Owen Sanders didn't begin this past December like many 14-year-olds.
The Little Rock native wasn't stuck in a classroom, sitting behind a desk before the final week of his fall semester. Instead, he was trekking through the sand dunes of Liwa Oasis in the desert directly south of Abu Dhabi.
Sanders, accompanied by his family, made the nearly 8,000-mile journey from Arkansas to the United Arab Emirates to compete in the 2021 Spartan Race World Championships, where he finished third overall in the 14-17-year-old division, which included more than 100 racers.
"It was an awesome experience," Sanders said. "It's something I had definitely never experienced in the United States. I'd never run on sand before, so it was a totally different game."
Sanders began competing in Spartan Kid races at the age of 8 and has been training with his father, Chad Sanders, for both triathlons and Spartan Races since he was about 6 years old.
"My goal [has been] to try to get to the top of this sport," Chad, who previously raced for 10 years on USA Triathlon's Team USA, said in reference to Spartan Racing. "And so he's just kind of followed along with it. ... And he absolutely loves it. He loves triathlons and he loves Spartan Racing, and he's found a lot of success in both really, really early."
Spartan Racing, which began in 2013, is a series of obstacle races that range from 3 to 30-plus miles in distance, with more than 60 obstacles at some levels. Spartan Kid races, which Owen began racing in 2015, range from a half-mile to 3 miles in distance. After Owen turned 14 in Jan. 2021, he began competing in the adult division of Spartan Races.
Since then, Owen has competed in several races across the U.S. He took part in the 2021 Spartan U.S. National Series, racing in Glen Jean, W.Va., and Jacksonville, Fla. He has also raced in his home state, placing first overall in the Spartan Trail US Championship in Fayetteville in October. Perhaps most notably, he punched his ticket to the World Championship in September by finishing third in his age division at the Spartan Race North American Championship at North Lake Tahoe, Calif.
"I like competition," Owen said. "I think [my age] motivates me. If it's ... older kids [I'm competing against], they've had a few more years of training, or development and just everything on me. And if I can go and beat them, or even compete with them, that excites me."
When Owen isn't Spartan Racing, he stays busy. A freshman at Little Rock Christian, he's on the ninth-grade basketball team and the cross country and track and field teams. He is also on the Arkansas Trail Blazers, an AAU track and field team, and trains on Pinnacle Mountain and the West Mountain trails in Hot Springs with his father.
As Owen continues to progress in Spartan Racing, he said he hopes to work his way into the "Elite" category of the sport, which can see winners collect prize money and potentially attract sponsorships. He also hopes to continue his running career in college, whether he's racing triathlons or cross country.