The Spartan Race is coming to Red Deer’s Heritage Ranch July 22nd and 23rd, with challenges for everyone to overcome.

The event is an obstacle course race focused on endurance and physical and mental strength.

“The idea is not only that you’re running through the course and getting over these obstacles, but there are obstacles that are going to challenge you mentally throughout,” said Stacie Smith, national program manager for Spartan Race Canada.

Smith said one could be scared of heights, but there will be an A-frame that one will need to climb over, which is a 30 ft. structure with a cargo net that participants need to climb up and down to get to the other side.

“There’s things you have to crawl under, so for some people that’s disconcerting or not in their comfort zone.

“Getting muddy is also really hard for people,” she said, adding that some want to just be road runners and aren’t used to racing deep in mud.

She said there are also some parts of the race where participants will need a friend or someone they don’t even know to boost them up over a wall as they may not have the ability to do it on their own.

“So on some of those obstacles there’s a bit of teamwork in there as well.”

There is also a part of the obstacle course that requires the runners to jump over a bonfire – this takes place near the end of the race.

With different divisions of the Spartan Race, there is something for everyone.

One of the options is the Sprint, which is the shortest distance run – perfect for athletes of all levels. It’s a five- to eight km race with 20 to 23 obstacles to complete.

The Super is Spartan’s middle distance course with a longer distance than the Sprint with more obstacles.

It’s a 13- to 16 km race with 24 to 29 obstacles. There is also a Junior race for the little guys that want to run a race, with lower kilometres.

The race takes place July 22nd and 23rd with the first race starting on the Saturday at 8:30 a.m.

“In Red Deer, because it’s on a motor cross site, it’s going to be a little flatter than some of our other courses, so it’s probably going to be a bit longer, whereas for the ski hill we’ve got the vertical in there and that makes it much more physically difficult for athletes,” said Smith.

The Spartan Race sees nine race weekends across the country with the majority of them including a Sprint and a Super. Some of the races also include something called a Beast, which is over 13 km long.

Smith said Spartan athletes will come out from across the country as there are different obstacle race series as well.

She said Spartan is one of the more competitive races where there are timing chips, making it a bit more competitive than some of the other just for fun races.

“So those Spartan athletes have chosen Spartan as their obstacle course race of choice, and they’ll actually follow our calendar and come out to as many as possible,” said Smith.

She said there are a variety of categories people can choose from including Elite Men, Elite Women, and Competitive and Open which is for those that have never done the race before, or someone who is doing it to complete it as their own personal challenge.

People can also register for the race as part of a team.

For more, visit spartanrace.ca.