Spartan Sprint, Super, 10k Trail - Palmerton PA 7/13,7/14

Jul 17, 20249 min read

Updated: Feb 8

Overview

Anyone who has run Spartan Races on the East Coast is familiar with Palmerton. It has been at Blue Mountain Ski Resort (Blue Mountain, 2024) for over 10 years; a Super and Sprint weekend (last year Spartan added a 10k Trail) since its inception. Many Spartans may be reluctant to travel to this location for only an S/S, more so since trifecta weekends have proliferated. This Sitrep is constructed to document the 2024 race, highlight differences with the previous versions, and make the case that Palmerton should be on your race schedule in future seasons. Additionally, the Appendix includes an interview with an OCR Kings subscriber who ran the event and recommendations for things to do in the greater Palmerton region outside of the race. So grab a cup of Death Wish Coffee (Death Wish Coffee, 2024) and prop your eyelids open with toothpicks, it’s Sitrep time!

Logistics

If you are flying, the Allentown Bethlehem Airport (ABE, 2024) is located 40 minutes south of the race site and ten minutes from Allentown, PA. It is one of the easiest airports on the entire race schedule to navigate, get a reasonably priced flight, and get to after the race. TSA lines are never long, and car rental is a short walk from baggage claim for those trusting souls who check baggage (not me, but you have my respect). They also offer later flights on Sunday, making it easy to run on Sunday and still have time to get to the airport. Allentown is at the crossroads of several major highways, so driving is not an issue, and there are a variety of hotels within 30 minutes of the race site. I have rarely seen hotels sell out, but I have been staying at the same hotel for the last few years and booked early.

Geology

The race is located in the Poconos, a region of old-growth forested mountain peaks, valleys, and lakes in eastern Pennsylvania. Pocono is derived from the Lenape Native American word Pokawachne, which means a “stream between two mountains,” and gives you an idea of how long this area has been inhabited (Pocono Mountains, 2024). The geographical Pocono region is a subrange of the Allegheny Plateau, part of the Allegheny Mountain chain. This entire mountain range was created when Africa slammed into the ancient continent of Laurentia 270 million years ago, before the breakup of Pangea (Allegheny, 2024). As a result, the Poconos are characterized by a coarse-grained gray sandstone rock from the late Devonian, making them over 300 million years old. So when you are running this course, kicking and stepping over millions of loose rocks, keep in mind that these rocks were here before the dinosaurs. When you run Palmerton, you become intimately familiar with these sandstone rocks. They are everywhere.

The Appalachian Mountains are one of the oldest mountain chains in the world and make a great setting for the Palmerton Spartan Race.

Venue

Blue Mountain Ski Resort has hosted this event for at least ten years. There is ample parking in front of the venue, which means no shuttle bus. Though Spartan does not have access to the ski lodge, there is plenty of room for a large festival area. This weekend, there were at least 20 vendors, including a Spartan Plus tent typically reserved for trifecta weekends. There were 5 different food trucks, chiropractors, IV tents, a local hospital offering a recovery tent, and various military recruitment tents. One of the vendors that has been at other races this year is Shield Tape (similar to KT Tape). They provided free taping for athletes and offered some good deals on their products. I find Shield easier to apply than KT Tape, and I always tape my knees before a mountain race for purely preventative reasons to aid in recovery and to help on severe downhills (Shield Fitness, 2024). Shield is a small, family-owned company based in New England. I buy and recommend their products.

Blue Mountain has a summit elevation of 1,400 feet. Readers may begin hysterically laughing at this point and thinking, “What is the big deal? I can run up and down my driveway and get

The starting line of the Palmerton Super sends you right up the mountain.

1,400 ft over a 10k distance.” You are completely correct, I understand, Grasshopper, but the ski resort has over 40 trails, including several intermediate and expert. The expert slopes have a vertical drop of 1,087 feet, the largest vertical drop in Pennsylvania (Blue Mountain, 2024). The race uses the expert slopes and cuts through the woods to connect to the other expert slopes; this results in some extreme elevation gain over a short mileage. The starting race announcer characterized Palmerton as a mini-Killington. Though that might be an exaggeration, it is not undeserved. The Palmerton Super thinks it’s a Beast, so if you are considering Killington, run Palmerton, multiply by four, and take it from there.

Weather

Mountain courses are infamous for variable weather. For several years, this race experienced thunderstorms that delayed race heats. This year, it was in the mid-80s with sunny skies on Saturday. On Sunday, a major thunderstorm came through with thunder and lightning that closed the festival area for an hour. So be prepared for unpredictable mountain weather.

The Course

The Super and Sprint this year were epic. Palmerton never disappoints in presenting a challenge. OCR King viewers have stated that they like the 10k version since it allows faster times over shorter distances. Palmerton agrees with you, valued OCR King subscribers, and throws in some vertical elevation and technical running as a reward. Many racers I talked to consistently said Palmerton was the toughest Super on the schedule.

Anyway, out of the gate, we went straight up the slope with no tree cover. I realize we’re all adults and we know what we’re getting into, but Vert has a way of punching you square in the jaw. The trick is to take the first couple of punches, get your legs underneath you, and settle in for a 10-round fight. I used this race as a training race for some tougher races later this year, so I decided to run open so I wouldn’t get too wound up in competition and could focus on my training goals for the long haul. The first mile went straight up the chute, then cut over before heading back down to near the base at mile 2.5. This initial stretch was a great appetizer, but the main course was coming up soon. We headed back up the slope and then cut over into the woods.

Sections of the Palmerton Super have steep ascents through the forest.

