Going into 2026, I had been told that to qualify for Spartan Para World Championships (PWC), I had to complete a Spartan race in the Para bib (meaning rules in line with AG rules). When I put my 2026 planning calendar together, the mid-March races were what worked best. I had originally targeted Houston, but had to change to Atlanta because of how expensive airfare to Houston had become after January.
After changing from Houston to Atlanta, I found guides. Unfortunately, about ten days out, both of them had to bow out. Thankfully, Tom A. was able to step in. While I was initially concerned about having only one guide, as I found out throughout the races, Tom was able to do the work of more than one.
Before the races even began, there were issues. I have traveled by myself for athletic events for close to a decade. Prior to Atlanta, I have been able to check in and stay by myself without issue. However, when I arrived at the EconoLodge near the Atlanta airport, the co-owners gave me issues. What it boiled down to was that they wouldn’t allow me to stay there by myself unless I signed a waiver. IMO, what they were doing was discrimination, so I went elsewhere. I do have a police report regarding the issue and am still weighing my options after Choice Hotels has refused to address the issue properly.
After volunteering for the final day of the build, I met up with Tom on Saturday morning. I was extremely fortunate that someone found my cell phone after it fell off my pocket in the dark and returned it to me.
One point that I want to make in general before going into race details is this — Spartan races are more on dirt / grass. You may get a few “mud” features (in Rolling Mud or because of rain). With Tough Mudders, you expect the mud. From what I could tell, and the fact that Tom told me about needing to step over a water pipe several times, it seemed that this ATL Spartan weekend had become ATL Tough Mudder weekend…
This set of races was the most challenging set of Spartans that I’ve done. If you’ve read my 2024 Dallas Beast blog, you’ll realize that’s saying a lot…
Day 1 (Beast):
As mentioned above, there were a LOT of course challenges. Part seemed to be natural (i.e. creeks, up/downs, etc.), while some seemed to be man-made (from the water issues I mentioned earlier). Tom helped tremendously with keeping me safe throughout all of these.
After the uphill barbed wire crawl, a challenging rope ladder climb up a hill, and a lot of obstacles in between the start and there, we made it back to the festival area. After making it through the Festival obstacles (and another missed Spear Throw), we made the turn into the Super/Beast area. And that was where the “swamp” appeared…
This was at least half a mile through submerged rocks and trees. There was one part where I slipped and fell into a small tree. Thankfully, it went into my thigh and just hurt for a minute, which was better than it going a little to the left…
After making it through the swamp and a few other obstacles, we went into the “trees”. This was several miles of up and downs with an obstacle every 1 – 1.5 miles. By about six hours in, these were taking a mental toll on me. So when I heard one of the volunteers say that we were only at mile 9 when we should have been at 11 – 11.5, I was ready to give up. But we kept going.
In my mental frustration, I made a huge mistake. Throughout the race, I had been refilling my camelbak at each water station. However, at the last one, I forgot to ask Tom to help with that. This meant that with about 1 – 1.5 miles left, I ran out of water. It was a struggle back, and I could feel dehydration towards the end, but we made it through.
Day 2 (Super)
While there may have been some rain overnight, Tom made the comment that some of the drops were more severe than the day before. I don’t know if this was because of water or staff digging them out further, but it made things more challenging.
At some point in these increased drops, one of my friends from the Farm Experience found us on course. That was a nice “boost” in these extra challenges.
I trusted Tom’s evaluation of the course and went with his suggestions on safety. After the swamp area, the toll of more than twenty miles in the mud and drops in roughly 24 hours took its toll. It was a very slow and painful march to the finish, but we made it through.
After Tom left for his drive back north, I was able to connect with friends. Because of weather, my flight back was delayed to the next day. This meant I got to spend more time with them before heading to the airport for an early AM flight.
I am extremely grateful to Tom A. for guiding and all his help and support throughout the races. Thanks also to so many within the Spartan staff for their help and support throughout the weekend.
