Concord Super Sprint Weekend
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Logistics
Most racers I talked to drove to this race since it is just a Super/Sprint weekend and Charlotte has access to major connecting interstates. I spoke with racers from Ohio, Atlanta, Nashville, Kentucky and Florida and they all drove. For those considering flying the venue is about 45 minutes north of Charlotte so the best bet is to fly into Charlotte Douglas. CLT is an American Airlines hub and super busy, there are cheaper flights into Greensboro about 90 minutes north and its an easier airport to navigate. For lodging are a lot of medium priced and budget hotels located near the Concord Mills Mall about 20 minutes from the venue as well as along Interstate 85 nearby.
Parking is straightforward, a huge field directly in front of registration. This field really fills up and its a good idea to pin your car location on Google Maps so it’s easier to find after the event when its packed with similar looking vehicles (West Virginia Tri Weekend I’m looking at you). This weekend there was no rain so cars getting stuck was not an issue. I get to races around 6am and did not experience traffic but the venue is off a single lane road. If you have a later starting time this road can get backed up (anyone remember the Ohio Beast in 2017 at the Wilds?) so it would be advisable to plan for traffic.
Venue
Porter Farms (Porter Farms, 2024) has hosted Spartan since 2014 and it has always been a Sprint weekend till a few years ago when they offered a Super as well. Last year they did not and participation dropped; so this years installment of the Super/Sprint format is a good move. New this year and on the schedule on similar weekends is a Sprint on both days with a Super being the first race on Saturday. Trifecta chasers should know that a double Sprint counts toward your multi-Trifecta count. It also means you can volunteer on one day and race the next for free or save it for later race. For this race Spartan got 7,000 racers and 3,000 fans and kids racers; this is a direct quote from the race director (Spartan Staff Interview, 2024)
Porter Farms (Porter Farms, 2024) is a large, working cattle farm and that brings three issues into play every year. Cow sh*t, mud and people who fail the Darwin test by touching the electrical fence that says “DO NOT TOUCH”. Porter Farms is much larger than Double D ranch (sorry couldn’t resist) and therefore has more cows. So be warned and keep an eye out for cowpies as well as electrical fencing. Though they turn most of the fencing off the cattle are penned in just off the course and that fence is live. Two years ago in Central Florida a racer got gored by a bull that escaped a pen (good guy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time) so they need to control these huge animals. These fences only deliver 2,000 to 3,000 volts (Electrical Fence, 2024) so you probably won’t die unless you have a pacemaker or heart trouble. But In 2014 a racer touched a live fence got zapped and freaked out on social media. Now electrocution is in the waiver we sign. So just be aware that well …. We all signed a waiver.
Festival Area
By noon on Saturday the festival area was the busiest I have seen at a race this year, absolutely packed. This was partially due to the overwhelming number of spectators. Several food trucks, and vendors made it pretty fun between the Super and Sprint for those doubling up. There was no Spartan Plus tent at this venue since they are mostly at Trifecta weekends. Rocco (specialized recovery tent I highly recommend) will be at Palm Springs and NJ this month. This is free to Spartan Plus members and Rocco sells weekend packages for saunas, ice baths and massage guns who are not Spartan Plus members (Interview with Rocco, 2024). Be aware that multi-Trifecta medals are still not available but they should be by NJ in late April.
Races
These shorter distance race weekends present a different set of challenges for many. The Beast and Ultra give you a chance to start off and get loose in the first couple of miles; unless you are elite and come out of the gate hot. But with the shorter distances the race is over in an hour or less so you need to get it in gear pretty quickly. This is why I always warm up more before the shorter race weekends and try to use Biofreeze or CBD balm to help to get muscles warm early in the event. I think this is even more important on faster courses (like Charlotte) where impressive times were posted.
