Tony Mestaz qualifies for World Championships

Tony Mestaz, of Shafter, has qualified for the Spartan Trifecta World Championships to held in Sparta, Greece, Nov. 3-6.

Mestaz has been competing in the Sparta events for years, with a number of medals collected in different events.He worked his way up to the Trifecta level, which allows him to compete in three different phases of the race. Mestaz was recently interviewed by KBAK to discuss his accomplishments.

The Trifecta award is given to participants who finish three different levels of the Spartan competitions.

Mestaz competes in the Spartan Sprint, which is a 3-plus mile obstacle course; the Spartan Beast, a 13-mile course; and the Spartan Ultra beast, a 26-mile grueling course in which racers endure a variety of obstacles and challenges.

The obstacles vary from race to race, but some are the core of the competition. Competitors face a fire jump, climbing underneath barbed wire, wall climbing, mud crawling and the over-under-throughs, which is a series of obstacles that makes the racers climb over a wall, then under a wall and then through a square hole placed in the wall.

Obstacles also include trudging through a rainstorm, jumping over fire, mud crawling and more. Mestaz said that these competitions test his fitness, physically, mentally and spiritually. "Your body starts screaming at a certain portion of the race, urging you to stop, calling it a day and packing it in. But, you have to dig deep for that extra gear and energy reserve," said Mestaz. "These courses really let you know what kind of person you are and what you can do when you dedicate yourself and gut it out through the grueling challenge, " added Mestaz."At 60 years of age, I have accomplished something unusual for someone my age. I qualified for the World Championships in Greece and representing America."

Mestaz has started a GoFundme web page at gofundme.com/f/tony-mestaz-on-his-road-to-sparta-greece to help meet the expenses for the trip.