Beast Race joins the Spartan weekend lineup

Two days of Spartan Race events will get underway this weekend just south of Bigfork at Averill’s Flathead Lake Lodge.

The Spartan Beast will be Saturday and the Spartan Sprint on Sunday. Organizers anticipate about 9,000 participants and spectators for the two-day event.

Spartan Race crews arrived over the weekend and set to work building a new obstacle-laden course for the third year of the Montana Spartan Race.

In previous years the race was just one day and was a Spartan Sprint — five miles with about 25 obstacles.

This year, Spartan is introducing its Beast Race to Montana. The Beast covers about 14 miles and has about 40 obstacles.

Race Director Mike Morris said Spartan Race has a great relationship with Flathead Lake Lodge and the Kalispell Convention and Visitor Bureau, which sponsors the event, and that coupled with “the fact that it’s an amazing venue” spurred organizers to add the Beast.

“When you have that dynamic it just creates a better experience,” he said.

The Elite races will be filmed by NBC Sports to be a part of a five-part series this summer on the Spartan race series.

“The Road to the Reebok Spartan Race World Championship” will kick off with a recorded airing of the Bigfork race on July 21 on NBCSN at 9 p.m.

“We’re excited to showcase the venue, the property and the town,” Morris said.

In true Spartan Race tradition, this year’s course bears only minor similarities to the past two races.

The Sprint and the Beast share the same first five miles, but after that the Beast takes off to conquer even more of the terrain that overlooks Flathead Lake. There are walls to scale, puddles to crawl through, ropes to traverse, and heavy, freshly cut logs to carry.

Taking advantage of the terrain and the surroundings were an important part of designing the course. There are a few obstacles that racers will find in the same place as last year, Morris said, because they take advantage of the location, such as a cargo net on the top of a hill with a spectacular view of the lake. While that spot is still one of the highlights, Morris said, it’s not the only one.

“There’s probably four spots that are like, ‘Whoa,’” Morris said.

The Spartan Race is set up to challenge people and take them out of their comfort zones. Build Director Evan Gracey said they intentionally make sure there are a wide variety of obstacles for that reason.

“They’re all built not to play to one person’s strengths,” Gracey said.

In addition to physical challenges, this course contains a memory challenge for participants.

Gracey said though everyone is encouraged to attempt all the obstacles, there are only a few that racers are required to complete. However, if participants fail to complete an obstacle or opt out, they have to do 30 burpees.

“At the end of the day our goal is to change lives,” Morris said. He has heard stories from people who participated in a Spartan Sprint on a whim and then became very physically active and healthy.

Last year over 5,000 people competed in the Sprint in Bigfork.

The Elite men’s races start at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, followed by the Elite women. Athletes will continue to hit the course in waves of 200 to 250 competitors every 15 minutes each day.

The last racers begin at 11:30 a.m. Saturday and 12:30 p.m. Sunday.

Admission for spectators is $20 online until Friday or $25 at the gate, cash only.

Event parking costs $10 per car, $20 per van or $50 per bus or RV, also cash only.

Parking is at the corner of Montana 35 and Montana 82. Free shuttles will be provided between the parking area and the race location, and there will be shuttles between downtown Bigfork and the Spartan Race.