How does it feel to be on top?- Spartan Race Championship Tahoe
How does it feel to be on top? Just ask the King’s Camps and Fitness Pro Team, which literally rocked the 2018 Spartan Race Tahoe Championship at Squaw Valley, Lake Tahoe, CA. (Hey, that loose gravel is no joke!)
If you’re not familiar with the Spartan Race Tahoe Championships, here are some fun facts for you.
- When: September 29-30th weekend with the Beast on the 29th and the Ultra Beast on the 30th.
- Where: Squaw Valley Ski Resort. This is the fourth season Spartan Race has held their championships at this venue.
- Why: We can only think it was held at Squaw again because it’s a perfect location to test an athlete’s mental grit. Athletes start at an elevation of 6,224 feet and work up to an elevation upwards of 9,000 feet. Not only is the hill running extreme but at this elevation, the air is quite thin — forcing big lungs for continued exertion. The weather is unpredictable and has proven to be clear and sunny one day and snowing the next. The trail system offers a variety of surface offerings from fire roads to single tracks, rock formation climbs and steep descents. If you have time to take your eyes off the course and the competition, the views from the trails, on all sides of the mountain, are stunning. (Oh, you were asking why someone would participate in this race? That’s a whole other blog post!)
- Who: The best, most determined, self-motivated Spartans on the planet!
So how far did King’s Camps go? All the way up to the podium! Two of our athletes, Arnaud Hebert and Eduard Korat, both took on the Beast and the Ultra Beast with stunning success.
Arnaud Hebert took 1st in his age group for the Ultra Beast and 7th overall (8:11). And for the Beast, he took 6th in his age group (2:57). (We’ll just let you revel in those times for a second; Arnaud you are a true beast!!)
Let you think Arnaud’s success was a fluke, we’ll revisit his stunning 2018 season: he’s completed 29 Spartan Races in 2018 with a total of 8 trifectas. While not all of these races produced podium finishes, they all taught him something that he and his coach, Mike King, were able to use to fine tune his championship training. Leading up to the Championships, Arnaud reached the podium 4 out of his last 5 events. Arnaud trains regularly for these events on his home turf of San Francisco. He also puts pedal to the metal (or gravel to the bucket?!) with his fellow Pro Team athletes twice a week at King’s Camps and Fitness, where he can practice obstacles like Twister, rope climb, walls, and Olympus. Arnaud proves that while no race is ever in the bag, training hard, smart and properly for your outcome, both physically and mentally greatly increases your likelihood of success. Congratulations Arnaud!
Eduard Korat took 1st in his age group for the Beast and 18th overall (2:55). And for the Ultra Beast, he took 1st in his age group and 2nd overall (7:11). (Again, a small pause for the hard work it took to get those amazing times!)
For Eduard, these results aren’t unexpected. He has run a total of 13 2018 Spartan races, earning him 4 trifectas. Of those 18 races, he has placed first in his age group a total of 16 times. Eduard has doubled down this year, competing not only in Spartan Races but also in trail races, using the trail races as additional training for his Obstacle Course Races (OCR). He also balances his trail climbing with track workouts near his home, and is often pushing the pace with his King’s Camps OCR family. If you come to a King’s Camps and Fitness Open Gym, you’ll find Eduard either at the front of the running pack, at the top of a rope, or scaling a wall. But no matter what he’s doing, he’s demonstrating what hard work and dedication looks like. We couldn’t be more proud to have him as part of our family.
Since their return from the 2018 Spartan Championships, friends have reported that they’ve both worn a perpetual smile on their face. So does this mean that successes gone to their heads? Maybe in only the Spartan-headband way! Way to go, guys. We are so proud of you!
