SBBU HISTORY great when Spartan babies plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit.
“ Why the Spartan Baby Badassery?
There will be exhaustion, some hallucinations. There will also be camaraderie. The fastest and the slowest will sleep in the same barracks. It will be the grand differentiator. Every Spartan Baby no matter how slow or how fast is the same. And that will unite them and it will be a race like no other. These Spartan Babies – drinking coffee out of the same coffee cups and comparing chafe marks and blister sizes.
Families and friends will camp out and be there waiting for the runners at the end of each loop. A loving ecosystem which reduces the suffering for a few minutes before the relentless clock clicks over to the next hour. Mothers and sons, dads and daughters, wives and husbands, friends and strangers. They will have more time than they can ever remember to bond through the heat of the day and the dark of the night.
We will laugh at the insanity of it all and watch to the skies- like desert nomads waiting for rain – for the outpouring of all The Love that will be brought into the world. Kindness in the chaos.
The SBBU won’ t be a race: it will be an emotion. The human spirit wrestling against fallibility. It will be a beautiful, brutal and bonkers testament to the fact that sometimes, the only sane response in an insane world is to run.
And when they finish, we will be there waiting for them with open arms and with the hottest chillies we can find. And maybe a belt buckle or two. I think I hear the faint wail of bagpipes in the distance.
And I have a sudden, inexplicable craving for lemons.
~ Belloc72
Notes on the SBBU
The SBBU Bedfordview is a 24-hour running event in which challengers can choose between 2 different distances- both of which are not necessarily, in fact definitely not, for everyone. Success is unlikely. The meek of heart or mind need not apply.
Date: Saturday, 3 May 2025 to Sunday, 4 May 2025
Start: Saturday, 3 May 2025 at 10:00am Quarters: Spartan Babies share barracks for the duration of the challenge
100 kilometres: 4.167 kilometres on the hour, every hour, for 24 hours
100 miles: 4.167 miles on the hour, every hour, for 24 hours
Route: All routes within the vicinity of the barracks
Rules: Miss the start in any hour and you are out. Don’ t finish the 4.167 kilometres or the 4.167 miles within the hour and you are out. Bail from the 100 mile challenge but complete the 100 kilometre challenge and you will still receive a DNF. Self-supported challenge. Seconders permitted. If you bail you need to stand to attention and receive taps played on the bagpipes. Challengers are required to help raise funds for CHOC. Further rules to be provided at the pre-challenge dinner and at the challenge debrief.
Finish: Last loop starts Sunday, 4 May 2025 at 9:00am, followed by brunch and prize giving. All challengers who bailed need to be in attendance.
Why: For personal growth and to raise funds for CHOC to continue supporting children and families battling cancer.... and to keep their hopes alive.
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