True Form Fitness club members head off for Spartan Obstacle race
A 15-member Jamaican True Form Fitness club team will embark on the shores of Florida determined to make their mark in the gruelling Reebok Super Spartan Obstacle race set for this Sunday.
Organiser and founder of the True Form Fitness club, Jair Lyons, who participated last year along with Chad Hammond, decided they want the challenge once again but this time, they will be participating as the True Form Fitness team with other members joining from Trinidad and Tobago, Bahamas and Miami to form a powerful squad of approximately 25.
The gruelling contest is an eight-mile course with numerous surprise obstacles in a quest to conquer their wills and eliminate limitations. Over 200 participants are expected to survive the contest involving fire, mud, water, and barbed wire.
“This is a different way of promoting fitness and health. In Jamaica there are 5Ks and 10Ks every other weekend, but this is literally a 10K or 5K with obstacles. It’s not the easiest, but it brings a different dimension to racing,” Lyons told the Jamaica Observer.
“I am hoping to create that awareness that there are not just 5Ks, triathlons out there, there are other things,” he added.
“We will compete as a team, but will be given individual time chips. You just don’t know what they are going to throw at you. There is no set obstacle, it will just challenge you individually. You don’t know what to expect until you start it,” he added.
“We have been training since September running eight to 10 miles, having boot camps, special training sessions. A lot of people have been doing this all over the world. Spartan races are kept almost every weekend all over the world. It has an international base,” he noted.
However, Lyons has plans to get it in Jamaica, but will need at least 3,000 pre-race signatures before they consider coming to Jamaica.
“So far we haven’t met the quota and that’s why I continue going until people see what it’s about and get interested. I can see the number growing,” said Lyons.
The Spartan race series actually started in 2005 and the name was derived from the mythical Spartans from Greece which completely focused on military training and excellence and defied the tremendous odds in battling their enemies with limited numbers.
The obstacle course race is designed to test resilience, strength, stamina, quick decision-making skills and ability to laugh in the face of adversity.
