Spartan vibes in Veszprem: “One hour burpees or you go home!”

Spartan Races cut my path somewhere in 2019 and, absolutely without any warning, they took part of my 2020 in many corners of Easter Europe. I have write about some of them, yes, but I have some particular memories that deserve developed more in detail. Trust me, you’ll like them. So let’s start with the Hurricane Heat from Veszprem, Hungary, from November 2020. Thanks to the pandemic restrictions, the four hour don’t-have-any-clue-what-I-am-going-to-do was rescheduled from 01:00 – 05:00 to 19:00 – 23:00 or something like this. Sure, it didn’t look like it matter too much, but sincerely, it is better to sleep between the morning hours mentioned above. OK, the story of this event for me has some chapters, but I will just choose the one in which I was missing the white tie. Who gives a shit about a plain white tie?

No mercy from Krypteia

You see, for this type of Spartan event, you receive, some days ahead, a list with objects you need to have with you without the opportunity to ask any questions. You just need to follow the instructions and get what is requested. Period. I did bought everything. Almost everything, like a two meter plastic pipe, 10 kilos of ice cubes, some ropes, a knife, two steel bottles for water, some glowing sticks, a black shirt, you know, ordinary things like these… But I didn’t got any white tie. Figured it out that some kind of scarf will make the trick. What do you think was the first object to be checked by Krypteia – will develop this maybe some other time, basically the secret Spartan police in mythology? Well, yes, the white tie! The lady told me, without letting me “defend” myself: “One hour burpees!” 

400 burpees, not something you do every day

The entire “show” lasted four hours and I was positive she is joking, even though we were in a military parameter… I giggled and asked a bit hesitating… “What…? How…? Really…?” or something like that… Just to make sure and the reply came on a different, more sharp tone: “One hour burpees, or you go home!” The guy next to me pushed my elbow and whispered: “Just do it!” OK, I was still amused a bit, but started the process. To be honest, I remember that I was allowed to do burpees “only” 40 minutes. It was interesting, because I have tried to make them as rare as possible, but you can imagine I couldn’t escape this without at least 400, I guess. The point, in the end, was that the “penalty” was in fact a good thing, if I consider that, during this procedure, others where asked to do several heavy duties, including some plank position with 10 kilos of ice cubes in their bags.

Spartan 12 hours Hurricane Heat yet to come!

In the end, it was fun and very educative. I’ve paid 100 euro and maybe 100 more for all the expenses, but it worth it. My next stop will be a 12 hours Hurricane Heat. This would be something different. At Veszprem I had only 10 minutes break in four hours and some sour muscles the next day, when I’ve competed also in a Spartan Super. But, in the end who cares? I will just remember, from now on, to buy absolutely everything from the list, not to be segregated, in terms of duties and exercises from the rest. I am positive, as I know me, this is impossible. And let’s hope that a rubber band or a pen won’t cause me trouble when I’ll take place to my next event of this kind. But who knows?