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The Beast - 3
The review of this year's course that I linked earlier includes some detail on the redesign, of which there were mixed opinions.
The writer of that review spoke with more people than I did, and he did it in a variety of contexts. I only spoke to people on the course, when they were in the midst of their struggle, but the vast majority (meaning: all) of the opinions I heard were negative. People hated this course. No one I encountered was doing it for the second time, or intended to do it again next year.
This was a course designed to isolate and destroy you. It was physically, intellectually, and emotionally draining. It was the hardest physical thing I have ever done in my life. It is immensely costly, in terms of time spent training, time spent on the course, potential damage to your body, and actual financial impact.
It is not fun. Not by any normal standards.
I'm not exaggerating when I say that I saw more people crying over the course of this event than I ever have in one place. I do not recommend this event to anyone. In fact, I would actively discourage you from attempting it.
Here's the crazy thing. The Beast is somewhere near the high-middle end of the difficulty scale for these things. There's the World's Toughest Mudder, which is like the Tough Mudder but for 24-hours (there's a prize for winning, and a lesser prize for completing 100 miles. That's 100 miles on foot). There's the Death Race (organized by Peak Races, not Spartan as I previously said), which is basically a race for the insane and extraordinarily fit suicidal people. Read the article at that link for a taste of that insanity.
And there's the Ultra Beast. The Ultra occurs on the same weekend as the Vermont Beast, and shares half of its length with the course I ran. But as a more-than-marathon-distance event it veers off into the woods for as much as 17 miles. You start before sunrise, and many of the 40% of the people who actually finish it, finish after sundown.
I preregistered for next year's Ultra while writing my recap of the Beast.
The writer of that review spoke with more people than I did, and he did it in a variety of contexts. I only spoke to people on the course, when they were in the midst of their struggle, but the vast majority (meaning: all) of the opinions I heard were negative. People hated this course. No one I encountered was doing it for the second time, or intended to do it again next year.
This was a course designed to isolate and destroy you. It was physically, intellectually, and emotionally draining. It was the hardest physical thing I have ever done in my life. It is immensely costly, in terms of time spent training, time spent on the course, potential damage to your body, and actual financial impact.
It is not fun. Not by any normal standards.
I'm not exaggerating when I say that I saw more people crying over the course of this event than I ever have in one place. I do not recommend this event to anyone. In fact, I would actively discourage you from attempting it.
Here's the crazy thing. The Beast is somewhere near the high-middle end of the difficulty scale for these things. There's the World's Toughest Mudder, which is like the Tough Mudder but for 24-hours (there's a prize for winning, and a lesser prize for completing 100 miles. That's 100 miles on foot). There's the Death Race (organized by Peak Races, not Spartan as I previously said), which is basically a race for the insane and extraordinarily fit suicidal people. Read the article at that link for a taste of that insanity.
And there's the Ultra Beast. The Ultra occurs on the same weekend as the Vermont Beast, and shares half of its length with the course I ran. But as a more-than-marathon-distance event it veers off into the woods for as much as 17 miles. You start before sunrise, and many of the 40% of the people who actually finish it, finish after sundown.
I preregistered for next year's Ultra while writing my recap of the Beast.