This weekend is the first mountainous heavy Spartan Ultra event of the season. Mountain Creek Resort in Vernon Township, New Jersey is an iconic venue that Spartan has been doing races at for almost a decade now. And in the Spartan racing community, it’s known as one of the toughest Ultra venues in North America.

So. How tough is it???

How long can we expect to be out there on course???

Will I die???

These. Along with dozens of other questions are often asked by newbies and even the experienced obstacle course racers.

So. We looked into some stats.

We reviewed prior race results since 2016 at this venue and have collected some details.

Check out a list of some quick stats below about FINISHING this iconic ultra race.

• 1st place in the Pro Men division has consistently finished between 6 and 7 hours. Ryan Atkins (the GOAT) is holding that course record of 6:01.
• Some Good and Bad news here. There’s almost zero chance you’ll be out there for more than 15 hours. If you’re moving slower than a 15 hour finish, you’ll likely just get your band cut halfway through.
• If you want to compare yourself against the average finisher. Check the times. If you’re under that 11:45 range, you’re likely doing better than over half the field. And probably well over half, because of the Did Not Finish (DNF) crowd.
• But, unfortunately, we do not have stats on DNF participants.

And if you are interested in PARTICIPATION TRENDS, check these stats over the years.

• 2017, 18 and 19 were killer years. Bringing in some huge participation in this Ultra venue.
• Post-covid the numbers have dropped significantly. There’s no big surprise there, but let’s see if it picks back up or continues to decline.
• Total Women participation in Spartan Ultra’s tends to be between 13.3% – 18.8% of the total, consistently over the 8 races reviewed.

Best of luck to all heading out for the Tri-State Spartan Ultra. Remember to check out the map and make a race and fueling plan.