Rexburg mother competes in Spartan World Championship Race
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REXBURG – An Upper Valley mother recently completed a physically demanding world championship competition and she hopes her journey will inspire others.
Jennica Hirrlinger participated in the 2015 Reebok Spartan World Championship Race in Lake Tahoe, California. She joined 10,000 other athletes from around the world the first weekend of October to compete in the “Beast” race.
“It was about 15 miles, over 4,000 feet of climb in the first half, plus a cold water swim and a whole bunch of different obstacles,” Hirrlinger said during an interview with EastIdahoNews.com.
There were more than 30 obstacles in the race.
Hirrlinger began training for the race in January and learned in June that she had qualified.
“There’s nothing like being on top of a mountain and knowing that you took yourself there,” Hirrlinger said.
Hirrlinger has been doing Crossfit for three years and credits the exercise/strength training program for helping her complete the race.
She also thanks 13 close friends who competed with her – Braxton McCandless, Peter Cornell, John Poulsen, Christie Poulsen, Lamar Sanford, Mark Jensen, Bron Leatham, Heath Leatham, Clayton Jensen, Kelly McCandless, Andy Dewsnup, John Wane and Dallin Weeks.
Hirrlinger hopes to one day finish an “Ultra Beast” race – which is completing the same course twice.
When she’s not training for races, Hirrlinger is busy running The Zone training gym in Rexburg. She says anyone interested in CrossFit is welcome to join her as she completes her mission of being healthy, competitive, and inspiring others.
“The more I move, the better I move,” Hirrlinger said. “I really like to encourage other people to do the same.”
