1. COURSE- included some the most extreme obstacles you can put on a mountain (which itself is an obstacle), such as an up-and-down-hill bucket carry with around 50 lbs of crushed rock, a 100 yard uphill barbed wire mud belly crawl, and of course the famous Spartan gladiator pit with powerful jousts to give you one last test before the finish line. Well marked and set up to never allow a rhythm to your race- many trips up and down the mountain to beat your legs up thoroughly. Left with many cuts, bruises, and a sore shoulder thanks to the Spartan joust- but all worth it! Very difficult and probably not for the couch potato first timer- supposedly the average finish time was near 90 minutes for the 3 miles, and only 73% were able to complete the course! GRADE = A
2. FESTIVAL: DJ playing music all day to keep racers and spectators entertained. Good merchandise tent for shirts and souvenirs, though much was sold out after Saturday's race and little left for Sunday. Not much to choose from for food- typical picnic fare (and beer of course). Also very limited with vendors, samples, or post race contests. GRADE = B
3. SWAG: Awesome prizes- finishers get a heavy/fancy medal (although it was the same as last year's race) and top 3 males/females won an engraved sword! All entrants recieved a nice t-shirt (although it was cotton this year, instead of last year's slightly nicer tech tee ("dri-fit" type). GRADE = A
OVERALL GRADE = A
