Obstacle course racer Allison Tai won the women’s 42.2-kilometre Spartan Ultra Beast world championship in Lake Tahoe on Oct. 2, finishing the brutal, high-altitude sufferfest in seven hours and 22 minutes.
A renowned endurance runner and a triathlete with Ironman races under her belt, Tai took an early lead and never relinquished it as she tackled 35 obstacles – twice – over an altitude gain of 4,500 feet that peaked at nearly 9,000 feet near the largest alpine lake on the continent on the California border. She finished 10th overall.
“I love getting out there all day and feeling like I'm on an adventure,” she told the Courier, noting the busy Spartan race weekend is the final event in the season for many who travel from around the world. (Not her, though.) “There is a strong patriotic theme. It's nice to be able to represent Canada in the sport you love. I've also been putting in a lot of miles this year and it's nice to see the work paying off.”
Tai is one of the most elite obstacle course racers in Canada, and although the elite competition is higher and the prize money greater, she opted for the longer, harder UltraBeast this time. Typically double the distance of the half-marathon Beast, the UltraBeast also doubles up on the obstacles so competitors run through them al a second time.
Uncharacteristically, Tai struggled on the back half. She acutely felt the rapid elevation gain and couldn’t eat solid foods, the energy essential to exerting her full force for nearly eight hours.
“I usually find the second lap to be more fun and I sometimes even pick up the pace. This was different,” she said. “The altitude definitely changed the race for those of us who come from sea level. I had a headache and was having trouble eating. There was also a storm rolling in so it was a challenge to keep my hands warm enough to do the obstacles without overheating.”
Running down the mountain, she shed layers of clothing and would have ditched her windproof pants too had she not felt the pressure of her opponents closing in.
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Cold, mud, obstacles & snow could not stop the thousands of Spartans at the #SpartanRace World Championship in @TahoeNorth. #SpartanWC16 pic.twitter.com/jxj1Nmrbe8
— Spartan Race (@SpartanRace) October 4, 2016
Preparation allowed Tai to hold her lead. She focuses on grip strength, upper-body strength and endurance plus a few strategic plastic baggies to keep essentials dry when splashing through pools of ice water.
“Gear prep goes a long way in this type of event. You see a lot of people drop out with hypothermia. We're in and out of nearly freezing water and running through the mountains, battling wind and snow. Often I wear a pair of neoprene gloves and a diving hat but I knew the cold was going to be a game changer for this race so I decided on wearing ski mitts and a toque,” she explained. “I'd just seal them up into a Ziploc bag before entering the water obstacles. It took a couple extra minutes, but the extra warmth was worth it.”
Obstacles included climbing rigs with monkey bars, ropes and metal pipes to traverse, spear to throws, heavy objects to carry a kilometre or more, walls to climb and pits to swing over. They often challenge racers with altitude, too. Up and down the course for the UltraBeast led Tai over 9,000 feet in elevation change.
“This one added up to 9,000 feet of climbing or three and a half Grouse Grinds,” she said “You really never know what's coming around the corner and I think that's part of the growing popularity of the sport.”
Tai said she knew the race would be tough – that’s the nature of any event that calls itself an ultra beast, never mind the world championship of the renowned Spartan series.
“Everything is longer, heavier and more challenging. You never really know what to expect, but you expect it to be hard,” she said.
Next up for Tai is the World’s Toughest Mudder, a punishing race with a touch of sadism in its spirit, set for Nov. 12 and 13 outside Las Vegas. It’s her biggest race of the season,
“A 24-hour race though the desert, where athletes battle 35-foot cliff jumps, electrocution, Ninja Warrior-type obstacles, heavy carries, big walls and hypothermia,” she said.
Fun, right? For many of us it will be more fun to watch from a far and cheer on Tai.
Twitter and Instagram: @MHStewart
