What is the history of the Hurricane Heat?

When Hurricane Irene threatened the East Coast and forced Spartan Race 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 5am 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.