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!!!!!!!!!
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2025 Spartan Palm Beaches
Race Review
The 2025 Spartan Palm Beaches race was held at the Sunset Cove Amphitheater and grounds the weekend of March 29 – 30. The amphitheater has played host to many national acts such as The Zac Brown Band, Willie Nelson, Darius Rucker, Sublime with Rome, Yes and numerous others. The venue can accommodate a maximum of six thousand people. The venue also has two lakes for fishing and other water sports as well as picnic areas, ball fields, a dog park and a 27 hole public golf course. There are plenty of things to keep you busy at the venue once your Spartan Race experience is over for the day.
Venue Logistics
The venue is evenly spaced between the Palm Beach International and the Fort Lauderdale International airports as well as easily accessed by both the Florida Turnpike and I-95 so traffic delays are minimal. The venue has numerous dining and hotel options available within 5 to 10 minutes. The beach is about ½ hour from the venue if you need to work on your post race tan. Parking at the venue was no problem as we parked on the grass near the entrance to the venue.
Festival Area And Race Review
The festival area was in the same area as in previous years with dining options that included Up In Smoke BBQ as well as Travelin' Tom's Coffee and Tikiz Shaved Ice & Ice Cream. Spartan has now partnered with Real American Beer so at least we Spartans now get a real beer post race instead of the seltzer they've been handing out in prior races.
The
race was a Sprint only event week and the obstacles reflected that. The race began with hurdles then over walls
(4 foot) before coming to a slight cliff climb that included ropes to
aid in the climb. Then monkey bars, bucket carry that did include some
undulation, then a decent run before hitting the inverted wall, another
long run before coming to the six foot wall and a shallow lake crossing.
Then vertical cargo, sandbag carry, spear throw, helix and then to herc
hoist. One thing that never gets old at the Sprint events are the new
racers and watching them learn about the obstacles and herc hoist didn't
disappoint. A young man was next to me and got his bag to the top....the next
thing I know the bag was speeding down with him still holding the rope
and he goes head over heels into the metal fencing that surrounds the
hoist. The only thing he hurt was his pride as his buddies got the whole thing
on video. From herc hoist, we hit slip wall, atlas carry, plate drag, barb
wire crawl, rope climb, multi-rig, A frame cargo and the finish line. The
obstacles omitted from this years race were rolling mud, dunk wall, Z wall and the fire jump. The race weekend was well attended with over 2,900
racers on Saturday and 1,100 on Sunday. The weather was partly cloudy on
both Saturday and Sunday with light showers on Sunday morning that did
make the overhead grip obstacles quite challenging. One thing the
venue didn't have this year was a shower area, but since there wasn't really
any mud at this years venue, it wasn't a big deal and if you needed a post
race bath, just hit the lakes.
Final Thoughts And Recommendations
Even though this is just a Sprint only weekend event, I just love this race. After pounding out Trifecta weekends in SoCal, Houston and Atlanta, this race comes at the right time as you can relax and have fun as well as work on your spear throw and grip obstacles. It's also a great venue to try for your personal best time on the Sprint, but if you do, sign up for the Sunday morning Sprint as there are a lot less participants. This is also a great venue to bring the family to as you can fit in two Sprints and have the rest of the day to swim, fish or hit the beaches. Until my next Spartan race review, this is your reporter at large for OCR Kings David Best.
