The Spint is the shortest of the Spartan race series. Clocking in at around 6km with 22ish obstacles, it is still a challenge, but a good entry into Spartan races if you were looking to test it out. This race found us road tripping to Ottawa for the weekend.

Prior to leaving the city, we made a stop at Adamson BBQ for lunch and to grab some post race meats for the cooler (if you remember our last Spartan post, it’s a rule – always come prepared with post race food).

We arrived in Ottawa around 7:00 pm. Our Nation’s Capital is a government town, so naturally everything was closed (or closing shortly) when we got there. Grabbed some sushi to go, found an LCBO that was still open to grab a beer for our room, and settled in for the night.

Good night Ottawa.

The race was actually in Calabogie which is about an hour West of Ottawa. As it seems, I should have taken a picture of what we were packing for this post. About half way there, we started to realize everything that we forgot (water for after the race, clean shorts, towels). What are we new? We broke the number one rule of travel, always bring a towel.

Arriving at Calabogie Peaks resort, we quickly parked, registered and waited for our start time.

All signed in.

The course.

Ready to go!

This race was different from our previous two (both were Super distance, and at Brimacombe ski hill), no just because it was a shorter distance. There were far less hills (just one really big hill) and far more waiting for obstacles. I’m not sure if it’s because there were more people, but there was a lot of bottle necking and waiting for the obstacles. Regardless, it was still a good time. We actually invested in trail running shoes (found some sweet ones on sale) and wow, game changer. Road running shoes just don’t cut it.

Swimming with shoes. Really tough.

Sandbag carry.

Most of the obstacles were the same as what we have done previously. This race had a swim in it though – have you ever tried to swim in running shoes? Super difficult. Greg nailed both the spear throw and the rope climb. Rounding the corner of a downhill, we noticed we were at the end. I will say, I was a little sad it was over. It seemed really fast (just under 2 hours, compared to the 4 hours we were used to). This course had much less mud than the previous course so we finished relatively clean.

We tried to look at the camera and smile for this. For the record, there were two cameras. Greg clearly found the right one.

Grabbed our medals, changed our clothes, and went to the car for some post-race eats.

Medals and meat.

We decided to hit up some breweries on the drive back to Ottawa.

We stopped at Small Pony Barrel Works for some bottles to go, then Whiprsnapr for a flight. We checked the Ontario BevMap to see what was near by.

Small Pony Barrel Works.

Whiprsnapr.

A tasty Whiprsnapr flight (get The Mick – it was amazing).

Evergreen Craft Ales was just 1km away so we went to check it out. We entered a residential neighbourhood and drove around it twice going “I don’t think this map is right” so we checked their website, and in their FAQ section the question “Are you guys really set up in a garage?” was answered “Yes.” We knew we were in the right place.

We pulled into a driveway and met Chris – the brewer/owner of Evergreen Craft Ales. He is currently operating the brewery out of the garage of his house (yes, he has complied with all city bylaws in regard to operating a home business). He gave us some samples to try and we chatted about his operations for a bit. The beer was great so we got some cans to go! He will be moving operations to a larger facility soon, so keep an eye on this one!

This can’t be it.

Holy shit! It IS it! Evergreen Craft Ales brewery!

We stopped at Tooth and Nail Brewing Company and Beyond the Pale Brewery before heading back to the hotel. That evening we walked to Byward Market to have dinner (and more beer) at Brother’s Bistro.

Always a sucker for a Belgian golden ale.

Parliament. They don’t build them like this anymore.

More beer at Brother’s. Obviously.

It was a good weekend away. Admittedly, the Sprint was not my favourite Spartan (I like the challenge of the Super) but on the road to Trifecta, you’ve gotta do it!

Beast – here we come!

AROO!