Spartan Race takes over Citizens Bank Park

Citizens Bank Park was rocking today, but it wasn't because the Phillies were making their push for October.

Thousands of people – men, women and children – invaded the ballpark to take part in the Reebok Spartan Race. They navigated their way through a 3.2-mile course featuring 14 obstacles with as many as 20 other mini challenges along the way.

Racers were released in waves of up to 100 throughout the day, with the elite runners slated for an 8 a.m. start time. The final heat began at 3 p.m.

"There's a lot of obstacles that are difficult to make it through cardio wise," race director Dan Yotive said.

Anyone who ran the race last year and saw their time increase shouldn't be discouraged. This year coordinators designed the course to be more physically demanding.

"The race is longer. We made things bigger and harder. We took away a couple obstacles and added a couple," Yotive said.

A set of monkey bars was the first obstacle racers faced. Some of the more taxing tasks were an eight-foot vertical wall you were forced to climb over, carry a 50-pound sandbag the length of a football field, climb up and over a 24-foot cargo net, lift 125-pounds using a pulley 24-feet in the air and my personal favorite, launch a spear 25-feet into a man-like figure made of hay.

"I couldn't get the javelin throw because you only get one chance. Mine went into the hay, but it didn't stick," racer Jess Sullivan said.

Oh, and if you don't complete an obstacle, your penalized with 30 burpees.

"They're supposed to be real burpees, but a lot of the girls around me were doing squat thrusts," Jess pointed out.

The race concluded with a 24-foot rope climb and short dash to the finish line where runners were handed medals and t-shirts for completing the race.

The results will be posted on the Spartan Race website.