North American Elite Series Race #2 | Big Bear Super

Big Bear, California was the site of the the second Elite Series race of the year, and it did not disappoint. With a stacked field on each side, this race was always going to come down to the wire and excite from start to finish.
On the Men's side, Veejay Jones looks to continue the momentum he built in San Luis Obispo at the site where he famously upset Ryan Atkins to take the 2021 National Series crown. To take first again, he'll have to beat Ryan once more, along with Elite Series mainstays Hawk Call, Rylan Schadegg, Mark Batres, and more.
The Women's field is one of the best we've seen in recent memory, featuring the winners from all of Spartan's Championship Series races last year. Lindsay Webster (2021 National Series Champion) took first in San Luis Obispo, but Emma Cook-Clark (2021 North American Champion) was right on her heels and is ready to take that next step to be on top of the podium. Rea Kolbl (2021 Ultra World Champion) makes her 2022 Elite Series debut as well.
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[@reczy]

The thing I love about Spartan, is their attention to detail. This coverage is so good for the sport, it’s so well done and clearly they’ve got a fantastic team. The rabbits are invaluable. All of this inspires and motivates me to do better in my own Spartan races. It keeps the flame burning bright during training and gets me hyped to push myself like Ryan and Lindsay. Thanks for the coverage guys, keep up the good work!

[@glennracz4647]

Just FYI, it shows women's SLO results, not Big 🐻. However, if that's a typo then the men's field really needs to step up their game 😉

[@reczy]

Yeah I thought that! Kris was clearly third in this race and the results showed her fifth!

[@daegudiva]

I hope Nicole makes it back, we really miss her on the Spartan Tour.

[@truthinbeauty27]

Lindsay is such a good competitor. She knew it was Emma's race

[@JaredHathaway]

can we take a moment to show some appreciation to Kris Ruglowski! Hyrox Champ, 3rd at Big Bear, then wins another big race on the East Side of the USA, all in 1 week!

[@szawid]

Yes we can!

[@mcflurry6670]

she's insanely good

[@truthinbeauty27]

Prefer separate videos for men and women :)

[@szawid]

Dump the spear throw.

[@ginamarie5575]

You guys never disappoint ! Great footage per usual !! Thx so much , these always help me get inspired to workout and improve even when it’s 86 today in hot north Florida!! 🥵 🏃‍♀️

[@juddvansickle]

Live race coverage > delayed full race coverage > delayed 45 minute coverage for each gender > delayed 30 minute coverage for both races combined. But still getting jazzed from watching some racing.

[@heinrich.kudirka9062]

Every recap that SPARTAN is producing is currently shorter then before. in season 2018/19 we had racaps with nearly full legth of the races, devided into men and womens part. For me that was a wonderful way to realy follow the whole race. But over the last races, the wideos become shorter and shorter and now we have only half an hour for men and womens part together, additionally with a little bit of a chotic cut of the scenes toward the end of the race. This is becomes a little disappointing to me and I hope that SPARTEN will go back to the older and longer format of the recaps.

[@matthewdevillers6848]

@2:15 Race Start @2:45 Overwalls @4:00 Sandbag Carry (Men) @6:45 Hurdles/Irish Tables (Women) @7:10 Sandbag Carry (Women) @8:55 (Gender) Bender @10:45 Twister @11:57 Olympus (Men) @12:50 Eight (8') Foot Box (Men) @13:15 Olympus (Women) @13:45 Eight (8') Foot Box (Women) @14:20 Beater @15:52 Stairway to Sparta @16:20 Vertical Cargo Net @16:55 Barbed Wire Crawl @17:30 Multi Rig (Men) @18:35 Atlas Carry (Men) @20:10 Multi Rig (Women) @20:38 Atlas Carry (Women) @21:15 Helix (Women) @21:40 Rope Climb (Men) @21:55 Monkey Bars (Men) @22:10 Hercules Hoist (Men) @22:30 Spear Throw (Men) @23:14 Bucket Brigade (Men) @23:50 Finish (Men) @24:27 Rope Climb (Women) @24:45 Monkey Bars (Women) @25:05 A Frame Cargo Net (Women) @25:30 Hercules Hoist (Women) @26:10 Spear Throw (Women) @26:40 Dunk Wall to Slip Wall @26:55 Bucket Brigade (Women) @27:35 Finish (Women) @31:00 Interview with Lindsay Webster & Emma Cook-Clarke (Women's Winner & Runner Up) @32:20 Interview with Ryan Atkins (Men's Winner) Race Results: race.spartan.com/en/race/past-results/7547 Great Coverage and Editing Spartan! Ave Maria! God bless.

