2025 Spartan Asheville Race Review

2025 Spartan

Asheville

Race Review

 

By OCR Kings Reporter At Large

               David Best             

 

Raindrops are falling on my head 

And just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed   

Nothing seems to fit

 Those raindrops are falling on my head, they keep falling.... 

 

 If B.J. Thomas hadn't written this song in 1969, you'd think he 

 wrote this song describing the 2025 Spartan race season and the 

 race held on August 2-3, 2025 in Mill Spring, North Carolina was   

 a non stop drizzle fest that made this Super – Sprint weekend  

 extra challenging. The weekend festivities were held at the Tryon 

 Equestrian Center which has hosted this race for the last three 

 years. This race weekend was part of the Spartan Honor Series 

 which spotlight our military and first responders dedication and 

 sacrifice in service of our country. The Super, Sprint & Kids race 

 was held on Saturday and a Sprint only race was held on Sunday. 

 

Venue And Logistics

 

 The Tryon Equestrian Center is located in Mill Spring which is 

 about a half hour drive from Asheville and it seemed the majority 

 of Spartans stayed in Asheville as there are more hotel and dining 

 options available there and the drive from Asheville to the venue 

 site is a leisurely one. I flew to the event weekend and used the 

 Asheville Regional Airport and it is my preferred option as it is a 

 smaller and more navigable then flying into Charlotte as well as 

 cutting off an additional hour driving to Asheville. The parking 

 area used for the Saturday event is a bit of a hike, but just treat it 

 as a part of your warm-up or if you're wanting to save your energy 

 for the course, the venue does provide transportation from the 

 parking area to the festival area with a farm tractor and trailer. 

 Check in, bag check and merchandise tent were under a large 

 covered pavilion as well as dining and drink options. One of the 

 many reasons I love doing the Carolina area races is that Island 

 Noodles is one of the food options. I love them and that is my go 

 to post race meal along with my free post race Heineken Silver. 

 We Spartans earn it on the course and should pamper ourselves 

 whenever possible. 

 

Race Review and Course Layout 

 

 The course had a slightly different layout from last year as they 

 were building some putting/practice greens where the course was 

 last year. We started out with a short barbed wire crawl into the 

 paddock and the first obstacle was the four foot wall, then 6 foot 

 wall, then a climb uphill to hurdles, monkey bars, over unders,

  and to Z wall. I had a new experience on Z wall as I was trying 

 to round the outside corner or the coffin corner and reached my 

 foot to that block and the block pulled out of the wall and tumbled 

 right down the hill.......but being the true Spartan I am, I hung on 

 and was able to complete the obstacle without any further 

 mishaps. On to the sandbag carry that was a bit of a challenge 

 due to the wet and uneven ground. Atlas carry is next and on to 

 the inverted wall, bender, 7 foot wall, Olympus, Stairway to 

 Sparta, Beater, Twister, a creek crossing to Bucket Carry, then a 

 barbed wire crawl to Slip Wall, Rolling Mud, Dunk Wall, Rope 

 Climb, Herc Hoist (people dropping bags again and we all 

  know how I feel about that!!!!!LOL!!!), Spear Throw to the 

 Multi Rig. I had another first as I was wearing gloves due to the 

 wet weather and slick obstacles. I employ the hand to hand 

 technique and my hand grabbed the other pinkie finger part of the 

 glove and I couldn't advance on the Multi Rig until I readjusted 

 my hand to free the other to complete the obstacle. Then to A- 

 Frame Cargo and finally to Fire Jump and completion. The Sprint 

 course obstacles were the same other then Vertical Cargo on the 

 Sprint only part of the course. You may see in the photos that I 

 chose to wear gloves for this race. I don't like doing so, but the 

 wet, muddy ropes and slick obstacles made it a must. I was never 

 able to find gloves I liked until a race buddy of mine, Tom 

 Maming, a Spartan Race veteran with over 500 races to his credit, 

 showed me the way. A simple pair of rubberized gloves you can 

 buy at any farm supply store or Home Depot. I got a three pack 

 for $10.00 and I'm here to tell you.....THEY ARE A GAME 

 CHANGER.....they were for me and I've been using them since I 

 saw Tom use them in Jacksonville. Give them a try and I 

 guarantee you, you will love them!!!!! I also experienced another 

 first after the Sunday Sprint......a hot post race on site shower!!! I 

 entered the changing tent before I was to hit the cold water wash 

 when another Spartan came in and told me they had a hot shower 

 set up behind the changing tent....well, I wasn't going to miss out 

 on that, so I went to check it out. Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap had a 

 shower area set up on a trailer where they sprayed you down with 

 hot water, their Magic Soap and then a nice warm water rinse.  

 They also were handing out free samples of their soap to take 

 home. I love the idea of warm showers using the shower trailer 

 and think Spartan could do something similar to send us home all 

 spic and span. 

 

Recommendations & Final Thoughts

 

  I love this venue and only wish they could bring back the Beast 

 to make this a Trifecta Weekend, but they sold a section of the 

 property and now it's only big enough for a Super – Sprint 

 weekend. I took the summer off to rest and recharge before 

 hitting the course for that second half push and Spartan 

 immortality by completing 13 Trifecta Weekends in a year and 

 earning the most coveted Spartan prize.....A Spartan Spear. We'll 

 find out in December if I'm successful. Another reason I wanted 

 to do the race was to see how the area was recovering from the 

 aftermath of Hurricane Helene. I was here last year just before 

 the storm hit here and I was surprised on what I saw.....recovery 

 and rebuilding well under way in the cities, but the rural areas

 and anywhere near the rivers and creeks along with Lake Lure, 

 devastation and scaring of the land which will take some time to 

 heal, but will never be the same. We all need to keep these fine 

 people in out thoughts and prayers and hope for the quickest 

 recovery possible. So until my next report, this is your OCR 

 Kings reporter at large, David Best, bringing you all the BEST 

 Spartan offers us!!!!!!!