We Are Spartan

This thesis looks into the world of Spartan races and the ties it has with Ancient Sparta. Spartan races are just one variation of the rapidly growing sport of Obstacle Course Racing (OCR). An application was submitted in 2017 to add obstacle course racing to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, but was denied at the time. The world of Spartan racing was introduced to me by Luis Camacho and Daniele Ippoliti. In February 2017, I followed Camacho and Ippoliti as they went on to tackle the Spartan Sprint. I was curious as to what the rapidly evolving sport entailed and how it got started. Through my research I discovered that the Spartan brand offers more races than just the three commonly known races that make up the Trifecta. The Spartan series also offers many endurance challenges. While looking into the endurance challenges, I discovered a direct tie to Ancient Sparta. The hardest challenge offered by the Spartan brand is the Spartan Agoge. Spartan Race founder and CEO, Joe De Sena, created the Spartan Agoge in an attempt to bring the Ancient Spartan philosophy to modern times. Ancient Sparta is known for their military and strict training system, which is called the Agoge. "We Are Spartan" takes a look into the way of life for the ancient Spartans and how it came to life in Joe De Sena's creation of the modern day Spartan Agoge. We Are Spartan is part of the Spartan mission statement that "We are Spartans on and off the course."