Last weekend, the third edition of the world’s largest obstacle race – the Santa Domenica Spartan Trifecta Weekend – was held in Sveta Nedelja. At the event, 2,250 competitors from all over the world demonstrated their physical fitness, endurance and mental strength – from as far away as Japan, Chile, the United States to the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Sweden and the Netherlands, and an impressive 40% of the competitors came from Croatia. At the opening of the races, the mayor of Sveta Nedelja and one of the participants of the Santa Domenica Spartan Trifecta Weekend, Dario Zurovec, pointed out that this is the largest event they have organized so far. He is especially pleased with the fact that this year they exceeded last year’s number of participants, setting a new record with more than two thousand competitors from 20 different countries. “This international sporting event not only tests the limits of strength and endurance, but also strongly brands Sveta Nedelja as a destination for adrenaline sports and top challenges,” said Zurovec. Sveta Nedelja, at least for a few days, became a true capital of active living, sportsmanship and tourism, and the desire to win and the Spartan mentality were the main driving forces. The youngest participant, a 4-year-old Spartan, competed in the children’s 800-meter race with 7 obstacles, while the oldest was 64 years old and successfully completed the 10K race with 25 obstacles called the Super in the competitive category. In addition to the aforementioned, the intrepid participants also “battled” the weather elements in the Sprint race (5K with 20 obstacles), a night version of the same race in which the moon and headlamps illuminated the path of the unstoppable competitors, and the 21K race with 30 obstacles – the Beast. On Saturday, the first day of the competition, the most brutal race took place – the Beast – 21K long, during which competitors had to overcome the most difficult obstacles, of which the Spartans had the most trouble carrying concrete balls weighing 40 kilograms for men and 20 kilograms for women, shooting a javelin at a target and carrying sandbags weighing 22.5 kilograms. Given that the event takes place several months earlier than its previous editions, weather conditions were favorable to the competitors, and the cooler spring temperatures softened the harshness of Spartan’s toughest race, although the greatest challenge then was the obstacles that required participants to enter the water. Saturday was also a kind of family day at the Santa Domenica Spartan Trifecta Weekend, as the children’s race and the Night Sprint took place. First, parents cheered on their fearless young sports hopefuls in races from 800 meters to 3 kilometers that brought together children from 4 to 14 years old, and then they saw off their parents on a real 5K night adventure that brought with it a completely new dimension of OCR competition – navigating challenging, uneven terrain and successfully crossing as many as 20 different obstacles, the favorite of which was jumping over fire as the last obstacle in the race that marked its end and the successful victory of each individual over the greatest enemy – themselves.
“I’ve been competing in Spartan for 10 years, and this is my second time at the Santa Domenica Spartan Trifecta Weekend, and I’m glad that I managed to improve my result this year and move up from third to first place on the podium. The route is well designed, and Sveta Nedelja is a beautiful location, and I really enjoyed competing here. I was lucky because the competitors behind me failed to hit the target with the javelin, so I won convincingly. The weather was beautiful, and my favorite obstacle was carrying a log through the water – which additionally refreshed me when the sun started to burn, but my hands were still freezing, which brought me a greater challenge in overcoming the obstacles that followed,” said the winner of the Beast race in the Elite category, Jan Vladar from Slovakia. On the last day of the event, Sunday, competitors in the Sprint and Super categories took to the field. Their challenge, although smaller in terms of distance and number of obstacles compared to the Beast race, lay not only in successfully overcoming obstacles and reaching the finish line, but also in battling the weather conditions and much colder weather compared to the previous day. Due to the weather conditions on the ground, part of the route was adjusted so that participants did not enter the water for their own safety. However, this did not stop the adrenaline-hungry competitors from bravely starting their races and, step by step, obstacle by obstacle, reaching the much-desired title of Spartan. With each new competitor who successfully crossed the finish line, the sun rose higher and the weather slowly improved. The culmination of the entire day occurred in the battle for third place on the Super Race podium in the Elite category between Miloš Rajičević from Serbia and Bendeguz Kives from Hungary, who crossed the finish line at lightning speed in the same second, and neither the photo finish nor the shots from all angles helped in accurately determining who was faster by a hundredth of a second – so both of them triumphantly, and deservedly, took 3rd place on the throne. “I’ve been participating in the Santa Domenica Spartan Trifecta Weekend since the first year, and this year I competed in the Super distance and should have been first, but since I didn’t hit the target with the javelin, I had to do the penalty marines. I lost a lot of time and the first two places there, but I still did my best to get on the podium,” said third-place finisher Miloš Rajičević about his crazy experience at the race.
The unique energy of each competitor created an unimaginable atmosphere in the festival part of the competition, and the already very well-known Spartan exclamations echoed through Orešje and Sveta Nedelja almost as if we were on a movie set, and not in the real, undirected world.
In addition to the regular Spartan competitions, the Santa Domenica Spartan Trifecta Weekend also included the Croatian OCR Championship, which took place on Sunday. Renato Kuzek, Luka Horvat and Luka Flegaru excelled in the men’s category, while the most successful in the women’s category were Kristina Šimatić, who defended her title from last year, Sara Petak and Lucija Rupnik. Although this is only the 2nd edition of this championship, the progress in popularizing OCR as a sport in Croatia is undeniable, and all further efforts by associations and individuals who continue to promote it will only accelerate its progress.
“The feeling after this victory is truly incredible! I am very happy and grateful because I managed to defend the title of national champion in OCR and win gold for the first time in the Age Group category at the Spartan Race – and on home soil. The race was fast and fun, and the organization and atmosphere were truly excellent! This victory is additional motivation for me for new challenges, with the aim of promoting OCR sport among young people and representing Croatia at international competitions,” said national champion in obstacle races, Kristina Šimatić.
For all of you who, due to lack of free time or courage, were unable to participate in the Santa Domenica Spartan Trifecta Weekend, there is another chance to try your hand at the ultimate physical training ground this October on Hvar when the Spartan World Championship will take place there.