Overcoming Obstacles
One group of Members has discovered camaraderie and self-belief amid the pain and mud of obstacle-course racing.
Obstacle-course events like Spartan Race have exploded in popularity over the last few years. But that’s no surprise to competitors like Club trainer Luis Uraga.
They might be endurance races, he says, but they’re really about discipline and the pursuit of self-betterment.
“After the race, seeing the satisfaction on my team’s faces, that is the best feeling,” he says.
Named after the formidable warriors of fifth-century Sparta, Spartan Race events push participants to their physical limits over a grueling, rugged course peppered with various obstacles and athletic challenges.
Founded by Club Member Joe De Sena, Spartan Race staged its first event in 2010 in Williston, Vermont. Races now take place in more than 40 countries across the globe, with around 250 events held annually. Currently, Japan hosts races in Ibaraki, Chiba, Okinawa and Niigata.
There are three race formats, ranging from Sprint (5 kilometers and 20 obstacles) to the longer Super (10 kilometers and 25 obstacles) to the intimidatingly named Beast (21 kilometers and 30 obstacles).
Inspired by the progress of his client David Vroland, Uraga formed a team to compete in a Spartan event last September and recruited fitness-focused Members Hiroki Sakamoto and Aiko Kojima and, later, Katia Saito.
“It may sound cheesy, but I have given them superhero nicknames,” says Uraga, referring to the team members’ monikers of Flash (Sakamoto), Phoenix (Saito), War Machine (Vroland) and Wonder Woman (Kojima).
Sakamoto says he “never would have imagined joining a race like this” before Uraga proposed the idea. After barely training for that first race last year, the active, 32-year-old Colombian says he added grip strength and leg exercises to his workouts in preparation for the next events.
“Some obstacles required using muscle groups I had never worked out before, so you must prepare for some extreme pain,” he says. “But I think whoever completes their first race understands how awesome a feeling it is. It’s truly invigorating.”
Saito, a 44-year-old mother of two from Brazil, competed in her first Spartan event with the team in Chiba in May.
“I had never participated in any race of this kind, nor could I imagine myself in one,” she says. “Now I understand why people used to tell me that our bodies were meant to move.”
Saito says the energy and motivation of the other racers helped her “build stronger self-esteem.”
“All the effort in training was of great value and really helped me race until the end,” she says. “I’m thankful for Luis, who believed more than me that I could do it.”
And this is just the beginning. Sakamoto’s sights are set on Japan’s inaugural Hurricane Heat challenge, a team-based race that substitutes distance for time for up to 24 hours, in Niigata this year. Saito, meanwhile, hopes to enter future races with her husband and kids.
She says she has learned a lot from her Spartan experience, but one lesson stands out: “It’s never too late to start.”
Words: David McElhinney
Top image by Yuuki Ide: (l–r) Hiroki Sakamoto, Aiko Kojima, Luis Uraga, Katia Saito and David and Kai Vroland
