After the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, organisers of running, cycling and obstacle course race events are treating 2021 as the earliest opportunity to return to some sort of normality. It may feel a long way off, or even a long shot, but hope springs eternal (here at least) and right now is the perfect time to start filling your weekends with events too, before the backlog of delayed weddings and other celebrations does it for you.
Spartan Race is a successful, well-established mud run event which has just released its UK schedule for next year. It’s one of the tougher races available, with distances up to 50km (the Ultra) available, as well as the Trifecta challenge in which you tackle three obstacle courses – a Sprint (5K), Super (10K) and Beast (21K) Spartan – in one weekend.
You have two opportunities to complete a Trifecta in 2021 – at the events in Wales in June and London/South East (in East Sussex) in October. If you pull off the feat, you’ll qualify for the Trifecta World Championships in Sparta, Greece, held over 4th-7th November.
Of course, if you’re not a Spartan junkie you can just do one of those events in a weekend, and there are also trail running events available at three of the meets. The race weekends in Wales, East Sussex and the Midlands (July) will have trail runs if you don’t fancy the obstacles and punishment burpees for failing to complete an obstacle.
The Stadion event at Twickenham Stadium also returns in 2021. This is a short Spartan course – 5K, with 20 obstacles – that you tackle in the stadium rather than in a vast country park. This normally creates a cracking event atmosphere and makes it easier for most people to take part in a Spartan race without having to train for months.
The full line-up of races in 2021 is below. Sign up on the Spartan website and do so now to take advantage of early bird prices.
See related
- The UK’s Best Adventure Races Of 2021
- Nail Your Spartan Race With These Tips From Shaun Stafford
- Prep For Your Obstacle Course Race With This Spartan Workout
- Spartan Race Launches Two UK Trail-Running Events
Spartan Wales, Glanusk Estate, Brecon Beacons (19th-20th June)
Trifecta, Sprint (5K, 20 obstacles), Super (10K, 25 obstacles) and Beast (half marathon, 30 obstacles) obstacle course races, plus 10K and half marathon trail runs.
Spartan Midlands, Marston Lodge, Market Harborough (24th-25th July)
Sprint and Super obstacle course races, plus 10K trail run.
Spartan Scotland, Hopetoun Estate, Edinburgh (25th-26th September)
Sprint, Beast or Ultra (50km, 60 obstacles) obstacle course races.
Spartan South East, Pippingford Park, Ashdown Forest (9th-10th October)
Trifecta, Sprint, Super and Beast obstacle course races, plus 10K and half marathon trail runs.
Spartan London, Twickenham Stadium (11th December)
Stadion (5K, 20 obstacles) obstacle course race.
