In diving into the world of Spartan racing this year Derek and I have met some amazing new friends. We have also had the chance to reconnect with old friends. The spotlight this week is on two friends of mine from high school (friends of Derek’s since middle school). Jay and Cheri both grew up in Pleasanton and now live on opposite sides of the country but they both found Spartan and it has made a huge impact on both of their lives. Here are their stories:
Jay Sherman
Jay Sherman is 45 years old and married with a 12-year old son. His first foray into Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) was the Warrior Dash in 2011 followed by his first Spartan race at Blue Mountain, Pennsylvania that same year. He repeated those two events in 2012 along with two 5K’s. In 2013 he completed two Spartan Sprint distance races and a Super.
In 2014 he took his Spartan racing to a new level with four Sprint distance races, one Super distance, his first Beast distance (completing his first Trifecta which is one race of each of the three distances) and a Sprint Distance Triathlon. You see where this is going right? Spartan racing is addictive. In 2015 he completed three Sprints, two Supers and two Beasts for the Double Trifecta. He was considering a triple trifecta, but unfortunately tore ligaments in my ankle and wasn’t able to get it done that year.
Age has not slowed Jay down one bit. This year he has completed two Sprints, one Super (so far, he says), and two Beasts (so far, there is still lots of time left!). In addition to his Spartans, he also completed a Battlefrog OCR, an Olympic-distance triathlon, and in the last two weeks completed a Half-Ironman triathlon.
Phew. I’m tired just writing his story.
When I asked Jay “Why Spartan?” he replied “Why not?” Since starting racing he has lost about 25 pounds and has become much stronger and at 45 years old he can lift more now than ever before. Plus, he says, doing things that you didn’t think you could do provides a tremendous amount of satisfaction. He’s not sure his calendar will be full of Spartans in 2017, but he will be active. He’s exploring adding a variety of other types of endurance events to his agenda.
Jay’s advice to those who have never done something like this is “Remember to have fun. It’s as close to going out and playing with friends as a kid as we can get now!”
Cheri Raymond
Cheri (Welsh) Raymond is a 46-year-old mother of three grown sons, 24, 21 and 19, and a self-employed commercial property manager. And she is a SPARTAN! When her youngest son was preparing to graduate from high-school she found herself wondering what she was going to fill her time with after spending the prior 19 years volunteering, working in classrooms, cheering on sports teams, watching band events, etc. etc. etc.
In early 2015 she joined a new “OCR” group at her gym. She didn’t even know what OCR was but she wasn’t alone and they were all newbies to the OCR concept. She loved the group of people and she says she “somehow found herself at the starting line” of her first Spartan race in July 2015 at AT&T Park. A “Stadium Spartan” means no mud, no water, and no barbed wire but she was still very scared. She thought, “What am I doing here? I am NOT an athlete, never was. These people are amazing!” BUT she stayed and completed the race (although she says she did a lot of burpees – you have to do 30 full burpees for each obstacle you are unable to complete) and she was hooked!
Cheri said she had such an overwhelming sense of accomplishment when she crossed the finish line. After that race, their “team” decided to complete the Trifecta in 2015 – one Sprint, one Super and one Beast. The closest option for a Beast distance (13+ miles) was the World Championships in Tahoe. She said that was a scary thought! They committed to an OCR training program and worked really hard on becoming better runners and they completed the race! After 7+ hours on the Squaw Valley Mountain, they crossed the finish line and Cheri says she cried. She felt empowered. She felt strong. She felt alive! And she felt tired.
Since starting OCR training and Spartan racing Cheri says now when she is faced with obstacles in her everyday life, she hears the voice in her head telling her, “you CAN do this” instead of “you CAN’T do this” as it had always said before. She says the Spartan race community, mindset and culture have most certainly been a life-changing experience for her.
In addition to feeling empowered, Cheri says some of the people she has met through Spartan races she now calls her very dear friends. She feels thankful to have been brought (maybe kicking and screaming at one point) into this amazing community of like-minded crazy people and she continues to meet new Spartan friends every day.
Age is only a state-of-mind. Cheri says if all goes well in Tahoe this year (October 1/2), she and her husband will achieve their Beast and complete a Double Trifecta. After that they are planning a much-deserved break in November and they will begin to mentally prepare for another year of obstacle course racing in 2017!
Jay and Cheri, YOU are SPARTANS! Aroo!
Recent Comments