Event programsHybridRunningStrength
Spartan Beast: 16 weeks, peaks at ~7 h.
21 km and 30 obstacles on steep trail: grip-limited pass/fail obstacles, heavy mandatory carries, crawls and walls — five or more hours on your feet for many. That's the intermediate plan; beginner runs 16, advanced runs 16 weeks.
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Your race day, your level, your hours.
This is the real plan on a real calendar: the same engine Helios runs when you start a program, working on your date right here in your browser.
Written for where you are.
The checklist comes with it.
Every plan cites its homework.
Thin evidence on durations: they rest on Spartan's own statements, one first-person Beast account and a third-party site; the Sprint bands are estimates. Venue climbing changes everything — widen the bands by the course's published elevation. The plans keep the official Spartan weekly shape (Mon run, Tue push/lower strength, Wed intervals or obstacle simulation, Fri pull/core strength, Sat long run) but are the dossier's own skeletons, not copies.
- 1Helios research dossier — hybrid and obstacle events
- 2Spartan Competition Rules 2024 (PDF)
- 3Spartan — race types (distances, obstacle counts)
- 4Spartan — the different Spartan race types
- 5Spartan — can I skip an obstacle? (US penalty FAQ)
- 6Spartan — official 12-week Beast training plan
- 7Spartan — tips for every Spartan race obstacle
- 8Spartan — Spartan Beast tips
- 9Torokhtiy — how long is a Spartan race (third-party)
- 10MB Performance Nutrition — Spartan Beast nutrition strategies (search snippet)
- 11Lessiohadi et al. 2024 — injuries in obstacle course racing (systematic review)
- 12Rabb et al. 2018 — injuries at 33 Canadian obstacle-course races
- 13Helios research dossier — event principles (fluid and sodium starting ranges, §8)
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Cycling
Gran Fondo
100–180 km mass-start sportive with 1,500–3,500 m of climbing: aerobic riding broken up by repeated 10–40 min climbs.
Cycling
Century
100 miles (160 km), mostly flat or rolling, ridden in groups: steady aerobic power, drafting and eating on the clock.
Cycling
Long Gravel — Belgian Waffle Ride / Unbound
Mixed-surface ultra-distance: hours of riding on gravel, sand and singletrack, timed KOM / KOD / sprint sectors, self-sufficiency between aid stations.
Cycling
Criterium
30–75 minutes on a short circuit with 4–8 corners: dozens of surges out of corners, soft-pedalling between, and a sprint.
Cycling
Time Trial
A solo effort against the clock over 16–40 km in the TT or aero position: even pacing at threshold, and the position you can hold.
Running
5K
5 km on the road or a parkrun: about 85–90% aerobic, run near 94% of threshold pace — VO2 and threshold work dominate the build.
Running
10K
10 km on the road at about 97% of threshold pace — for most runners close to threshold itself.
Running
Half Marathon
21.1 km at about 101–103% of threshold pace: threshold endurance, a long run near two hours, and fuel if you'll be out over 90 min.
Running
Marathon
42.2 km at about 104–108% of threshold pace: endurance, marathon-pace work, 60–90 g/h practised in the long runs, and a 3-week taper.
Running
50K Trail Ultra
50 km on trail with 1,000–2,500 m of climbing: time on feet, hiking the steep climbs, effort-capped for the first half.
Running
50 Miles / 100K Trail Ultra
80–100 km on trail with 2,000–5,000 m of climbing, usually into the night: Endurance-capped first half, 200–400 kcal/h, caffeine after halfway.
Running
100-Mile Ultra
161 km — mountain (5,000–10,000 m D+) or flat / loop — through one or two nights: at or below aerobic threshold early, front-loaded carbohydrate, caffeine at night.
Swimming
1.5 km Open-Water Swim
1,500 m in open water — essentially a threshold event: CSS is roughly 1500 m time-trial pace, plus sighting, starts and drafting.
