The CEO of Spartan was in Abu Dhabi to launch the upcoming world championships and also explain why the event is so important to him
Hundreds of people turned out to join a number of fitness inspired events that took place around Abu Dhabi last Saturday morning, where Spartan CEO Joe De Sena was in town to promote the World Championships set to take place in early December.
Spartan CEO and founder Joe conducted a special training session at Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi, on Saturday morning where hundreds of aspiring Spartans were put to the test in a one-hour training session with expert trainers.
Spartan returns to the Al Wathba desert venue for the pinnacle OCR event of the season: the Spartan World Championship, hosted by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council. Thousands of athletes and spectators will gather just 30 minutes from the city to compete for Spartan immortality in the 2023 individual and team championship events.
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It’s an event taking place for the third time in Abu Dhabi and one which CEO Joe is relishing once again. However, as he explains, the origins of the highly anticipated championships took place many years ago in New York city during the 1960s.
“Many, many years ago when my family lived in New York it was a very unhealthy place, people were eating junk food and had bad diets. Unfortunately, my Mom’s mom died from cancer, but my Mom then opened a health store, the first of its kind on the east coast.
“She then met a yogi some years later and learned all about the benefits of meditation. They established a footrace which is still popular today, a 3100 mile race around a one mile loop. It was meant to show what human beings can be capable of when we put our minds to it.”
“When my own Mom passed away I started to pursue everything she had been preaching in the 1990s. So Spartan was born, and it’s a mission to try and get the world healthy. But its wrapped in a cloak and it wears a helmet and it looks bad ass.”
Referring to the name of the race itself, Joe explains the reason why he made it relative to the Spartans, the Greek warriors famed in history for centuries.
“Almost everyone in the world knows and respects the Spartans. They were bad ass, they were disciplined and they were stoic. If you take that mindset and you promote healthy living then its an easier concept for the world to digest.”
Hosting the event for the third year running, Abu Dhabi Sports Council have played a pivotal role in securing the race, with Joe paying tribute to them for turning his idea into what he described as his “dream”.
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Joe also went on to say that the food industry has a lot to answer for and highlighted the concept of capitalism in general.
“Food companies just want to make more money. The way they do this is feeding people sugar which is addictive and using the lowest quality ingredients. That’s just the reality of the capitalist regime unfortunately.
“The way to solve it which is an unpopular opinion is to raise the price of bad food and put a skull and crossbones label on it, the same as we did with cigarettes. We make it not cool. We can use the money we make from the extra tax to subsidise good food and try and turn the tide.”
The Spartan was also able to exclusively reveal that obstacle course racing will be added to the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, something which he and his colleagues have been lobbying for seven years.
The Spartan World Championships will be a stepping stone for competitors who could potentially participate at the highest level in five years’ time.
Spartan returns to the culturally rich and visually intoxicating dunes of Abu Dhabi, UAE for the 2023 Spartan World Championship in early December. If you are interested you can register here.
Date
8-10 December
Location
Al Wathba Desert
For further information on the Spartan World Championships visit race.spartan.com/en/race/detail/7985/overview
For further information about sporting events throughout Abu Dhabi, visit Yalla Abu Dhabi Life
