Longmont’s Breydyn Mendoza is taking on the world, one Spartan Race at a time.
Breydyn is an 11-year-old boy who trains with his father, Joey Mendoza, at Warrior Playground in Longmont.
For years Breydyn has watched his dad continuously place in Spartan Races across the country and one day decided he wanted to get serious about the sport. Prior to that, he had competed as a Ninja Warrior and dabbled in local Spartan Races, but hadn’t competed because he wasn’t old enough.
The Spartan Race is “the world’s premier obstacle course race (OCR). An OCR is a running race with the additional challenge of obstacles along the course,” according to the race’s website.
Breydyn has entered 10 races over the last two years and earned the top spot in each race.
“He just dominated. He dominated his age group and was really beating the older kids too,” Joey Mendoza said.
Breydyn’s record qualified him for the world championship in 2021, however, he could not attend because the expense was too much for his family.
His fortune changed this year.
During the weekend of Dec. 10, Breydyn competed in the world competition in Florida and again finished in first place. According to Joey Mendoza, the top three boys in Breydyn’s age group were neck and neck through most of the race and it came down to the final penalty lap to determine the ultimate winner. Breydyn finished only 20 seconds before his second-place competitor.
“We didn’t know what to expect. We didn’t know who was coming,” Joey Mendoza said. “There were 12 countries representing the championship … In his (Breydyn’s) division there were 50 kids. He didn’t know anybody.”
Being unfamiliar with his competitors didn’t stop Breyden though. He competed in two races over the weekend, taking the number one spot in each.
“I’m going to treat this as another race,” Breydyn told his father as he readied himself for the race.
“I was excited that I got to compete in the worlds. I tried my hardest to come here and I won it all,” Breydyn said.
Breydyn plans to continue competing in Spartan Races to “see how far I can get,” he said. He hopes to get to a Next World Championship in the future.
