Spartan Race was founded in 2001 by Joe Desena, Mike Morris, Andy Weinberg, Selicia Sevigny, Richard Lee, Brian Duncanson, Shaun Bain, and Noel Hanna. Each has an extensive background in athletics, racing, and service. The Spartan Death Race originated in 2004 as a seed for future Spartan Races and was founded by Andy Weinberg and Joe Desena. The first Spartan Death Race was run on June 9, 2007 in Pittsfield, VT. The first Spartan Race event was held in 2010 at the Catamount Outdoor Center in Williston, Vermont and represented the city of Burlington, Vermont. Roughly 500 competitors had to “run, crawl, jump and swim” and overcome a variety of obstacles at the first ever Spartan Race. All finishers received a medal and prizes were awarded to the top athletes—a precedent that lives on today. Currently, Spartan Race attract thousands of athletes to each event. Spartan Race is a series of obstacle races of varying distance and difficulty ranging from 1 mile to marathon distances: the Spartan Sprint (3+ miles of obstacle racing), the Super Spartan (8+ miles), the Spartan Beast (12+ miles), and the Ultra Beast (26+ miles – one of two marathon obstacle courses along with Mudderthon). Spartan Race also has a time-trial obstacle course race that is one mile in length, and has a military series in which obstacles are designed by the United States military. Spartan Race’s parent company, Peak Races, hosts the Spartan Death Race, 48+ hour extreme test of endurance and resilience. In a Spartan Race event, “participants will confront obstacles ranging from extreme to absurd that gain their inspiration from sources as varied as Spartan training, Navy SEAL training and American Gladiators”. ESPN describes the Spartan Race as “a true test of will.”