The Spartan Death Race: Hunger

Throughout the life of a human being, we become complacent with the life that we live. We end up forgetting what if feels like to actually live life and appreciate all we have and open our eyes and soak in the world around us.  Individuals immerse themselves in what they feel satisfies a deep hunger that they cannot explain.  Business, power, glory?  What are we trying to satisfy?  Why can’t we find that one thing that fills us up? “Adventure races” as they call them, have become the thing of the present and future. On-lookers don’t understand them, most racers themselves can’t grasp why they put themselves through these torturous events. Why?  It seems that The Spartan Death Race has the answer.

Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Anne Mulcahy (Xerox), and Howard Schultz (Starbucks), are some of the greatest business minds of today. If you ask them, money is not a driving force, but the notion of taking an idea from a piece of paper and creating an empire makes them feel alive.  Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls), Pele (Brazil), and Ayrton Senna (F1) are considered by most as some of the greatest athletes of all time in their respective sports.  From the rise of the noise of a thunderous crowd to the hushing of thousands of opposing fans in matter of seconds, it’s the feeling of being alive.  Barack Obama (USA), Vladimir Putin (Russia), and The Pope, are some of the most powerful people on the planet. Famous and infamous figures in history have described the idea of power to be the ultimate position of how it actually feels to be 'alive'.

Adventure races have taken the world by storm, from 5k's to races that last days at a time.  The Tough Mudder, The Warrior Dash, The Civilian Military Combine, GoRuck, or S.E.R.E Performance...the list goes on and on.  Every race is trying to top the next, whether it’s with time, distance, difficulty of obstacles, or just plain craziness. All roads lead to the Spartan Death Race.  The founders thought every other race in the world to be a little 'soft'.  Over 300 participants will take a shot at this test. Only 15% or less will finish.  Whether the task is chopping wood for hours at a time and carrying it for miles or making yourself like a Tootsie Roll and roll for miles and be quizzed after stirring animal guts in the process, these athletes will do what it takes to accomplish what they came for.  This type of athlete wants to see how far is too far, when 'too much' is too much, when enough is enough, when tears of joy are actually tears of pain.

We become complacent with our day to day lives and end up forgetting what if feels like to actually live. We need to appreciate that we can open our eyes and embrace the world around us. My name is Zoltan Torrico, and I am competing in the 2013 Spartan Death Race. I have run barefoot through the streets of Washington, D.C. for miles with GoRuck. I have eaten my share of sand on the beaches of Virginia with S.E.R.E. Performance. Family, friends, and strangers have asked 'why?' Why do I put myself through such stupidity and torture?  I shrug my shoulders and say “I don’t know.” Deep down inside I know I'm not alone when I repeat to myself the Spartan Death Race motto - ‘You May Die’.  What I really hear is ‘get ready to live’...