Fitness

The GOATs: These Are the 50 Greatest Spartan Racers of All Time

Since Spartan held its first-ever race back in 2010, literally thousands of elite athletes have taken to the race course with their eyes on the ultimate prize: the podium. But as in all sports, a select few have risen to the top, and we want to highlight their remarkable careers and accomplishments.

We’ve taken on the unenviable task of ranking the top 50 racers of all time — 25 male and 25 female — to establish, once and for all, who the best of the best is. Veteran racer and original Spartan Kevin Gillotti, with invaluable assistance from self-proclaimed “OCR stats nerd” Jack Bauer, have pored over records, rankings, and percentages to come up with this definitive list.

In making these rankings, Gillotti and Bauer considered the following metrics to establish who the GOATs of our sport are:

% of winner (10+ career races)
Career podiums
Podiums in “major” races
% of winner in “major” races
% of races on podium
Avg. finishing place (10+ career races)

*Major races include the SPARTAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, TRIFECTA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, ULTRA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, and NATIONAL SERIES.

Without further ado, here are the 50 greatest Spartan racers of all time (and why).

The 5 Greatest Spartan Racers of All Time: The Men

1. Ryan Atkins

Possessing an incredible blend of speed, endurance, strength, skill, and power, Atkins is the best to ever do it. The numbers and accomplishments speak for themselves: The Canadian is a two-time Ultra World Champion, he’s placed second at the Spartan World Championship five times, and he’s reached the podium in a staggering 81 percent of his races.

2. Hobie Call

One of the real OGs and innovators of the Spartan brand, Call was there from day one. He showed all of us what was truly possible in OCR if you put in the work, apply yourself, and think outside the box. The American is a three-time Spartan World Champion, he won 78 percent of his Spartan races (the highest mark ever), and holds the record for longest undefeated streak of Spartan race wins (16 races over 13 months).

3. Robert Killian

A lean, mean fighting machine, Killian has a focus and fierceness that’s hard to rival. Just look into his eyes, and you’ll get it. The former Green Beret is an extremely well-rounded Spartan athlete. He’s won all five Spartan race distances (Stadion, Sprint, Super, Beast, and Ultra) — only four other men have done that — and recently took second overall at the first-ever Spartan DEKA FIT in Dallas. Oh yeah, there’s also those two Spartan World Championships and 65 Elite Spartan podiums (third-most all time). Not bad…

4. Jonathan Albon

The 32-year-old Brit may look unassuming — he’s definitely low-key and soft-spoken — but he’s not to be trifled with on the course. Albon is a two-time Spartan World Champion and a three-time Spartan European regional champion, and he also placed first at the Trifecta World Championship in Greece in 2018. A true global competitor, he’s won a Spartan race on three continents. Put him up against anybody, anywhere on the globe, and he’ll win.

5. Cody Moat

Do you know Cody? Most don’t. He’s one of those elusive hit-and-run Spartan athletes. But when he decides to hit, you have no choice but to pay attention. Like Killian and Albon, he’s a two-time Spartan World Champion. During a ridiculously dominant four-year span, from 2012-15 — spanning 24 Spartan races — he missed a podium once. Think about that for a second. A testament to his incredible consistency throughout the years, he’s never finished worse than fifth in seven career Spartan World Championship appearances.

Rounding Out the Top 25

6. Hunter McIntyre
7. Matt Murphy
8. Albert Soley
9. Ryan Woods
10. Peter Žiška
11. Veejay Jones
12. Ryan Kent
13. Isaiah Vidal
14. Sergei Perelygin
15. Mikhail Gerylo
16. Brakken Kraker
17. John Yatsko
18. Angel Quintero
19. Chad Trammell
20. Matt Novakovich
21. Lachlan Dansie
22. Johnny Luna-Lima
23. Ryan Kempson
24. Glenn Racz
25. Sebastian Conrad Håkansson

The 5 Greatest Spartan Racers of All Time: The Women

1. Lindsay Webster

In addition to her tremendous ability and dominance on the course, Webster is also perhaps the nicest and most humble person in the sport. That makes it even scarier when she competes with the prowess that she brings to each and every race. In that regard, she’s like a female version of Atkins, her husband. The greatest female racer of all time, Webster is a two-time Spartan World Champion, and she reached the podium in three additional World Championships. In 22 career United States National Series races, she’s made the podium every single time.

2. Zuzana Kocumová

Kocumová may not have as many races under her belt as some of the others on this list, but her extremely high-profile wins give her an extraordinary Spartan resume. An Olympic-level cross-country skier — she finished sixth in the 4 × 5 km relay at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano — the brilliant Czech athlete is a two-time Spartan World Champion. The 41-year-old also won four consecutive European Championships from 2015-18, and she’s never missed a Spartan podium in her career.

3. Nicole Mericle

When she is firing on all cylinders, watching Mericle race is like watching OCR poetry in motion. With a placidness and calmness that’s unparalleled, the American has won a Spartan World Championship and Trifecta World Championship, and reached 11 United States National Series podiums (second all-time amongst women). In her past 25 races, she’s finished in the top 2 in 24 of them. That’s dominance.

4. Faye Stenning

Stenning is tiny and mighty, but her personality and OCR acumen make her feel larger than life. When it comes to strength-to-weight ratio, the Canadian is unmatched. She boasts the third-most USNS on NBC podiums (12) and finished fourth in the 2017 and 2018 Spartan World Championship in Lake Tahoe. The year prior, she finished third at the World Championship following a legendary burpee-off with Webster. It remains one of the most unique finishes in Spartan history.

5. Claude Godbout

A former Canadian National Team biathlete, Godbout earned second overall in her first-ever Spartan race way back in 2011. It didn’t take long for her to cement herself as one of the best in the world, winning the 2012 and 2014 World Championships in Killington (and finishing a respectable third in 2013). She also won Spartan’s first Ultra Beast in 2012. During a remarkable run between June of 2012 and May of 2015, she won 15 of the 16 Spartan races she competed in. The only time she ever missed a Spartan podium was Lake Tahoe, in 2015, when she finished eighth. That was her final race.

Rounding Out the Top 25

6. Myriam Guillot-Boisset
7. Rose Wetzel
8. Rebecca Hammond
9. Amelia Boone
10. Alyssa Hawley
11. Eszter Hortobagyiova
12. Rea Kolbl
13. Deanna Blegg
14. Kate Cramer
15. April Dee
16. Corinna Coffin
17. Leigh Anne Wasteney
18. Joanna Hills
19. Janka Pepova
20. Alex Roudayna de la Huerta Susilla
21. Jezabel Kremer
22. Tereza Klimešová
23. Orla Marie Walsh
24. Tiffany Palmer
25. TyAnn Clark