Undeterred by torrential rainfall Friday, Spartan Race’s Super Spartan presented by Dolphin Fitness went off without a hitch on Saturday, September 24, 2011 at Wolfe’s Pond Park. Lots of muddy mayhem lay in wait for the Spartan athletes brave enough to take on the eight mile course.
A new feature you’ll be seeing at upcoming races is the Hurricane Heat and Staten Island was the second installment of the new series of heats put on by Spartan Race at our events. Starting in the early morning and before dawn, the Hurricane Heaters of Staten Island set off on the course led by Joe DeSena, Spartan Staffers (myself included), and with headlamps lighting the way on the muddy course. Part Death Race camp, part team “fun” run, this early heat incorporated additional punishment and physical challenges inside the race course. Thirty burpees were issued at every obstacle and picking up logs, rocks, and sometimes each other along the course, the final Hurricane Heaters came across the line, some being buddy carried for some extra toughness, after nearly four hours on the trail. 
As the Hurricane Heaters were wrapping up, the competitive heat was just getting their day started! Taking off at 9 AM, they attacked the course and Hobie Call, 34, once again ruled the day taking the top spot with a time of 56:03. He was followed by Junyong Pak, 33, with a time of 1:00:22 and Matthew Kepler, 22, took third with a time of 1:01:09. The ladies had a fantastic showing as well! Stephanie Vaughan, 32, took first place female with a time of 1:16:37 followed by Una Broderick, 30, 1:21:26 and Courtney Kistler, 30, close behind with a time of 1:21:53. 
Al Harrington, Jersey Native and Denver Nuggets star also took on the brutal course finishing in just over an hour and a half. He ran alongside fellow Spartan athletes on the 8 mile course and had a lot of fun doing it! Team Frado and his group of Biggest Loser runners also had a great showing at the race! Their efforts and accomplishments are inspiring!
The star of the show on race day had to be the course itself. Designed by Nick Moore and built by Russell Cohen, Nick, and the dedicated Spartan Race build team it made the beautiful venue of Wolfe’s Pond Park memorable for anyone who ran it despite rainy conditions during the build process! The course featured some great single track trails, creek running, some of our signature obstacles near spectator areas including a barbed wire crawl, slippery walls, spear throws, and of course our Spartan Gladiator pit near the finish. Beach running was another unique feature of this race with two portions of the course going over sand. The crowing jewel of the event was the culvert crawl spanning five lanes of traffic. Athletes swam beneath the highway in chest deep water to lead them to a two and a half mile loop in the woods. Coming back they swam again under the culvert to get back to the course and head back towards the finish.
The kids race, always a fun event, featured our littlest Spartans taking on a tough course of their own! They did a great job in their 12:05 PM heat and the spectators got quite a show as they climbed cargo nets, ran the beach, traversed balance beams, crawled under ropes, and got nice and muddy in the process! It was a memorable day in a great venue. If you missed your chance to get some Spartan Gear, head over to our online store and order something to wear proudly after your amazing finishes on Saturday!
A big thanks to our volunteers for their help on race day with all the details! Many more stories about our amazing event in Staten Island, including a wrap-up on Spartan Radio Tuesday night at 10PM/9PM Central time. From everyone at Spartan Race, we would just want to THANK our athletes and their family and friends for coming out to spend the day with Spartan Race. We loved having over 4,500 athletes and over nearly 2,000 Spectators come rock it with us on Saturday.
Want to get registered? Want to know what it feels like to call yourself a Spartan? Get registered. You’ll know at the finish line.
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