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Every year Spartan Race makes some kind of change to their events. Sometimes it is a rule change, or cutting out most burpees, or occassionally adding new obstacles. Now they've made a new, significant change for 2024.
In 2024, there will no longer be sperate Age Group and Elite waves at events. From now on, you sign up for the Competitive wave, and if you are NOT one of the top 3, you will then fall into contention for Age Group awards. (You can find out more specifics by reading This Article)
This is a format Savage Race, and many other obstacle course races, have been using for a long time, and it makes sense to do it this way. Ever since Spartan created a gated Elite heat, numbers in the Elite waves have been very small. I have been to races with less than 12 Elites competing that day. With this change, Spartan increases the wave size (which is good for optics) and reduces the number of waves it needs to release during the day.
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Does this now mean everyone has to pay "Elite" ticket prices, or will the price be lower and closer to the cost of an Age Group ticket? Don't ask me. I'm not a reporter. I hope the latter. Either way though, I think, in concept, this is a good change. Sometimes athletes "race down" in order to be on a podium, and this format removes that issue and SHOULD highlight the top 3 athletes in each gender, and the top age group athletes as well.
Let us know what you think in the comments!