Everything you always wanted to know about the Hurricane Heat or the Hurricane Heat 12 Hour.
How did it begin?
When Hurricane Irene threatened the East Coast of the United States and forced Spartan to shut down our Sunday Amesbury race in August 2011, athletes, staff, volunteers, and crew were devastated. We are Spartans though, and we weren’t about to quit.
After some creative planning and 9,000 emails to set up the logistics, more than 150 Spartans showed up at 5 am that Saturday morning to tackle the Amesbury course with Spartan Founder Joe De Sena and Spartan employees. Little did the brave runners know, they would be put on teams with strangers, forced to carry sandbags and do 30 burpees at every obstacle, whether they got through it cleanly or not. But they did not toil alone. Alongside their teammates, they forged Spartan bonds of camaraderie and teamwork. This is the heart and soul of the Hurricane Heat. It was in these hours of pouring rain, sandbags, obstacles, and endless burpees that the Hurricane Heat was born.
What is the Hurricane Heat?
The Hurricane Heat is an event, not a race. There are no first places or podiums.
You will be placed with people you may or may not know and be tasked with working together, solving problems and challenges and becoming a fully functioning team as quickly as possible.
The Hurricane Heat is all about the team, working together and functioning as a unit.
The Hurricane Heat is designed to break you and your team down over and over again, crafting you into a unified team, capable of overcoming the most difficult of objectives. It will reveal your weaknesses and exploit them until they are strengthened. The leaders of the event, the Krypteia, will present problems to your team which need to be solved as a team and dealt with as soon as possible. Often, they will deliberately try to frustrate and hinder you.
Every Hurricane Heat is unique. They are designed to utilize a combination of what is on the course and the areas that surround the course. Often times, there will be a series of missions or challenges that will need to be completed in order to succeed. Burpees are often the currency in Hurricane Heats. If something can’t be accomplished for whatever reason there is often a burpee cost that can get you out of it. Do note that not all challenges have this option so don’t bank on being able to just bust out burpees to finish the Hurricane Heat. We will cover a solid distance in the four-hour time span that Hurricane Heats typically last. Come prepared with food, water, and anything else, like salt tabs, that you may need.
Successful finishers earn a finisher dog tag medal, a patch, a finisher t-shirt, a wedge/medal and the chance of a lifetime discovering the camaraderie derived from becoming a Hurricane Heater.
The Hurricane Heat is not a part of the regular race Trifecta and if you run the course during the Hurricane Heat, it still does not contribute towards your regular Spartan Race Trifecta.
What is the Hurricane Heat Twelve Hour?
The Hurricane Heat Twelve Hour was designed to forge the next level of Spartans. We’ve taken the concept of the original Hurricane Heat, expanded it to include an element of individuality, and kicked everything in between up to new heights. If you’ve participated in a Hurricane Heat and thought those four hours were tough, just wait until you set out on a twelve-hour adventure that will take place both on and off the Spartan course. You’ll develop the same team building that is the foundation of the Hurricane Heat, while also forging yourself as an individual. Expect a lot of physical exertion, carrying heavy objects, mud, submersion, and more. The HH12HR is created to bridge the gap between a Spartan Race and the Agoge. If you’ve ever wished to embark on a journey that takes you past your comfort zone, the Hurricane Heat Twelve Hour is the next stop on the adventure train.
If you are looking for an endurance challenge, sign up for a Hurricane Heat Twelve Hour quick, as this event is limited to 75 participants at each venue. Sign up early to ensure you don’t miss out on the best/hardest twelve hours of your life.
What you will need for the HH12HR: you will need to be able to perform, self-supported, for the duration of the event. We recommend a large ruck (military based backpack), a 2-3L Hydration Unit, and whatever food you'll need to survive 12 hours of pushing beyond your limits. More required gear will be emailed to you the Wednesday the week before the event and once again during the week of the event.
Finishers will receive HH12HR tags, wedge/medal, patch, and a t-shirt.
Please note: There is no guarantee that you will run the course and earn the corresponding medal for that regular course.
The HH12HR is not a part of the regular race Trifecta and if you run the course during the HH12HR, it still does not contribute towards your regular Spartan Race Trifecta.
There are "Event" pages? What are they and where can I find them?
Each Hurricane Heat and HH12HR has a unique event page that is used for participants to get to know each other, help, advise and even formulate strategies with each other long before the event starts.
Often, the Krypteia will lay out challenges like bringing team weights, songs to memorize, poems or passages of books to recall, etc. These event pages are where you nail that down before the event starts - thus giving you a head start on the event itself.
You can find your event page by clicking here.
Some tips/notes regarding the AU/NZ HH and HH12HR events:
- Online registration closes on the Tuesday night of the week of the event. We suggest making sure you are registered online well before the event to avoid disappointment. Registration on the day of the event is not guaranteed.
- Taking the spot of someone who might not check-in is not an option. You, as the participant, must be registered for the event.
- Emails regarding your HH / HH12HR (or similar event) will be sent during the week of the event. Please remember to check your spam. If you have any friends doing the event and you're not sure if you have received your gear list email, you can ask your friends to forward it to you.
- Pictures are never promised at a Spartan Endurance event. Please do not get upset if photos are not posted. If you see someone taking photos, it may not be to catalog the event but to use those photos for promotional purposes in the future. If photos are released, bonus!
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5. If you have already gone through the event pages on Facebook, the Spartan Endurance Facebook page, any and all social media, your email and this page and you can not find the answer to your endurance event question, you can reach out to info@au.spartan.com and our team will assist you as soon as possible. Please refrain from messaging the Krypteia personally.
How do I find a Hurricane Heat?
The Hurricane Heat will be making appearances at many Spartan races throughout the season, so check your race’s event-specific page for details and to see if the race has a Hurricane Heat. Then, during the registration process, you will see a HURRICANE HEAT registration option, and you can select that if the race has that option.
*Hurricane Heats do not count toward earning a Trifecta.