Swimming
5 km Open-Water Swim
5 km in open water — an aerobic-capacity and pacing event, where losing technique late in the race is the usual failure.
Swimming
10 km Open-Water Swim
The marathon swim: 10 km in open water, decided by lactate threshold, even pacing and feeding on the move — often against a 4–5 h cut-off.
Rowing
2000 m Erg Race or Test
2,000 m on the rowing ergometer — 6 to 9 minutes in the severe domain, decided mostly by aerobic power and by pacing the first 500 m.
Swimming
Sprint Triathlon
750 m swim, 20 km bike, 5 km run in about 1–2 h: the bike near threshold and the run close to 5K effort.
Swimming
Olympic Triathlon
1.5 km swim, 40 km bike, 10 km run in 2–3½ h: the bike just under threshold and the run close to 10K effort.
Swimming
IRONMAN 70.3
1.9 km swim, 90 km bike, 21.1 km run in 4–8½ h: a capped-IF bike that protects the half marathon, and fuelling on the clock.
Swimming
IRONMAN
3.8 km swim, 180 km bike, 42.2 km run in 9–17 h: an IF-capped bike, 60–90 g/h of carbohydrate, and a marathon that decides the day.
Running
Duathlon (standard)
10 km run, 40 km bike, 5 km run in about 2–3½ h: a restrained Run 1, an Olympic-intensity bike and a strong Run 2 on loaded legs.
Swimming
Aquabike (70.3)
1.9 km swim and 90 km bike in about 3–5½ h, no run: a bigger swim share and a bike that can ride a little harder than in a 70.3.
Pickleball
Pickleball Tournament
A pickleball tournament — repeated 3–9 s rallies at about 1:1.6 work:rest, 3–6 matches a day, where tissue injury is a bigger risk than fatigue.
Tennis
Tennis Tournament
A tennis tournament — 5–10 s points at 1:2–1:4 work:rest, up to 2 matches a day over 2–3 days, with sprint, jump and serve accuracy falling from day 2.
Padel
Padel Tournament
A padel tournament — 9–16 s rallies at about 1:1, best-of-3 matches of 60–120 min with frequent overheads, 1–3 matches a day over 2–3 days.
Squash
Squash Tournament
A squash tournament — the most aerobically demanding racket sport (elite play near 92% of HRmax), best-of-5 matches of 40–90 min, 1–2 matches a day over 2–3 days.
Badminton
Badminton Tournament
A badminton tournament — ~7–10 s rallies at about 1:2 work:rest, 3 games to 21, and 3–6 matches in a day for a singles + doubles + mixed entry.
Athletics
Decathlon
Ten events over two days — the highest in-competition injury rate in athletics, and almost no research on how to train for it.
Athletics
Heptathlon
Seven events over two days, where the speed events — hurdles, high jump, 200 m and long jump — explain most of the score.
Hybrid
HYROX
8 × (1 km run + 1 station) — an aerobic race with repeated strength-endurance spikes, about half of it running.
Hybrid
Spartan Sprint
5 km and 20 obstacles on steep trail: grip-limited pass/fail obstacles, heavy mandatory carries, crawls and walls.
Hybrid
Spartan Super
10 km and 25 obstacles on steep trail: grip-limited pass/fail obstacles, heavy mandatory carries, crawls and walls.
Hybrid
Tough Mudder 15K
About 9.3 mi and 20+ obstacles: less running pace, more cold water, grip and teamwork.
Hybrid
Obstacle 5K / Mud Run
5 km with 10–15 obstacles — a Tough Mudder 5K, a charity mud run or a local obstacle 5K, mostly untimed or chip-timed without penalties.
Hybrid
CrossFit Open
Three weekly workouts, each a 10–20 min mixed-modal test — wall balls, box jump-overs, dumbbell work, pull-up to muscle-up ladders, burpees over the bar, cleans and thrusters.
Hybrid
Murph
1 mile, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 air squats, 1 mile — with a 14/20 lb vest for Rx. Usually done on Memorial Day, often in the heat.