“Spartans! What is your profession?”
“Aroo! Aroo! Aroo!”
It was at that moment that I realized I was meant to be at my Spartan race. Or maybe I was just engorged with adrenaline… Either way, I was motivated and happier than you could imagine!
Then, when I finished the first of many Spartan races to come, I felt like I was on top of the world!
I had trained for this challenge for a long time. And I mean a long time!
Why did this Spartan race mean so much to me?
As a husband, dad, and full-time IT security professional, my life is plentiful with routines. Getting the kids up and ready for school…Picking them up and dropping them off from school… Walking the dog… Doing the dishes… Laundry… Work projects, daily standups, project Zoom calls, BAU tasks… Self-development for work… Getting dinner ready and putting the kids to bed…
Sometimes, it’s easy to get so wrapped up in these routines that the core stuff – the stuff that really excites you – gets lost. Days, weeks, months, school years go by easily… Our lives may get marginally better, but overall, things just stay status quo. Then, we wake up one day and feel a hole. Something deep down inside that’s missing… A hunger for something greater. A hunger for meaning. For connection. For battle.
Why Busy Dads Need Challenge
Technology and the conveniences of modern-day life allow dads today to live their routine-driven lives with minimal disruption:
- We can order just about anything online from groceries to fast food to clothes, books, gadgets, car parts, and materials for home repairs.
- We get our shows and movies on-demand.
- Our smartphones call, text, and provide us with apps to track and immediately access whatever we want.
- The cloud protects us from losing files and pictures that are important to us.
- We have robots to clean our floors, pools, gutters, and even mow our backyards.
- Social media lets us share our personal moments with friends and family on the other side of the globe.
- We have unmanned weaponized aircraft in our military to do reconnaissance and remotely wipe out enemy bunkers.
- We have robots to detonate potentially dangerous bombs.
- And if we need to see a doctor for a checkup? There’s Telehealth for that.
Dads today also have the option to join the military too if they wish, get an online degree, or pursue a corporate job working from home full-time.
Most of these conveniences today didn’t exist forty or fifty years ago. Yet, when we look back at the lives of many of our grandfathers and great-grandfathers, we enviously say, “Now there’s a guy who’s tough.”
The difference is that life was naturally riddled with challenges for them. They didn’t have to go looking for challenges. One of those guys could wake up one day, open the door, and find out they’ve been drafted to go to war. They could’ve been stuck in an industrial job working 10+ hours days with little rest. If they got seriously hurt, they were fucked.
Dads of old lived lives full of challenges:
- They often had to prove themselves by being the best.
- They had to take risks and “man up” to stay marketable in the world.
- To get the girl, they had to have a job and be hot shit.
- They had to work hard to ensure their family was fed and they had a comfortable place to live.
- They had to prove themselves to earn respect and make a decent living.
- To ensure their family would be protected and their heirs would have a good start in life, they had to earn status.
Dads today don’t have to worry about most of those challenges, which is why, after days, weeks, months, or even years of continuous modern-day routine, we often yearn for a challenge like our ancestors had. We wish for an opportunity to prove ourselves. We yearn for something beyond us – something raw and incomprehensibly difficult with purpose.
So why obstacle course races?
Ever since the ancient stadium Olympic Games, obstacle course races have provided the following:
Social belonging/camaraderie
As technology, industry, and viruses separate us, dads have become increasingly isolated, becoming more disconnected from other dads. The only things that bring many of us together these days are family gatherings, birthday parties, and the holidays.
When we’re in a tight-knit group of other dads with a common purpose, we connect and support each other.
Out there on the course, when we’re running with other Spartans, we feel that same sense of belonging and we root each other on, regardless of what walk of life we come from. Then, after the race is over, we share those stories with other racers and we fuel up on motivation to prepare for the next one.
Gladiator-like grit
As dads, our first encounter with grit is feeding the baby and changing diapers for weeks – even months – on end with little sleep. Then as we get more experienced with “dad life,” things get easier. At least for a little while… Then, we have another kiddo and it’s hard again for a little while. But then as they get older, we adapt and overcome… With each kiddo after that, it gets physically difficult in the short term, but mentally, we’re there thinking, “Yeah, been there, done that. Got the ‘cool dad’ shirt already. Drank the Kool-Aid.”
There’s no doubt that the act alone of being a dad bestows upon us an inherent level of grit, but how strong is that grit when faced with immense adversity? How strong will your spirit be when your company’s just been bought out and your sewage pump “shit the bed?” How strong will it be after you’ve lost a friend recently to suicide, and you have to self-quarantine with your family for the next 10 days because you were just in close contact with someone that had COVID-19? These are not uncommon scenarios in today’s world, but the more of them you string together in a row, the easier it is to crack.
Spartan races, like most obstacle course races or mud runs, build grit by taking you out of your comfort zone and keeping you right at your edge. It temporarily takes away the stresses of your daily life and forces you to solve problems in the moment.
You don’t have room to think about anything else when you’re on the course. It’s just you, your fellow Spartans, and the obstacles that lie ahead. The only thing that matters is that you finish and you push past your limits to make sure that happens.
Unlike typical races, with Spartan races, you need a wide array of attributes – strength, endurance, mobility, agility, and power. Also, you need to be able to tap into these attributes while trudging through mud, while running with wet gear, and while doing all of these obstacles in various types of weather.
Meaning/purpose
The all-encompassing process of preparing for and running an obstacle course race, especially the first time, brings with it a tidal wave of feelings:
- Excitement
- Anticipation
- Nervousness
- Frustration
- Overwhelm
- Pride
- Fulfillment
We invest so much time and effort into them that the act of just finishing one brings a great sense of accomplishment into our lives. Repeated over time, these challenges and all the training we do leading up to them become part of who we are.
As dads, sometimes our lives seem to drag on and lack a greater sense of purpose because we get lost in the day-to-day routines. We forget that with or without kids, we are still an individual with an important role to play in this world, and we deserve to be happy.
As a dad, I believe having kids either magnifies our purpose in this life or creates an intense realization that we want purpose. When we ignore that purpose or that need for purpose, our kids, being the little barometers they are, feel it. After some time, they, along with our coworkers, peers, and spouses, pick up on our discontentment.
Obstacle course racing fills that hole for thousands of dads all over the world. Whether it’s a couple Spartan races a year or racing as an elite, there’s no denying the sense of purpose and fulfillment that OCR has brought into the lives of all these men.
Are you a busy dad seeking a challenge?
Are you looking for an opportunity outside of your day-to-day that lights you up?
Spartan races and most other obstacle course races can give you the challenge you need.
OCR has given my life connection, meaning, and undeniable grit amidst a busy family and work life. As a result, I’m a better, happier, more resilient man in almost every other area of my life. Not only are my basic needs met, but I’m more fulfilled in the process.
With that said, it’s clear that challenges like Spartan races have a place for us busy dads. We need them. Technology and the events of today’s society have driven many of us to isolation and complacency. Today more than ever, we need challenges to help us grow and become the best dads we can be. To help us show up for our kids and our spouses. To help us make an impact in this world. We also need them to keep us connected yet strong in the face of adversity.
If you’re a fellow dad, let me ask you this:
Do you have enough challenges in your life?
