GLEN JEAN, W.Va. — The Spartan Trifecta World Championship event will be held on U.S. soil for the first time in history this weekend, and it will be within the mountains of Fayette County.
The Spartan Trifecta is an honor athletes achieve when they complete three Spartan races within a calendar year: the Spartan Sprint, the Spartan Super, and the Spartan Beast. The event welcomes competitive athletes and those trying to finish the race in a non-competitive manner.
The Sprint race is a 5k and features around 20 obstacles, the Super race is a 10k and features nearly 30 obstacles, and the Beast race is a 21k and features over 30 obstacles.
The three-day event, which was originally only held in Sparta, Greece, will be held Friday through Sunday at the Summit Bechtel Reserve in Glen Jean.
On Thursday, Spartan held its opening ceremonies at Haddad Riverfront Park in Downtown Charleston, where hundreds of athletes registered to compete.
Sabrina Buhagiar, a Martinsburg native and former head coach of the Fairmont State University men’s and women’s swimming team, has completed several Spartan races over the past three years. She says West Virginia is welcoming in a whole new audience.
“With this being a championship event, we’re bringing in a lot of folks from everywhere else. This is traditionally in a Greek setting,” Buhagiar told MetroNews Thursday.
Buhagiar says that her state is well equipped to host this prestigious challenge, and she’s looking forward to getting out there and executing in her home state.
“I think West Virginia offers its own unique beauty and challenges when it comes to the terrain and I’m thrilled to be here,” Buhagiar said. “For those folks that are taking the time to travel in and be here and be present, they’re going to have a good time.”
“The community is always fantastic, that’s a given, but for those that are running competitively, you work so hard to be here too. Just being able to go out there and have fun and do what I love to do is a pleasure,” she said.
The full schedule for the 2025 Spartan Trifecta World Championship can be viewed here.