Spartan Race organizers look to forming another race in 2014

Chelsea Torres stood dripping wet after the Spartan Race in Bigfork last Saturday, trying to wash off the mud on her black yoga pants in a line of other racers using an outdoor shower.

She finished the five-mile course in two hours 15 minutes by herself, and did all the obstacles — except one — on her own.

The Eureka woman said she wanted to be “super spontaneous” and signed up for the race, then trained hard over the last four months. Much of her training focused on upper-body strength. Running helped also. “A lot of it is being able to keep your lungs going,” she said. The first obstacle she  encountered was a large water and mud hole, and she fell in up to her head.

Although exhausted after the race, Torres said she’d consider doing a Spartan Race again. “Maybe in a couple of years,” she said. “I did it so I could say ‘I did that.’”

The Spartan Race was sponsored by the Kalispell Convention and Visitor Bureau. Director Diane Medler said the race was a success and helped draw 4,300 registrants — 64 percent of whom were from out of the area. Kalispell-area hotels were at full capacity for the weekend, Medler said, “and in my opinion that’s pretty good.”

She said the visitor bureau wants to put on another race next year at the same race site three miles south of Bigfork. The land just south of Saddlehorn development is owned by Flathead Lake Lodge.

Medler said the focus of the Spartan Race was to create a destination event that will draw visitors to Kalispell and the 17 lodging properties that are part of the visitor bureau.  And that, she said, should help Bigfork. “Our focus is the Kalispell hotels,” she said. “It’s all a positive to bring this many people to the Flathead Valley. The reach is way beyond Kalispell, and we hope the Bigfork leaders recognize the benefit of this event. I’m sure all the surrounding communities were impacted by this.”