Spartan Race

The Hurricane Heat in The Spartan Race Explained.

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Not too long ago, the Spartan Race introduced a few new events. One of them is known as the Hurricane Heat and there are 2 different ways you can do it.

This post will show you details on these events, what you need to participate and if it’s even worth doing, so let’s go:

The first is the regular Hurricane Heat (they call it HH) which is far from regular by the way if you know anything about Spartan Races in general. 

In this event you actually compete as a TEAM and have to finish as such. The event can take a whole day and there is actually no time limit in this event. 

Obstacles here are actually unknown to you and the goal of that is to discover them when they are new, as a team, find a way to complete it. While I’ve never done a HH (at least not yet), I have done a few Tough Mudder events and this is very similar to that and speaking from similar experiences, it’s actually a lot of fun to go through these types of events with like minded people who are all willing to help each other. I suspect that the Spartan Race borrowed this idea from Tough Mudder by the way.

When it comes to origins, the way HH was formed was after a Hurricane cancelled one of the events and in spite of that, some of it’s organizers still decided to go through with it and when a lot of people showed up, this eventually led to more similar events taking place, and today we have HH.

So if you enjoy working as a team, have done previous Spartan Race events such as the Spring, Super and Beast, this may be the next challenge for you.

Next up is the 12 hour Hurricane Heat, an “upgrade”:

If you’re a solo type of person, but want the benefits and challenges of running through the regular HH, but without support, then the 12 hour challenge is for you. It’s basically the same exact thing, but you have no team and have to complete everything on your own, in what is basically a 12 hour marathon and arguably tougher than than the Spartan Ultra Beast.

When viewing the official site for this challenge, do note that the organizers strongly advise the right accessories be taken with you since you are going in for a long event. This includes:

1) Proper backpack with FOOD.

Yes, I said food. I assume that this means you won’t get it or drinks or food during the event so you have to rely on yourself. Take my advice in this regard, a multiple time runner through these events and get yourself this backpack, which will help you keep a lot of essentials including food and water and not have to worry about it weighing you down.

Having used that same backpack for multiple events and hikes to this day, it’s long lasting and very convenient to carry around (and again, it’s mud run tested most importantly!).

2) Use good sneakers.

Any multiple time runner through mud runs will tell you that footwear is one of the most important pieces of clothing to have and a lot of people use these sneakers. I’ve run through at least 3 mud runs so far with this SAME pair and it lasts me very long, something you’ll need for your 12 hour HH event. It’ll ensure maximum comfort and safety.

3) Wear light, yet protective clothing.

I would advise comfortable rashguards. We’re talking shirts and leggings. I do not advise that anyone go with minimal clothing to these events. It’s dirty, you can get cut, you will get tired and that is going to lower your immune system, making it likelier to catch something bad. Wearing protective clothing will insulate your body heat, keep your muscles warm and elastic which will allow you to keep moving long term.

Seriously, this is important advice guys. A 12 hour event, likely in the mountains means there’s going to be rapid changes in temperature and especially in the mornings and nights, it will get VERY cold. Keep yourself warm with this mud run clothing, you’ll be happy you did. And don’t forget, you will get wet and dirty, that is just a 100% guarantee with the Spartan Race.

4) Make sure you bring some energy drinks or salts.

Long runs like these are going to make you lose salt through sweat. Replenish it with energy drinks and salt tablets to help the muscles maintain their stability. If you don’t know about this stuff, learn about it here and what else to bring to mud runs, as it’s VERY serious.

Are the HH events worth doing?

You know after having done so many of these mud runs, I’ve got to say that the HH doesn’t really attract me to it. It just seems like another torture event that you pay good money to go through. I’m not against going with a good group of people, but I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t want to pay so much money to get wet and dirty. 

Now that’s my personal though, although I know full well that if I get invited by the same people I usually go with, I’ll probably do it, but more importantly, you need to know that events are nothing to take lightly…

The Spartan Races in general are the hardest mud runs in the industry and these HH events are just another tier up the old events they have created. If you aren’t in shape, if you haven’t done these events before, do not do HH until you are or do the previous ones. You are doing yourself a disservice and if you go with a team unprepared, you are going to weigh them down, believe me.

Make sure you have experience in doing mud runs and are in EXCELLENT shape to do the HH events. Nothing short of these qualifications makes doing these events worth it. They will test you and if you haven’t gone through that mental/physical ordeal before, you will not be able to do this.

An Easy Way to do Tyrolean Traverse on The Spartan Race.

