Spartan Estérel Saint-Raphaël, live.

Thirty obstacles between the red rocks and the sea

The Spartan weekend at Saint-Raphaël is run from a beach: the festival, the start and the finish are all at Plage du Dramont, in the Estérel massif.

The 2026 weekend ran from Friday 2 to Sunday 4 October and hosted the Spartan European Championship. The Beast, 21 km with 30 obstacles and open from age 18, ran on Saturday 3 October with starts and finishes from 08:00 to 16:00. The Super, 10 km and 25 obstacles from age 16, ran on Sunday morning from 08:00 to 12:00. The Sprint, 5 km and 20 obstacles from age 14, ran on both afternoons. Friday belonged to the Kids European Championship. The organiser presents the weekend as the last chance to complete a Trifecta — Sprint, Super and Beast — and qualify for the Trifecta World Championship in Sparta.

The organiser describes the ground as red rock cliffs and coves above turquoise water: stunning, and steep. Its spectator guide maps the Beast for supporters: the start at Plage du Débarquement with a water traverse and barbed wire, the Domaine du Castellas at km 12, Plage du Pourrousset at km 17, Plage du Camp Long at km 18 with an atlas carry and a dunk and swim, then back past Plage du Débarquement to the festival finish at km 20.5. The guide gives walking times of 20 to 40 minutes between zones.

That walk is the real problem for supporters: leave too early and you wait, leave too late and you miss them. On Livebib the athlete shares a link that family and friends open in a browser, with no account and no app. They see the position on the course line, the distance covered and an arrival estimate that updates as the race goes. If the phone loses signal under the cliffs, the position is carried forward along the course and marked as estimated. The athlete decides who gets the link.