[@RaGe0rge]

So you're allowed to grab the tops of the ropes on multi-rig? Seems to defeat the purpose of having the ropes to begin with.

[@patrickharner]

I had the same question... I have never seen or heard of athletes being allowed to grab above the rope- The ropes on the multi-rig is my most failed obstacle. If that is allowed I'm in luck!

[@RaGe0rge]

@@patrickharner I only saw Atkins use the top for the men. I'm assuming it's allowed if he did it but it feels like cheating so I've never done it. I'd really like an official word from Spartan. Using the top would increase the completion rate exponentially.

[@patrickharner]

@@RaGe0rge I saw Emma Cook Clark grab above all three ropes at 20:20 as well. But you are absolutely right- if you are allowed to do that the obstacle is totally different and completion rates would be a lot higher! However, I also agree, I've never done that, because it does feel like cheating (the spirit of how you are supposed to do the obstacle)- I mean it's supposed to be a challenge! (Small edit: I accidentally put in the wrong time).

[@RaGe0rge]

@@patrickharner There's definitely room for beta breaking an obstacle (skipping parts with laches or long reach) for efficiency but there should also be off limit areas. You're not allowed to use the top of the z wall for example. No feet on Olympus holds etc.

[@andrewwiest3123]

Its legal. Check my comment above

[@mattsully2238]

Thank you for showing the world how to showcase these events. I recently tried to watch a Savage race. The frame rate was so terrible it became unwatchable.

[@mattsully2238]

Savage makes the choice to broadcast live which they try to up the drama but the live feed sacrifices the fidelity of the picture. Spartan uses better cameras and lots of post editing. In general, I feel like Spartans approach is far more effective and engaging. It's too bad cause I really like the Savage venue and brand but there KZbin uploads are just terrible at showing how much fun these events can be.

[@TheRemulosEpsolonProgramme]

Partially agree dude, but savage race have only just started really doing race footage. Live might not be the best approach. But overall they’re still finding their feet with footage. Spartan did last long with doing lives.

[@ChrisKayPlays]

17:40 I though you are not allowed to hold from the top? When I did this obstacle I held it from the rope section and remember "obstacle refs" telling people to not hold it above the rope grip section like how Ryan Atkins did. Makes a HUGE difference in the amount of grip strength that's needed to hold from the wider (rope) section. EDIT: I see in comments that a lot of ppl have also asked this question but I will still leave mine up. I did my Sprint race same day as this Elite race in Big Bear CA and my run time was 12:15PM way after the elite guys get to run and we were still told to not grip from above. 2 of my friends failed this obstacle because they were told to only hold roped section. Seems like we need an official word on where you can hold it from. @Spartan @SpartanRace

[@cherylchadwick1886]

I have been wondering about that. I have seen races where athletes were disqualified for holding from the top like that. so????????

[@spankys615]

@@cherylchadwick1886 Some athletes in contention today in Canada did the same thing and avoided possible burpees while other ended up with burpees. I don't think that's quite fair.

[@cherylchadwick1886]

@@spankys615 i agree. not fair. it needs to be consistent.

