I ran the Ohio Spartan Beast

What were we doing out there?

The thought hit me upside the head about 8 miles  and 20 obstacles into the 13+ mile, 32 obstacle course:  "We are actually paying to do this!?!"

When I said it out loud, my  friends running it with me couldn't justify it either.  It was like we enjoyed enduring the beating to the point that we were willing to shell out hard earned cash to do so.

It wasn't until days after the race ended that I began to realize what I gained by running the Spartan Beast:

• Self Confidence - If you had invited me to run the Beast over 2 years ago when we started running Spartan races, I would have declared you crazy.  By finishing that race, I achieved something that, at one point in time, I had thought unattainable.
• Perseverance - Keeping my head down and putting one foot in front of other is what helped me complete the Spartan Beast.  Pushing through the difficult and sometimes painful times is necessary to achieve goals.
• Teamwork - Without my teammates to give me a boost or words of encouragement from time to time, it would have been a much more difficult day.

As tough as it was to see while running the race, it's the lessons, for both my business and personal life, that make me enjoy running Spartan races.

Me in the Barb Wire Crawl