First summer Spartan Race in Mallorce

Spartan Race Mallorca Super & Sprint

Super: distance: 10,6km; elevation: 541m; time: 5:15:23

Sprint: distance: 5,72km; elevation: 236m; time: 2:49:30

I attended my first summer Spartan Race this year on beautiful, sunny Mallorca. I decided to go to Mallorca two years ago, but due to some reasons I was not able to get there. I have chosen this destination because the race date overlapped with my birthday and I wanted to celebrate it at some special place. Therefore, I’m glad it happened this year.

Me and my team had a Saturday Super and Sunday Sprint on schedule. When we arrived at the festival zone we were really concerned about infinitely long line of people waiting to register. This line went through the entire festival arena and I didn’t even know where it ended. The organizers failed at this point and therefore the start of all heats was delayed by half an hour. Positive thing was bag check area which consisted of several military trucks where soldiers helped (as the race was held near the military base). Yet before start we met our Slovak and Czech “colleagues” and we wish each other good luck and then we were prepared to go on an adventure.

The weather was nice, the sky was clear, sunny, pleasantly warm.

I came to Mallorca to enjoy the races and not to give all I’ve got to have the best time. Another goal was to show people there what is possible and to motivate them to more responsible behaviour, so I wanted to be a good representative of CEU. Two years ago I took part in the Wiener Neustadt Spartan Race and I was disappointed with the behaviour of some competitors. Outside the CEU, Open heats are not taken seriously, volunteers are not strict and runners help each other on obstacles like balance or monkey bar, and they often don’t even make more than 5 burpees. Here I expected something similar, I was prepared for it and, unfortunately, it was the same. I have to say that I like CEU rules and strict conditions more, I’m used to them.

The track itself was very nice with a lot of beautiful views. Perhaps the biggest minus was that it was very dusty and I also didn’t like the gravel surface. I was surprised that there were also some small hills, I was expecting a more flat profile, but for me those ascents were comfortable, I worked with my breath very effectively. I was looking forward to chain carry obstacle, a massive chain that could have about 30kg (correct me, idk how much does it weight). We had to figure out how to position the chain so it would sit comfortably on my shoulders and climb the hill up, where I slipped and chain felt down. Fortunately, Spartans from other countries are also solidary and they immediately helped me to pick the chain up. At the atlas carry, I me Ryan, an American who was not a soldier and he did not need to be saved, but he was a rugby player and he saved me when he helped me lift a heavy concrete ball. Mentioned soldiers were also at water stations and I was extremely honoured when that applauded me, supported me and complimented me. Amazing feeling. Z-wall is much easier abroad than in CEU, so even though I spent quite a lot of time on it, I did it. I made only 30 burpees for the spear throw. I think, the volunteer considered me crazy when he saw me doing all 30 burpees. As usual, the bucket carry took me the most time to do it, at its beginning I had to manage I quite steep concrete ascent, but my support invented possibly the best tactics to do it (see photos in the albums). Also new obstacle for me was Beater, a monkey bar-ish obstacle with both fixed and rotating segments. This kind of obstacles basically don’t cause me any troubles. At that moment it was just a few steps to finish, so we could enjoy a well-deserved banana.

Sunday Sprint was very similar, but there was a difference that we could not see that long line of people in front of registrations. Well done, organizers. Nice weather, dusty track, less obstacles. I was surprised that there was no sandbag carry on Super, but we already had it on Sprint. Standardized bags don’t sit so well on shoulders/neck, therefore we struggled with it a little bit. Otherwise, everything went smoothly, even so much that I can proudly say, that Sprint in Mallorca is the first race on which I did not do any penalty burpees. Yes, I did spear throw too.

In the finish we unfortunately did not receive medals and t-shirts, due to spreading virus they did not arrive on time. But one nice thing happened to me afterwards – the local speaker of the event invited me on the stage and did a short interview with me. People applauded me, I guess even more than winners, for which I am grateful to them from the heart.

I would like to thank all those who supported me on the track, spectators who applauded me like they were paid for it, new friends I have met and my team accompanying me on this trip, my manager and MyWonderWoman.

I hope to see you soon!

Photos, first day, here: ,,Marosh the Spartan & MALLORCA SUPER 2020"

Photos, second day, here: ,,Marosh the Spartan & MALLORCA SPRINT 2020"