For those subscribers who have run West Virginia or Vernon, the next section will bring back fond memories. Yes, we were going back up to the summit, but this time through steep technical terrain where trees were sometimes needed for balance. For many, this section will define the race (Sprint runners do not encounter this wooded section since at the top of the previous ascent they go down the hill to finish), but this is what makes the Super feel like a Beast at times. This section was about a mile of bushwhacking up a steep ascent, and it's a great fitness test for that fall marathon or ultra; and a fun way to get feedback on your training.

Once at the summit, the Super goes lateral across the summit in an open area with some gradual vert, before it heads down the mountain for a finishing section. Remember that rock explanation that had you dozing off for a minute? Well, those rocks are strewn over the entire 300 million-year-old mountainside, and erosion has created a hundred bazillion little 300 million-year-old rocks. For me, running here is very special because it means you are running in one of the ten oldest mountain chains in the world. Rocks large and small, loose and stationary, dot the entire course, making the running technical and at times treacherous. Good times.

Obstacles

Not a lot of obstacles in the first section other than the easy ones like over/under and 6-foot

The Spartan multi-rig obstacle located an open area between climbs at Palmerton.

walls and Hercules hoist. After the first ascent, there is a sandbag carry up and down the ski slope that is pretty energy-draining. This was more challenging a few years ago when we had those long sandbags; this year it was doable with the pancake version we’ve been using, but it still was time-consuming and expended energy. All the overhead obstacles were super hot, having been in the hot sun, and it was an issue for many racers, including myself. After the bushwhacking ascent, it ends with an 8-foot wall, and then in rapid-fire there are bender, atlas carry, spear, and a few others. All of these were spaced out along a long fire road, and after all the climbing, it honestly felt good to get some solid upper body work thrown in. After the final descent, we had a ho-hum rolling mud and slip wall but were then met with a tough bucket carry partially back up the ski slope. This bucket carry placement reminds me of NJ a few years ago.

The finishing section at the Palmerton Super included a downhill and then uphill barbed wire crawl

The dunk wall at this venue has always been a welcome wade through a lake, with the inflatable dunk wall halfway, not only not a big deal but downright luxurious. The final section was different this year. Palmerton is one of the few races that have Ape Hanger, and it was back this year. A tough obstacle we just don’t get a lot of time on. After the Ape Hanger, they broke up the long uphill barbed wire crawl from the last couple of years into a short downhill crawl, threw in monkey bars, and then a shorter barbed wire crawl back up the hill. Neither of these was a big deal; they inexplicably threw hay down on the course. I initially thought it was a trick; that there were rocks underneath, but no, Spartan had suddenly become considerate of our tender knees. Huh. Maybe they are setting us up for a long-term trick, who knows? Anyway, the obstacles ended with a vertical cargo, rope climb, and the obligatory fire jump that I have lately just started walking through. They have to figure out how to make the flames higher to force you to jump.

Trail Race

I opted not to run the Sprint but instead ran the 10k trail race on Sunday to get additional miles in. This was the first Spartan Trail that completely sold out, with 450 runners. The starting corral was packed, and the course was challenging. Instead of heading straight up the exert slope, we took a right after the first incline and ran a series of switchbacks that ended at the summit. The switchbacks were steep at the ends but flat as they moved right to left and left to right. This meant there could be running and power hiking over the first 2.5 miles. The descent took us through the trees, and it was challenging and technical. Numerous loose rocks and fallen trees made it mentally draining but overall rewarding when we hit the flatter part at the bottom for the final two-mile stretch to the finish. But this is Palmerton, and a huge thunderstorm came in, and you could hear the PA announcer shutting down the festival area as we got significant rain, lightning, and thunder. I decided to keep running, so by the time I got to the finish line, it was deserted, but that is Palmerton in a nutshell. It was truly epic running through the forest in a thunderstorm.

Spartan Statistics

The race drew 10,000 racers, including kid racers, paid spectators, and a sold-out Trail 10k that drew 450 racers (including myself). This is the first trial sellout to date with Spartan. The medical tent was packed with a variety of heat exhaustion and ankle injuries. I stopped by to say hello to my friend who runs Medical and he had his hands full. I’m a borderline Neanderthal so I set my watch to beep every 15 minutes to remind me to take a sip of water our of my water bottle and I take my hydration tabs before the race.

Summary

It’s easy to overlook Palmerton. It’s a little out of the way, and there is no beast to make it a Trifecta Weekend. But look at it this way: if you are doing tough races in the fall, doing tough races in the summer, in tough conditions, will condition you for a fall race. Palmerton is a great way to get in some mountain training, at a cool venue, in shorter distances that will let you test your running fitness and get an idea of how to adjust for the road ahead. This feedback will help you reset your training for a fall race and give you a chance to run at a truly epic and legendary Spartan venue.

Appendix

Non-Race Suggestion

The Frank Frazetta Museum is located about 30 minutes northeast of Allentown in East Stroudsburg, PA. Frazetta was a legendary artist who defined the science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres from the 1970s until he died in 2010. He was known mostly for book covers

Frank Frangetta's artwork created the Conan the Barbarian persona

and movie posters, but his work spread into other genres as well. His work was featured in Heavy Metal Magazine and High Times Magazine, and his vision shaped the Conan the Barbarian character later played by Arnold in the classic movie. If that is not badass enough for you, his depiction of the Death Stalker (probably his most famous painting) was adopted by the US Army III Corps as its logo. The museum is a small house set by a lake that houses 25% of its collection (due to copyright laws), but they sell high-quality posters, lithographs, and replica artwork that make the trip to the museum well worth the ride. It is run and managed by his daughters and grandchildren, who offer tours and are more than willing to talk about the art as well as the era it dominated. If you are a fan of these types of books, music, or movies, I highly recommend taking a short trip to the museum.