The Official 2023 Spartan Winter Death Race Mandatory Gear List
The Spartan Death Race is considered by many to be the world's toughest race with iterations in both the summer and winter each year, and has seen just 10% of its racers complete its absolutely brutal itinerary in the past 10 years. Racers arrive at Riverside Farm in Pittsfield, Vermont hacking only a short (but oddly specific) packing list of items and blissfully unaware of the challenges they will face in the coming hours, or even when the race will begin.
Though there is no set length of any one Death Race, a typical iteration lasts around 72 hours and features soul-shattering tasks like hauling immense weight up the infamous Shrek's Mountaintop, completing 26.2 miles of barbed wire crawls or burpees, and memorizing mind puzzles while incredibly, deliriously sleep deprived.
Related: Every Extreme Endurance Event on the 2023 Schedule: Dates, Details, and Venues
And if the Summer Death Race is tortuous, the Winter Death Race is just one dig deeper.
As Winter Death Racers prepare to take on this winter's events from February 9-11, 2023, here's the comprehensive, mandatory gear list — full of practical and also seemingly insane items — that racers must bring with them to the farm.
Think you have what it takes to tackle the world's toughest race, or another absolutely extreme event? Check out the entire 2023 Extreme Endurance calendar and commit now!
The 2023 Mandatory Spartan Winter Death Race Gear List
- Backpack/rucksack
- Wreck bag (empty, but fillable)
- Sand (75 pounds for men; 50 pounds for women)
- Hydration bladder/bottles
- Sufficient nutrition and electrolytes for the duration of the event
- 2 waterproof headlamps with red lights and extra batteries
- 4 ChemLights
- Snowshoes
- 5-gallon (or larger) metal — NOT plastic — bucket with a handle
- Splitting axe with a sheath for the blade
- Safety goggles/glasses
- Paracord and/or rope
- 2 (minimum) emergency, heavy-duty bivy sack sleeping bags, heavy duty
- Whistle
- Insulated work gloves
- Tarp
- 4 beach towels
- Yoga mat: full-size, rolled
- Flint/magnesium bar (Know how to create a fire using the magnesium/flint, as it could save your life.)
- Knife
- Deck of playing cards
- 1 pound of RAW ground beef in a freezer-grade Ziploc baggie
- 5 unpeeled carrots
- 10 briquettes
- 30 small, flat, round, black rocks
- Sewing needle with black and white thread
- Red lipstick
- 2 carabiners
- 2 personalized golf balls and golf tees
- 4, 48-inch reflective marker stakes
- 4 Chips Ahoy cookies: unbroken and uncrumbled
- 2 silver coins: Each coin must have the birth year of two different staff members of the 2023 Winter Death Race (two coins, two different years)
- 4 inch x 6 inch black and white photo of YOU, printed on quality photo paper***
- Head and shoulder mugshot, taken vertically
- Face, eyes, nose, mouth, chin etc. must be uncovered and fully visible
- Wearing a black T-shirt
- Holding a sign (at shoulder level below your chin) that says "I may die" in big letters. When printing the photo, the letters/words must not be in reverse.
OPTIONAL ITEMS:
- Electric blanket
- Wet suit
Additional Pre-Arrival Requirements:
Memorize this quote by Sir Ernest Shackleton:
“Just when things looked their worse, they changed for the best. I have marveled often at the thin line that divides success from failure and the sudden turn that leads from apparently certain disaster to comparative safety.”
A word to the wise:
Do not try to out-wit the gear list or try to cut corners. Several items are for your safety and others are for specific tasks. If you don't have what is needed, you may be eliminated.
And DO NOT bring:
Lighters, matches, writing utensils, the written quote that you were to memorize, anxiety or fear of cold water, or negative attitudes.
Think you have what it takes to tackle the world's toughest race, or another absolutely extreme event? Check out the entire 2023 Extreme Endurance calendar and commit now!
