Courtesy of Spartan Race
Spartan Race recently announced they are offering two different ways for elites and age groupers to qualify for the Spartan World Championship being held at North Lake Tahoe, California on September 29.
Path #1 – Qualifying Spots
Spartan is holding more than a dozen regional and national race series around the globe in 2019, with series being held in such places as Italy, South America, and Southeast Asia. Each series hosts several races, and each series gets a certain number of qualifying spots for the World Championship. Rank high enough on the leaderboard at the end of a series, and you qualify for Tahoe.
Infographic: Spartan Race
Path #2 – Qualify Through Regional Championships
Another path to the Spartan World Champs passes through one of five regional championships: the North American Championship, South American Championship, European Championship, Asia-Pacific Championship, and the Middle East and Africa Championship.
Athletes hoping to compete in any of these Regional Championships must first qualify a can qualify by finishing among the top 10 male or female elite or age group racers at any 2019 Spartan event. Each regional championship will offer qualifying spots for the World Championship. Do well enough at a regional championship, and you qualify for Tahoe.
The Rolldown
Elites can also benefit from Spartan’s “rolldown” format. That means if someone who qualifies for the World Championship doesn’t sign up within seven days after an event, that qualifying spot is then made available to the next eligible racer.
Just qualifying for the World Championship will be an impressive accomplishment. Only 600 elite spots – 300 each for men and women – are available. Just 2,000 total spots are available for age groupers. Each age group will have 200 spots, with 100 each for men and women.
The World Championship races will be held Sunday, September 29. Open racers will get to experience the course first on Saturday, September 28.
Good stuff, Dan. I’m interested in qualifying for Tahoe in the men’s 30-34 Age Group division (or is it 30-39? Things keep changing, and it’s a bit confusing). I understand path #2. I think it’s rather simple to understand. Path #1 is more confusing at this point. Let’s say I’m trying to qualify via path #1: Is there some sort of tally happening where they’re averaging your points for your top 5 races or something? I only plan on running about 3-4 Spartan Races this year (including World Championships). Should I just try to do well on Path #2? Would I have to run 5+ races to be eligible to qualify via path #1? Does this make sense?