Enduring long-distance runs, spear throwing, climbing under barbed wire and racing up walls, all while covered in mud, often depletes Spartan Race athletes.
To help curb fatigue for competitors, Joe De Sena, the founder and CEO of Boston-based Spartan Inc. and owner of Tough Mudder, has paired up with Taiyo International, a Golden Valley-based global manufacturer of ingredients for the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical industries, to create an "extreme wellness" supplement line with no frills and whistles.
When people turn to supplements, many “want effervescence, they want powders,” said De Sena. “I found that if you go that route, you end up compromising because then you’re putting all kinds of fillers and stuff in order to achieve that. There’s nothing exciting about swallowing a pill, right? But the results are there.”
The products De Sena is offering include Spartan Energy, Spartan Focus, Spartan Hydrate, Spartan Immune, to help to meet users health needs, along with Spartan Burn, to help users lose weight. Each product is tested for the presence of contaminants or high-risk materials and is made of plant-based ingredients, according to De Sena.
The global sports-nutrition market size was valued at $36 billion in 2020, and is projected to reach $66 billion by 2028, according to a March 2022 report by Verified Market Research.
With the intent to tap into that growing market, De Sena launched the Spartan Nutrition lineup this spring in the U.S. on the Spartan website and Amazon. The product line will next launch in Japan, followed by Europe later this year.
Founded in 2010 by De Sena, Spartan is the world’s largest obstacle race and endurance brand, with more than 200 global events annually. The brand extends into 40 countries and encompasses an international championship series, training and nutrition programs. More than 5 million participants took part in Spartan’s obstacle races that range in distance and difficulty in obstacles.
Spartan prepandemic was hosting about 350 events a year, but since the pandemic it is only hosting about half of them, said De Sena. He believes it will be another 18 months before the races are fully back. This year, there are a little over a half million people registered for events, down 350,000 participants from last year, he said.
Spartan last fall also launched a streaming channel.
The beginnings
During a race in Florida, De Sena noticed athletes struggling to stay hydrated. “So we started thinking it would be awesome if we could solve the hydration and energy problem with a very authentic plant,” said De Sena.
Dubbing himself a plant-based guy with the goal of getting people healthy, De Sena got to work trying to give his racers a better experience. To do so, he paired up with Taiyo International to create simple supplements taken by mouth to help solve the problem.
Before he knew it, De Sena handed out the supplements for free at all his races.
“I felt like a drug dealer,” said De Sena. But, he said everyone was raving about the results, and he got to work expanding his product line.
Everybody is looking for an extra boost in energy, whether they're an extreme athlete or living their everyday life, De Sena said. When developing the supplements, he said, “let’s give it to them in the healthiest way possible.”
“Yes, it's boring. Yes, it's not tasty. There’s no taste. So you just swallow the pill,” said De Sena. But it’s a plant, right? It’s the whole plant. So when you look at the charts and graphs and the effects of this pill, you’re gonna get four to five hours of smooth, clean energy, complete focus, with no calories.”
— Beth Treffeisen is an ACBJ reporting intern
