view from our shuttle bus.

Inside registration, something we'd never done before. This was a very different experience for us. No loud music at a festival area, no announcer. Very few people, so no lines. My husband was told by an official that close to 30% of the entrants were "no-shows" because of the weather. We found out that the elite heat start had been postponed about an hour due to rain and fog. Some of the early kids heats had been cancelled. When they did do the kids heats, the parents were told they had to be on the course and stay with them because it was so foggy. It was so foggy at the parking lot we could barely see across it.

So "no" views today. 

The course map for his Sprint.

We heard people say where is the start?, where is bag check? etc, because it was so foggy we couldn't even see these even though they were close to us. There were so few people that the start announcer let people start early. No fancy Spartan start speech like we're used to. Very low key, I had to ask myself do I do these for the hype, is that important to me? It was a question I pondered on during the day while I was waiting to see my husband. I have to admit, I do love what the music, the announcer and most of all the speech in the start chute. These add to the excitement of the event, but as I found out on Sunday, it's the event itself and the process of overcoming that draws me to the events.

There were a few places I could stand and see a few obstacles together before he would leave my sight again. So I watched as figures made their way towards me in the fog.

Finally I could see him.

The rope climb, the A-frame cargo climb and the Hercules hoist were all set up on a paved area near the parking lot, weird surface for us. We're not used to this.

He got up the rope.

Up and over the A-frame.

Then the Hercules hoist.

Up

and down slow. No dropping or 30 burpees.

Then it was a wait till he came to the finish. The last two obstacles are barely visible in the distance: the slip wall and the weighted bag lift.

He Finished! 

Very few perks at the finish line. None of the regular things we're used to: Bananas, Fit aid, Body Armor. 

Just water and Protein bars.

We found a place on the site that had hot cocoa & coffee, so we got some warm beverages and snacks before our shuttle ride back down the hill to our car.

Back home to relax, get our things ready for the Super on Sunday.

We got to the shuttle bus area Sunday in North Vancouver about the same time as we did the day before. Even less people were there than on Saturday. I was hopeful the weather would be better, but it was still foggy and misty. We found out that Saturday afternoon when we left there was thunder, lightening and hail at the top.

I was nervous as I'd had a cold since our Rainier Wonderland backpacking trip, so I'd been resting off and on for three weeks except for some light workouts and the Beast in Seattle (that we needed for our X2 Trifecta as well). I wondered, how much fitness do you lose in 3 weeks? I was about to find out.

We registered. There was still a small turnout because of the weather. I had on two long sleeved tops, my compression leg sleeves under my long pants. I had some gloves and a Tyvek jacket in my pack, hoping to stay warm for our day on the mountain.

At the start we were told that the swim obstacle had been cancelled, because of the fog and cold. Since they wouldn't be able to see anyone in the water and they didn't want anyone to get hypothermia, they deemed it unsafe. When we got to the start chute we started with only a handful of others and no start talk at all. Needless to say I was disappointed, but as I said earlier I had already come to terms with why I was there and why I do these events.

There was a chilly wind here and there throughout the day and on and off rain and mist. I was glad to have my gloves and layers. We were so fogged in we couldn't see much in front of us. We saw no course photographers, and very few volunteers on the course at the obstacle. It was exciting when we actually saw other participants around us. There were two sections of the course that I really enjoyed, one was near the top where we had several rope climbs up and over rocky outcrops. Then we went through a long stretch of ponds along the trail. I'd like to come back on a sunny day and explore the scenery and hopefully the views. There were a few obstacles that were new to us. One was a cement block with a chain attached to it. I felt like I was dragging a stubborn dog on a leash through the mud, kind of interesting. At the end we got to climb the slip wall and then just before the finish line the other "new to me obstacle" was to lift a weighted bag in a clean and jerk movement (lift from the ground, to the shoulder and raise above the head) five times. 

No finish photographer, but a Spartan official handing out medals graciously took our finish photo with her cell phone and texted it to me. As you can see we had a touch of blue sky for our finish, it left quickly and the fog returned.

I went to the results tent to collect our X2 Trifecta medals while my husband got our bags from the bag check tent. We snagged some people we'd been with here and there on the course to take a photo of us with our medals, thankfully they agreed to take one! 

I really enjoyed the course, it was a challenging Super. We definitely earned our medal. I found out that my resting didn't affect me negatively. I survived just as my husband told me I would.

We changed into dry clothes and went to wait for our shuttle. Several others joined us. We waited and waited, meanwhile getting colder and colder. The sun would tease us and give us a small peek only to turn to fog and cold again. 

During one of the sun peeks, a volunteer that we really liked on the course came and waited in line. He had a course map, which I'd forgotten to take a photo of before we started. So yay, now I have a picture of both the map and a great volunteer.

More fog and more waiting......

We were eventually told by a Spartan official that the shuttle buses had abandoned us (probably because of the small turnout and it was later in the day). He was wonderful and rounded up some of his workers to take us to the shuttle drop off area in their own trucks.

Since we were cold and hungry we stopped at a store as soon as we were in our own car. So thankful for that cup of hot tea!

So another Spartan season is in the books, this year with an X2 Trifecta for us both!

Our medals from the day. The X2 Trifecta medal comes in a nice bag that also contains an X2 patch.

Relive video of our route:

https://youtu.be/iHfZFZjA_JI

Garmin stats:

total distance - 8.86 miles

total ascent - 2749 feet

total descent - 2802 feet

Aroo!
I could only find one Official Spartan photo from our weekend. My husband's Sprint day Sandbag carry. Very cool that it says Canada on it. Our first International Spartan event.