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tyrolean traverse spartan race

So I have done the Tyrolean Traverse twice now and both times, I ended up doing it in a way that I felt was easier than the official method that was shown to me by experts who do the Spartan Race.

For some reason I felt this method I’ll explain is much easier to execute for beginners. 

This is what the Tyrolean Traverse looks like in a Spartan Race:

tyrolean traverse spartan race

It’s an obstacle on the Spartan Race where you hang upside down and pull yourself from one end of the rope to the other. The rope (it could be a thick wire actually) is attached to 2 props that keep it in place so it doesn’t rip. 

Now “officially” the method by which most experts recommend “traversing” this obstacle is by hanging upside down, just like most people would at the start (there’s also a version where you can hang on top of the rope with one foot down and drag yourself over it). 

However, the thing they recommend is pulling yourself with your hands one on top of the other and using your feet as well and having your feet cross over one another each time your hands pull you up. Think of a sloth climbing a tree branch horizontally, speed it up and you have yourself the recommended strategy for the Tyrolean Traverse.

Now I have to mention it because I do think there will be people who will benefit from it and will be able to do it. But I just couldn’t…

After finishing my Spartan Super in 2015, and doing that obstacle for the first time, I though I had it figured it, but when I saw the strategy I just explained on doing it, not only did I not do it the way it was suggested, but coming into my next event which was the Spartan Beast about a month ago, I felt like I could pull of the suggested strategy.

However…

After trying it out and failing again, I reverted back to the original method I used in 2015 and that’s what I’ll explain here. I honestly think it’s a lot easier in that it doesn’t require such graceful technique as the experts version does.

In fact, from my own viewpoint, I saw a BUNCH of other competitors try out the expert version and fail. Most of them really ended up either failing because they spent too much time hanging on the rope, trying to figure out the technique and others just ended up doing it in one way or another like I did.

There’s just a graceful technique that requires lots of practice to pull it off. But because I was tired, and not fully prepared for it, I decided to just do it the way I originally did.

So here is my super basic technique for handling this obstacle:

Hang upside down like any normal person would on this thing.

Cross your legs so one is on top of the other. I find this gives you a better grasp on the rope and there’s less chances of falling.

Just use your hands to pull yourself up, in a “heave ho” manner. Use both hands at the same time because it’ll be easier to pull yourself up.

Just use that method until you reach the end and hit the bell (I forgot to mention, there’s a bell you have to whack to signify that you passed the obstacle). 

the wrong way to do a tyrolean traverse

Recommended safety suggestions: 

The worst thing that came happen from doing this obstacle and “my” method of it is that your legs can get rope burn from the friction. 

To avoid this, simply wear some sort of leggings, socks or protection so that tears against the rope and not your skin. 

If you are the crazy type of person who enjoys running these events without proper clothing (there’s a lot of dangers in that), just wear knee pads. 

When you get to the Tyrolean Traverse, let the knee pads hang down so they are by your sneakers. You’ll find that when you wrap your legs around the rope, the area where the rope will touch your legs will be the same area that knee pad is on, so that will protect you from the friction. Here’s great mud run clothing tips.

Additionally, what helped me out was wearing baseball gloves. It sounds crazy but these things have a rubbery material on the palm that makes things like rope climbing and pulling so much easier. Of course, you will need to have great grip as well. 

There is strength required for the Tyrolean Traverse, so prepare accordingly:

If you’re good with any sort of upper body training, you should be perfectly fine on this obstacle. If not, start training for it by rope climbing, doing pull ups and similar upper body exercises.

One thing I mentioned that I did in preparation for the Spartan Race was I practiced a lot of Jiu Jitsu which is a martial art. One thing we do to improve our hand strength and grip is that we lay down on the floor (on the stomach) and use only our hands to drag ourselves across the floor. 

This is an incredible workout that really helped me out during the Spartan Race. Of course if you don’t do martial arts, there’s ways you can mimic this type of working.

One thing that may work for you is lying down on your own floor and using your palms to drag your body across it. You’ll find that your hand strength will increase a lot after you do this a couple of times.

Not only will this type of workout prepare you for the Tyrolean Traverse (which honestly isn’t that hard of an obstacle), but it will also improve your body’s resilience to the other obstacles you’ll encounter on the Spartan Race.

I’m absolutely sure there’s going to be experts who do this obstacle that will tell me the official version with using their legs is the best way to go and honestly, I’m still looking to try it.

It does save energy and does make it easier to traverse this thing, but honestly, it requires in my opinion a lot of technique which if you don’t have the time to practice or an area to practice it, you should probably rely on my more beginner friendly technique.