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| Lahti, Finland
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Lahti Sports Centre played host to the Spartan Para World Championship this weekend, athletes competing across four categories on the same 10K Super course as every other racer, glacial ridges and kettle holes beneath the city's iconic ski jump towers.
Wheelchair athlete Thomas Delattre completed the PO1 course in just under four hours, a staggering feat on terrain built for two legs, not four wheels. Ukraine's Vladyslav Chechur posted the fastest time of the championship in the PO4 category, while Britain's Jamie Gane claimed the PO3 title.
In the visually impaired PO5 category, Dawn Jolleys took the women's title, naming the climb up the ski jump and Twister as the toughest tests of her day. Sweden's Hans Löfdahl, "The Blind Viking," claimed the men's PO5 crown, and Germany's Lena Schöllig topped the women's PO4 field.
This was also Finland National Championship weekend and a full Trifecta, proof that Lahti hosted every version of what Spartan can be.
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| Ottawa, Canada
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Calabogie Peaks, just an hour from Canada's capital, brought together everything a Spartan course should: elevation up the ski hill, flat stretches around the golf course, and a fresh, clear swim through Calabogie Lake, complete with a dunk wall and a Burpee Island on the far shore.
Saturday delivered ideal racing weather, cool mornings giving way to hot sun. Sunday told a different story, heavy rain from 5am to 8am tested racers before the sun broke through to salvage the day.
Tyler Kruschenske dominated across formats, taking Saturday's Elite Super and backing it up with Sunday's Elite Sprint win. Karine Leveille mirrored that consistency, taking Sprint gold after finishing second in Saturday's Super behind Beatrice Moyen-Sylvestre.
A reshaped course, new routes, new obstacle placements, gave even returning racers something fresh to sink their teeth into.
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| Raleigh, NC
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Speed defined the weekend in Raleigh. Close battles, unrelenting pace, and lead changes right up until the final reps.
Joseph Cotto topped the men's Elite podium in 30:39, ahead of Joshua Gonzalez and Jared Silverman. Janelle Teal led the women's field in 34:01, ahead of Amy Umbel and Mackinly Kifer. Teams brought their own drama too, Zach Cygan and Kevin Gregory dominated the Male 2-Person field in 26:32, while Cittadino, Umbel, Gonzalez and Gregory took the Co-Ed Relay in 36:17.
One story stood above the rest. Blind athlete Leah Grosjean completed her first DEKA FIT alongside trainer and guide Katina Gad, navigating every zone by feel and trust until the finish line bell rang. The path may not have been visible. The purpose was.
Community carried the weekend, training partners becoming teammates, first-timers hitting podiums, gyms travelling in to cheer each other on.
Full send, Raleigh.
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