Humpday Health: Spartan Races are high intensity races for anyone

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — You may have seen them on TV and that’s because Spartan Races are sweeping the nation right now. One might think they are just for the big time Spartan athletes, but anyone can be a Spartan.

Marissa Iwanylo is training for a Spartan race, a high intensity fun race for everyone.

“It pushes people mentally and physically and it kind of tests their limits.” Iwanylo said.

Spartan races look like a lot of hard work and that’s because they are. But anyone can do it.

“If you are not athletically inclined, I guess you could say, it’s not like you can’t run one. If you want to be competitive, then you would start to run more, like resistance runs on the beach or anything to keep your endurance up.”

Marissa has done several Spartan Races and she has the medals to prove it. Each medal signifies that she has completed one of the Spartan races.

“There are three different lengths of a Spartan Race, there’s a Sprint, a Super and a Beast,” Iwanylo said. “Each one increases in length and obstacle number.”

If you complete each one in a span of a year, you have reached the tri-fecta. But that takes a lot of work.

“I do a lot of cross training. I run a lot,” Iwanylo said. “I lift and do other workouts for endurance.”

She says the hard work is worth it when you’re performing and when you do make it on the course, you don’t want to stop.

“I personally think it’s addicting and I know a lot of people that think it’s addicting. Their goal is to keep running them and better their lives. So by doing that I think it makes them a healthier person in general.”

If you’re looking for a Spartan Race in your area, you can visit the Spartan website by clicking here.