[@devonhinckley2889]

I gotta admit that it was real close between Emma and Lindsay. Emma was the one who pushed Lindsay to her limits that Lindsay got desperate enough to rely on Emma missing an obstacle. Emma would have gotten the win and Lindsay would have been done for if Emma had took the aim needed and nailed the spear throw, but as I suspected, one obstacle miss and it's game over, Lindsey was waiting for that moment to happen and that's why Lindsay won that one due to pure luck that her competitor nipping at her heels missed an obstacle, it's simply reality that is hard truth that can't be denied. Pros who get pushed to the limit by less experienced challengers get desperate enough to rely on their challengers to miss one obstacle so these pros can take back the lead and steal the victory, it's simple realistic fact that would be real painful, also a smart tactic to rely on the weakness of challengers to take advantage of. If a challenger surpasses a champ in most areas, the champ will exploit the weakness and strike, like Lindsay did to Emma with the superior obstacle efficiency skills that Emma needed work on for that one, although in everything else Emma matched Lindsay and had her beat on the other areas, except obstacle efficiency. That's my point

[@jpav9036]

Not a good video this time. Usually really enjoy these. Didn’t like the combined mens and womens. Too choppy. Couldn’t tell where anybody was in relation to each other or in relation to the course. Missed the Magida voiceovers. That worked better for explaining things.

[@szawid]

We need wall to wall Magida.

[@dudeinthecrowd]

Being the first one to comment and watch. let`s go!

[@TimNTL3]

I never understood the short wall with the rope hanging off of it. Do you have to use the rope or can you just jump up?

[@devonhinckley2889]

That actually was a good match. I definitely understand and know why Ryan Atkins and Lindsey Webster are the OCR World Champions, that's because their obstacle efficiency were simply superior to opponents who rely on distance or strength more. Josiah the Ultra Runner had the lead for a while but that didn't last because Ryan Atkins was able to sneak and steal the win with his superior downhill skills and obstacle efficiency combined. Emma had the lead the entire time in the women division, but unfortunately, one missed spear throw actually put Emma in game over instantly because Lindsey got the spear throw and took the win right there, otherwise Emma would have won the match in the Women division right there. That comes to show that a balance of distance, strength, and obstacle efficiency combined is what makes a difference. Obstacle efficiency makes a huge factor big time and Ryan Atkins and Lindsey Webster proved it with their superior obstacle efficiency. It's how you play the game and when to use the necessary strategies that decide the winner. Kudos to Ryan Atkins and Lindsey Webster as OCR king and queen in the sport

[@xXGSoIdXx]

Elite Athletes not grabbing the ropes in the multi rig is just sad to watch. enforce rules Spartan

[@andrewwiest3123]

Its legal. Check my comment above

[@xXGSoIdXx]

@@andrewwiest3123 just sad that they allow it. Grabbing the ropes like that in other OCR event is illegal, you can only grab the holds. Otherwise having different type of holds is kind of useless

[@WarriorStrengthFitness]

Wrong leaderboard results for women at the end. Either way great coverage!

[@EricJohnsonGuru]

17:40 are you allowed to grip that from the hanging rope? If so i'm doing that my next race to make it easier 🤣

[@andrewwiest3123]

Its legal. Coble first ruled it in a recent Canada Blue Mountain Spartan Race right after or before Dubai WC's. There's footage of Ryan Atkins doing it. And OFX podcasts also touches on it in an episode. The podcast host UglyDave worked the venue and goes into lengthy detail. But I promise you, its in the Spartan KZbin archives. The sad part is they announced right before the race at the start line and no one paid attention... except Ryan... So everyone slips off... Even Newell.

[@patrickharner]

@@andrewwiest3123 Thanks for directing me to your comment. Very helpful!

[@EricJohnsonGuru]

@@andrewwiest3123 great reply thanks.

[@JRsimp8]

Oh I love how Emma always is always so positive and answer to some feedback lmao

[@jdavies]

I wouldn't want some reporter running alongside me with a camera telling me I had historically not done well on the section I was currently on. 3:25 Buzz off, bruh.

[@skateparkexplorer1429]

That spear throw is pretty dumb tbh. I get it’s all about “Spartans” but that is an “obstacle” not everybody has the opportunity to just walk outside and practice. You can improve grip strength, climbing, running, lifting, etc. all at your gym or outdoors with minimal equipment. To have an obstacle with an 80%+ fail rate (from what I have read) is kind of bogus, especially in races that are this close.

[@TheRemulosEpsolonProgramme]

Return the elite series to the national series next year. Not AG as NS

[@jickiebecker2525]

I call BS. If I have to stack them 2 high, then the Elitists, (I mean Elites), should have to. PENALTY??? *Housekeeping OCR?*