Spartan Race is Life Changing

I'd like to tell you a story.

Once upon a time, there was a man named Riley (me... I'm Riley).

Riley was a happily married father to four with a good job and, well, everything he ever wanted.

Except...

Except, something was missing.

You see, Riley wanted more than his boring old routine. He wanted to do more than work, eat, clean, sleep, and repeat. Though he worked out on a regular basis, lifting weights on its own didn't offer the type of adventure he felt was missing from his life.

Devoted to his family and perhaps a little too attached to his routine, Riley always found himself saying "no" to every new opportunity that came his way.

"Join a slow-pitch team? No thanks. No time."

"Go camping for the weekend? Sorry. Can't fit it in."

This pattern repeated itself for years. Until, one day, Riley said yes.

When a group of friends decided to try this new Spartan Race thing, Riley finally broke out of his self-destructive pattern. He agreed to go and signed up for the adventure he felt was missing from his life.

Signing up for that race immediately changed Riley's life.

He ate better. He ran when he didn't feel like it. He went to bed on time and fell in love with this new lifestyle -- a life built around constant improvement. The best part about this transition was how it leaked into other areas of his life.

Riley had more energy to play with his kids. He was motivated to cook healthy meals for his family. And he didn't wake up feeling sore or broken every day.

Things were going well. But the best was still to come.

After a few months of training and thriving in this new routine, the day of the big race finally came.

The Spartan Race was tough, gruelling, and everything it was supposed to be.

Unsure of how he would make out with the obstacles at first, Riley discovered abilities he never knew he had. He carried a sandbag, swung across monkey bars, and crawled under barbed wire. And when he reached the top of the eight-foot wall, covered in mud from head to toe, he knew there was no going back.

Sitting atop the wall, he paused and looked around. He was sweaty, breathing heavily, and having the time of his life.

And at that moment, his life changed. Forever.

He realized it was okay to get dirty. He remembered how good it felt to try to catch your breath with a smile on your face. He saw a side of fitness he didn't know existed.

Suddenly, running through the mud and over obstacles seemed normal. Sitting at a desk all day felt like the anomaly.

Riley came home with a shiny new medal and crazy stories from his first Spartan Race. He was no longer just a father and husband. He was coming home a Spartan.

Seven months later, with a climbing rope freshly mounted in his garage, Riley started a Spartan Race team in Regina and devoted himself to qualifying for the Spartan Race World Championships and becoming a certified Spartan Race Coach.

Riley ended up quitting that good job he had to start Conviction Fitness. And he hasn't looked back since.

Since 2015, Conviction Fitness has changed countless lives by introducing and preparing people for the world of Spartan Race. Our teammates have lost hundreds of pounds, gotten off medications, inspired their families to get healthy, climbed literal mountains, and gone on to have adventures around the world.

Spartan Race is a spark. It lights a fire inside you and fundamentally changes who you are and what you think of yourself.

It sounds too good to be true. But it's real. Overweight, out-of-shape folks sign up for a Spartan Race and six months later you don't even recognize them.

It happens every day.