CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – A Clarksville teacher recently qualified to compete in the upcoming Spartan World Championships.
Rachel Hamrick, a teacher at Rossview Middle School, took on the Spartan Sprint Obstacle Course Race (OCR) hosted at Fort Campbell in August. Hamrick ran over five miles and worked through over 25 obstacles in the Elite Women’s category.
She ran the course in one hour and one minute, obtaining second place and missing first by less than one minute. This improved her time from last year’s race by 25 minutes.
Hamrick has participated in five Spartan races and was able to lose 45 pounds throughout the course of her training.
As a teacher and single mother of three, her accomplishments have not been easy.
“My girls are my priority, as they should be. So I train at 4:15 a.m., then anytime I get in the afternoon,” she said. “The best part and the hardest part is being able to balance being a good single Mom for my girls, a good teacher for my students, and a good athlete to improve myself.”
In addition to her personal training, Hamrick is currently working with Spartan SGX Coach and Parkour Instructor Storm Sims to bring a Spartan Kids program to Rossview Middle School, which would be the first of its kind in Tennessee.
“Rachel wants to be able to give back to her students by using herself as an example of having lifelong fitness and never giving up on your dreams and goals,” Sims said.
For more information about the Spartan World Championships, visit http://www.spartan.com/en/race/detail/1489/overview.