Showing posts with label raymond james. Show all posts
Showing posts with label raymond james. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 21, 2025

2025 Spartan Raymond James Stadium Race Review

 

2025 Spartan       

               Raymond James Stadium

                        Race Review

 

                  By OCR Kings Reporter At Large

                            David Best             

 

  Are You Not Entertained...........Are You Not Entertained.............

 

                         Is That Not Why You're Here!!!!!!!!!

 

  The answer is yes and and I was quite entertained at the Spartan

 

  Raymond James Stadion Race event held on May 10, 2025. It  

 

  was a one day only event that included a kids race as well the

 

  Teddy Bear Crawl done for charity. The race has been held at

 

  this venue since 2023 and is contracted to run until 2026. This

 

  particular race is part of the Honor Series that commemorate and

 

  honor the military and first responders who overcome those

 

  everyday obstacles in an effort to serve and protect our country

 

  and communities. There is also a special Honor Series medal

 

  awarded upon completion of the race.

 

 

 

                               Venue History & Logistics

 

  Raymond James Stadium is home to the two time Super Bowl

 

  Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2002 & 2020) as well as

 

  the University of South Florida Bulls football team. The stadium

 

  opened in 1998 and can seat a maximum of  75,000 and has

 

  hosted three Super Bowls ( 2001, 2009 and 2021). It has also

 

  hosted such musical acts including Beyonce, Taylor Swift, U2

 

  and The Rolling Stones ( I was lucky enough to attend that one).

 

  The stadium is conveniently located less then 10 minutes from

 

  Tampa International Airport and about 20 minutes from Busch

 

  Gardens and Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Once your Spartan

 

  Race has been completed, there are more then enough things to

 

  keep you entertained afterword. Hotel and restaurant options

 

  are to numerous to list since this venue is so conveniently located

 

  in the city and if you need to work on that tan, no problem as

 

  there are multiple beaches and parks within minutes of the  

 

  stadium.

 

 

                    Parking, Registration and Security Check

 

  I was able to attend this event last year and parking, registration

 

  as well as the security check into the stadium were a snap. It

 

  wasn't like that this year. Parking and registration were a

 

  nightmare, but is wasn't the fault of Spartan......it was actually the   

 

  fault of Hurricane Milton & the Tampa Bay Rays . Since their 

 

  home venue, Tropicana Field, was destroyed during the

 

  hurricane, they are playing their home games this season at

 

  Steinbrenner Field (spring training home of the New York

 

  Yankees) which is across the street from Raymond James

 

  stadium. The Rays had to use the parking area located at

 

  Raymond James because the Rays had a 4:10 game scheduled the

 

  same day as our event with the Milwaukee Brewers. That meant

 

  Spartan had to reconfigure and reroute the race to accommodate

 

  both events. Parking was very slow as they only had two people

 

  collecting the $10. parking fee that could only be paid by credit/

 

  debit card. The registration tables were placed in an area that had

 

 

  limited access and people thought they had to wait in one long

 

  line instead of multiple smaller lines we Spartans are accustomed

 

  to. Some Spartans waited in line for hours. But just when you

 

  think you've made it into the venue after battling your way past     

 

  parking and registration, then comes the security check. Passing

 

  through the metal detectors and having the security force search

 

  your bags was quite the ordeal for more then a few Spartans.

 

  Numerous Spartans had their gel and mustard packs as well as

 

  their electrolytes packs confiscated and one young lady had to

 

  throw away an empty nalgene bottle she planned to fill once she

 

  entered the venue.  There was also a racer that wasn't allowed to

 

  bring in a banana and had to eat it before entry was granted. Once

 

  inside, there was the normal bag check, store and vendors.

 

                   Course Conditions And Obstacle Layout

 

  Last year's race was HOT & HUMID and I was hoping this year's

 

  race would be different......well, it wasn't!!! It was very HOT &

 

  HUMID and I'm a lifelong Floridian,  so I know about heat.

 

  Over 3200 racers and many more spectators battled the elements

 

  both natural and man made to participate in this stadion spectacle.

 

  The course layout was as follows....4 foot overwalls, jerry can

 

  carry, heavy jump rope, herc hoist (Spartan even lightened up the

 

  bags and some racers still dropped them), then slam ball, push

 

  ups (both slam balls and push ups were in the air conditioned

 

  South Florida Bulls locker room), then onto the stadium grass

 

  field for rope climb, a barbed wire crawl (not usually seen at a

 

  stadion race), box jumps, back into the interior of the stadium

 

  for monkey bars and then to atlas carry. Then a multitude of

 

  corded low crawls up to the top of the stadium where a nice

 

  sandbag carry up and down multiple flights of stairs awaited us.

 

  I passed many Spartans resting in the stadium spectator seats

 

  completely gassed from both the heat and those stairs. Then a

 

  weighted vest along with more corded low crawls took us down

 

  to level two of the stadium where we then engaged the 6 foot

 

  wall and then down to the ground floor where a short run took

 

  us to the multi-rig. The multi-rig has a special configuration for

 

  stadion events as it is rings only and the rings are made of nylon

 

  instead of the medal rings we are used to at the other Spartan

 

 

  events. This will cause you problems with wet/sweaty hands and

 

  with the rings being so light, they can get away from you very

 

  quickly. Another short run to spear throw. Spear throw was set

 

  up in an area of asphalt and concrete and while I had no problem,

 

  Spartans that ran in the afternoon were limited to one working

 

  spear throw lane as the others were all broken from the impacts

 

  with the asphalt and concrete. Then onto the field for the 7 foot

 

  wall, z wall, ram burpees to A frame cargo, the gauntlet and

 

  then the finish line. The obstacles omitted from this years stadion

 

  race were the tonal rotational chop and rolling epic.

 

                  Recommendations And Final Thoughts 

 

  I think Spartan needs to address the following to make this and

 

  all future stadion races more user friendly for both spectators and

 

  participants. They need to double the amount of people collecting

 

  the parking fees from two to four. The registration area needs to

 

  be in a more accessible area as well as someone to direct people 

 

  on where they need to go. They need the race director to meet

 

  with both stadium and security staff to review entry procedures as

 

  well as what is allowed into the venue. Bananas, goo, gels and

 

  electrolytes should not be prohibited items. Racers need to wear

 

 

 

  large wrist sweatbands and carry a microfiber towel to help

 

  alleviate wet hands which will help in completing the grip

 

  obstacles since this race is hot and humid.  With that being said,

 

  I highly recommend trying a Spartan stadion event as it is such a

 

  unique experience. The stadium, the music, seeing yourself and

 

  other Spartans on the jumbotron as well as your interaction with 

 

  the spectators. For just a few hours, you are transported  back to 

 

  the days of ancient Rome, where  you were able to participate in

 

  such a spectacle. I was effected in this way....I was transformed

 

  from your mild mannered OCR Kings reporter at large into your

 

  gladiator, your champion.......... Maximus Bestimus Delirious!!!!

 

  I will leave you with this one final thought.......what we do in

 

  life......echoes in eternity. And until my next report, this is your

 

  OCR Kings reporter as large, David Best, bringing you all the

 

  BEST Spartan offers us!!!!!!!!! 

x

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