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The Greatest Endurance Story Ever Told

Saturday, 24 May 2025

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Endurance didn't just save them. It defined them.
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In today's edition, Joe shares:
  • The forgotten family motto behind a great endurance feat
  • Why Spartans across six countries are uniting this weekend
  • Whether suffering with purpose still works
 
Spartans!

Joe De Sena here, writing from New York this week. I've been reading about Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic expedition again, and one line from his family crest stopped me cold: Fortitudine Vincimus — "By endurance we conquer." That wasn't marketing. That was how they lived. Shackleton didn't flinch in the face of cold, hunger, or isolation. He didn't ask for guarantees, and chose to move forward regardless.

It reminded me of you.

We're in the middle of May's "Push Harder" campaign, and this weekend Spartans from Australia, Italy, Mexico, Japan, the Netherlands and Slovakia will prove what Push Harder really means. From the heat of Queensland to the cliffs of the Italian coast, from muddy hills in Mexico to the highland forests of Chiba and wind-whipped beaches in Zandvoort, races are happening in every time zone. None of them care how you feel when you show up.

You either move, or you don't.

That's the thing most people forget. Suffering isn't the side effect, it's the method. Shackleton understood that. Since him, the world has softened, but the mountain, trail, and weight hasn't. What's changed is the standard we're willing to accept.

Do you want to reclaim that standard? Start here.

Join the Spartan Run Club and train with people who don't wait for perfect conditions. Hit this week's beginner-friendly workout designed as a classic strength and conditioning smackdown. And if you've already earned it, wear it. The enduring gear is there—but it means more if you bled for it first.

If you want more of these real conversations about discomfort, mindset, and what it takes to push through, check out my Hard Way Podcast. I've been sharing a lot of thoughts there lately, along with some amazing guests who know what it means to suffer with purpose.

Shackleton didn't ask for comfort, and neither should you.

Hurry up.

Joe
 
FOUR MORE HOURS OF HELL

I was deep into the Ironman Lake Placid. I'd already done Badwater and the Vermont 100 that same week. My legs were a mess, I needed painkillers, but I wouldn't take them. The pain got so bad I started questioning everything. But I reminded myself: time will pass whether I move or not. So I kept moving, four more hours of hell. I did it, and now I'm grateful.
More stories here: Spartan Up! by Joe De Sena.

 
You Ask, Joe Answers
Q: "Joe, how do you know when you've pushed hard enough?"
- Maria T.

A: You don't always know. But if you've got anything left, you haven't pushed hard enough.

Aroo!

Question for Joe? Want to tell him what you think of The Hard Way? Email him at thehardway@spartan.com.
 
Are you raising mentally weak kids?
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They Said It
"Difficulties are just things to overcome, after all."
Ernest Shackleton
 
The Hard Way Podcast with Joe
Discover the "Never Zero" Mindset
Joe De Sena sits down with CrossFit Games champion and Train Hard founder Jason Khalipa to explore what it really means to build grit, discipline, and lasting strength in a world that's getting softer.
Watch The Latest Hard Way Video
SCIENCE BEHIND THE ELITES
In this Hard Way exclusive, we dive into a high-performance VO2Max test conducted at the CU Sports Medicine and Performance Center in Boulder, Colorado. Two of Spartan's top athletes go all-out in the lab to reveal the science, grit, and physical limits behind championship-level performance.
 
 
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