The 2023 Power Rankings Will Be Age-Group Focused. Will You Make the List?

Every month for the past two years, Spartan Pro Kevin Donoghue — a long-time Pro with more than 177 combined podium appearances and 127 Age Group victories to his name — has selected the top-10 male and female North American Elite Spartan racers for the Power Rankings based on recent accomplishments, results, and overall race resumes. In the process, he's also ruffled a lot feathers (and he's not sorry).

But over the past few seasons, something became very evident. The action, competition, and stories that unfold across the Age Group divisions every weekend are not only fascinating, but abundant.

A LOOK BACK AT THE 2022 SEASON ENDER RANKINGS: Spartan Power Rankings: A Review of the Year's Most Accomplished Age Groupers

There are a total of 10 Spartan race Age Groups between men and women — each with a "protecting-my-property" passionate competitiveness to defeat their rivals, to make the top 10, stand on the podium, and win the gold. And every year, the balances of power shift. Spartan legends vacate an Age Group in which they've dominated for years, and join another. They leave power vacuums in the group they left, while wreaking havoc in another.

But within these Age Groups, there lives a sense of deep camaraderie. Each Age Group racer takes immense pride in how they compare competitively to the other AGs. The bragging rights are staked during the nail-biting battle of the race, and the flag gets planted when the results are posted.

In 2023, rather than award the greatest Spartan racer of all time, Lindsay Webster, the shiny first-place Power Rankings position she's held for ages (it's well deserved, don't get us wrong), this season's Power Rankings will be dedicated to highlighting the accomplishments, newly born battles, and age-old rivalries of Spartan's hometown heroes: the Age Groupers!

The 2023 Spartan Power Rankings: How It Will Work

This season, we'll be combining the men and women together for one comprehensive list that pits Age Groups against other Age Groups while also highlighting the athletes who best represented their group that month. For each U.S. race, Donoghue will tally up the top-10 OVERALL placings for the men and the women.

You will also see a record of:

How many times an Age Group had an athlete place in the overall top 10.
The average placement those athletes earned in the top 10.
The % of athletes each Age Group had appearing in the top 10.

Each month, we'll add up these results for each Age Group and use the numbers to see who's kicking the most ass. Will the "Brady Bunchers" (60+) stick it to the "TikTok" generation (14-17)? Will the "Saved By The Bells" (45-49) outperform the "Hogwarts" generation (30-34)?

The rivalries are endless, and it's all about to unfold. Do you have what it takes to climb the ranks and make the Power Rankings list this year?

Think you've already out-run the Age Group competition? Ready to make the jump to Elite heats? Here are some tips from the top racers in the Spartan ecosystem right now on how to make the switch.