Spartan Fenway 2015

Venue: Super cool. Racing through Fenway is something very very few races could ever offer. You get access to the locker room, duggout, field, and all of the seating areas. Also, RUNNING WATER. Funny how you don’t need it as much at this race.

Parking: Boston is notoriously expensive for parking. Heck, Fenway is absurdly expensive for Spartan to put this race on (hence the lowest price of $100+ dollars to run a 2-2.5 mile race), so Spartan opts out of arranging parking for this event. Get to the event however you can/want. I personally found an amazing deal on the Landsdowne Street Parking garage for $11.50, which is actually cheaper than taking the train, and turned out to be incredibly less of a hassle than it’d have been to save a few measly dollars to drive up to the green line (since the red line has a mid-line shuttle due to construction) and park and ride the T in. I had no problems getting in and no problems parking.

Swag: The usual finishers T and medal. The medal was venue specific (super cool), but the same as last years (but I didn’t care as I missed last years race, however some people wouldn’t like having the same medal with a new lanyard). There was also the usual finisher’s line bananas, a smaller version of their typical builders bar, and a recovery drink (not muscle milk this time). I can say that I’m over the top excited that an XS finishers shirt has been added mid year! Its nice not to swim in my finishers shirt and it means I’ll actually wear it!

Registration/Vendors: Registration was outside of the park, across the street from Gate B. I had no problem finding or getting through it, as usual. Spartan really shines here. Once you crossed the street, all the vendors were lined up along the private street. There were plenty of challenges and such around. The only bad thing about this was that your bag was checked going into the stadium after entering the street, so it didn’t feel as though you could easily go back outside without the hassle of having to get checked through security again to re-enter. Logistically, it was the only thing that made sense, but was still off-setting to me.

Course: This was my first stadium Spartan. I expected it to be relatively easy compared to the outdoor events, and generally it was. The course was short, 2-2.5 miles. It made GREAT use of the stadium, allowing runners to get into the locker room, the duggout, run around the warning track, etc. Photo opportunities were everywhere, and not discouraged! I was not a huge fan, of the use of more PT exercises. Ball slams, jump ropes, etc.; I do those at the gym to train, but I like climbing up and over things at races. Those really skinny targets placed on the Spartan wooden men needed to go. Missed the spear throw by inches! The inconsistency of these guys throughout their races is maddening. This was also the only place in the race where there was bottlenecking, and as usual, a few lanes were open due to bent tips or severely curved spears. Their new concept on the Z wall (they cut out the middle), was really neat, however, the traverse was much harder than usual, and the space missing the middle allowed for people to put a foot on the top of the lower wall, which kind of defeated the point of it.

Overall, though, I think they did really well with the space they had. Its really fun, and the most beginner friendly Spartan race you’ll find.