Weather in the south is tricky this time of year. After a week of temps in the 60’s temps plummeted two days prior to the race. Saturday morning was 38 degrees with gusting winds when competitive waves started at 7 am. It gradually got warmer until it hit the high 50’s around noon, good news for the Sprint runners. Sunday was similar. This can be problematic for competitive waves since you need to finish with the gear you start the race with. I have opted to put a carabiner on my water bottle belt so I can lash my extra compression layer if I need to; no way I am getting DQ’d over an equipment violation.
Course
Both the Super and Spring have no significant elevation on terrain that is not overly rooty but was very muddy in areas. This slowed things down for a lot of runners. Both courses started by going into the woods with some stream crossings, with a few obstacles spaced throughout. When we exited the woods into the grazing area for cattle the Super split off the right and the Super headed across a wide field to another wooded area. You would think this could be a time to open the throttle a little bit and better runners will be able to . But cattle hooves on a muddy field result in ten or twenty bazillion holes and ruts (estimate) and it was a real test of ankle mobility. I saw plenty of fit runners slowing down to navigate tractor ruts and the cattle hoof indentations and the Sprint a few runners were down early on with injuries. Note to self time to work more on dorsal flex mobility (Dorsal Flex Mobility Exercises, 2024)
I have never run this course when it hasn’t been muddy. Since there were two races on Saturday I brought an extra pair of socks and changed out during the break between the races at the cold wash station. I also use these double races as practice for the ultra and the ultra transition by treating this as a mini-ultra mental training session. Most people in the ultra tap out at half-time, so practicing regrouping is something I try to practice. This isn’t an issue for elite racers but for those of us in the middle of the pack it needs to be addressed.
Obstacle Placement
The front section for both races had a pretty easy sandbag and bucket carry that followed a muddy rope climb. But this race is known for the final mile section for both the Sprint and the Super. Both races wind up coming into a large open field with absolutely no tree cover. This year it was vertical cargo net, a long barbed wire crawl (that was pretty low), rolling mud, dunk wall, spear throw, slip wall, Hercules hoist, plate drag and finally A frame. On Saturday the Sprint version of A frame looked like a Sci Fi movie, it was packed with muddy racers clogging up the last obstacle and and the official had to start directing traffic. At this point I blurted out “we’re all gonna die” but I could tell by the nervous laughter I had seriously misread my audience. Fire jump was uneventful and this race had MetRex bars, bananas and … water.
Rolling mud and dunk wall were a challenge. It was windy, the water was cold and the early competitive Super waves were not hesitating, so there was no time to acclimate. I was glad I had double compression on and had fought the urge to take a layer off going into this section, with a half mile left the air was still cold. Gusting winds made a lot of people pretty uncomfortable, and during the Sprint I saw people skipping dunk wall. If you’re like me (and I sincerely hope you are not) it made me want to get into the water even more. This was one of the highlights of all three races, going into the water and dealing with the elements. When we finished the early times for the Super on Saturday and the Spring on Sunday there were plenty of racers in the festival area freezing who forgot to pack an extra sweatshirt.
Summary
I can understand why some races may not want to travel to this event. Dicey weather, mud fest and well ….. its a farm. But if you are chasing multiple Trifectas and have a season pass this venue gets you three races on a course with no elevation and easy logistics. If you are looking to set a PR this is a fast course if you keep your head on a swivel and look out for cattle hooves, cow pies and electrical fences. Surprising this race draws a lot of competition and the age groups had impressive times for both the Super and the Sprint.
References
Dorsal Flex Mobility (2024) https://e3rehab.com/ankle-dorsiflexion/#:~:text=Dorsiflexion%20is%20an%20ankle%20movement,shin%20closer%20to%20your%20foot.
Electric Fence for Cattle (2024) https://www.zarebasystems.com/learning-center/animal-selector/cattle#:~:text=To%20safely%20contain%20most%20beef,fence%2C%20and%20type%20of%20wire.
Porter Farms (2024) https://www.porterfarmsnc.com/
Rocco Interview (2024)
Spartan Staff Member Interview (2024)
