Plainsman becomes modern day Elite Spartan
After three years of training, commitment and dedication, a Plainsman has become a modern day Spartan.
In ancient Greece, the Greek city State Sparta was known for its unrivaled elite warrior class. Based on the philosophy that the life of an individual belonged to the state, the culture trained its young men, starting at age seven. The males were raised to be warriors through rigorous training. Their whole life until the age of 60 was a complete devotion to the state and being a warrior.
Moving a few thousand years ahead to today, Plains native, Andrew Leichtnam, has obtained the modern day title of an Elite Spartan.
To obtain the title of a modern Spartan you must complete what as known as a Spartan Race, which is an obstacle race series held across the United States and other countries.
The official website for the series says, “Simply put, Spartan Race is the world’s leading obstacle race series. It’s an event of pure primitive craziness that you’ll never forget!”
There are multiple race types and levels starting at what is called a Spartan Sprint, then a Spartan Super, and lastly a Spartan Beast.
Leichtnam described the races as, “...an obstacle course race lasting anywhere from five miles to 15 miles through the woods, the water, packing logs, packing rocks, running up and down the hills.”
Approximately three years ago Leichtnam started running in the Spartan Races. He said how it was not even his idea. After being convinced by a group of friends while living in Big Sandy, Leichtnam ran in his first Spartan Race in Bigfork in 2013. After this first race Leichtnam said that he was hooked.
“I think it was about 20 of us from Big Sandy, and we had a great time running through the woods, and kind of got addicted to it ever since then,” said Leichtnam.
Since his first race, Leichtnam has competed in eight Spartan races, progressively becoming more and more committed to competing in them. Leichtnam’s latest race was an invitational race, the World Championship Elite Heat. To be invited, Leichtnam had to place within the top 10 racers in an international competition. Including the qualifiers from Spartan races, Olympic Athletes were invited to run in the Elite Heat.
Leichtnam said, “I placed 30th out of 300 in the Elite Competitive Division.” He then added, “It is the worst I’ve ever placed in a race, but it is also probably the best race I’ve ever ran because of the competition that I was against, it was the best competition that you could find. And I ended up beating several people that I’ve never been able to beat before. I was very happy with my performance.”
From the beginning, Leichtnam as been athletic. In college he was a 270 pound nose guard and wrestler, and in high school was the State Champion Wrestler.
Despite all of his athletic achievements, Leichtnam said, “By far, a 15 mile Spartan Race is definitely the most challenging athletic achievement I have ever accomplished. It completely taxes every muscle, your lungs, your heart, your will to survive, it taxes everything.”
To train for such an event, Leichtnam explained that he will dedicate an hour or two everyday to the mission of running competitively in a Spartan Race. He says there is no real science behind training for a Spartan Race.
Leichtnam said, “I’m currently working in a rock quarry, so eight hours a day I’m just picking up rocks, six to eight tons of rock a day with my hands.” He then said he will put a 60 pound sandbag on his back and run up and down the hills in the area or he will do high intensity weight lifting for an hour, or cold lake swimming.” He then said, “I train everyday, I might take one day off a week, but at least for an hour or two hours a day I’m going to be doing something to torture myself. I kind of wonder why I do it sometimes.”
As of right now, Leichtnam said that there is not a race in the immediate future, and the next one will probably be next April or May. Right now he is the Hot Springs Assistant Football Coach along with his quarry job.
He said that he wanted to thank his, “... supportive wife, Mindy, my family and friends, Perma Stone Inc. Creek Side Inn, and the communities of Hot Springs and Plains.”