The 2023 DEKA World Championships will take place Dec 1-3, 2023 at the Automobile Building @ Fair Park in Dallas, TX, USA. It will feature the best of the best at DEKA FIT, DEKA MILE, DEKA STRONG, DEKA Teams, and DEKA GORUCK. Spartan just released the full schedule, along with the qualification standards.
Let’s take a look at when each event & division will be competing at this year’s World Championships, along with what it will take to qualify for both the elite and age group races.
2023 DEKA World Championships Schedule
The World Championships will take place over the course of three days, and each day will consist of one of the three unique disciplines within DEKA:
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- Friday, Dec 1 – DEKA FIT
- Saturday, Dec 2 – DEKA MILE
- Sunday, Dec 3 – DEKA STRONG
For all three days, the team races will happen in the late afternoon, after the individual races.
Since the DEKA GORUCK division is only for DEKA FIT, that will happen on Friday, Dec 1.
Some of the male & female age group waves are split up, with several hours in between them. However, the elite individual races for men & women will always happen back-to-back, with the women going first and the men to follow.
All times are US Central.
DEKA FIT Championship Schedule
Here’s the schedule for Friday, December 1, 2023.
Time Division 7:50 AM GORUCK Female 8:00 – 11:30 AM Age Group Female 11:30 AM – 12:10 PM Elite Female 12:10 – 1:00 PM Elite Male 12:50 PM GORUCK Male 1:00 – 4:30 PM Age Group Male 4:30 – 5:00 PM Teams – Coed 5:00 – 5:30 PM Teams – Male 5:30 – 6:00 PM Teams – Female
DEKA MILE Championship Schedule
Here’s the schedule for Saturday, December 2, 2023.
Time Division 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM Age Group Female 12:00 – 12:30 PM Elite Female 12:30 – 1:00 PM Elite Male 1:05 – 4:30 PM Age Group Male 4:30 – 4:50 PM Teams – Coed 4:50 – 5:10 PM Teams – Male 5:10 – 5:30 PM Teams – Female
DEKA STRONG Championship Schedule
Here’s the schedule for Sunday, December 3, 2023.
Time Division 8:00 – 11:15 AM Age Group Female 11:15 AM – 12:00 PM Elite Female 12:00 – 12:15 PM Elite Male 12:15 – 3:45 PM Age Group Male 3:45 – 4:15 PM Teams – Coed 4:15 – 4:45 PM Teams – Male 4:45 – 5:15 PM Teams – Female
2023 DEKA World Championships Qualification
The top 20 athletes in elite & in each age group will qualify for the 2023 DEKA World Championships. 70+ & 10-13 age groups, as well as the GORUCK division, will qualify the top 10 males and females. All times for men & women during all races in 2023 (up to September 24th) are eligible to qualify. Any times posted after this date will not count towards qualification.
An athlete can qualify for DEKA World Championships in 1, 2, or all 3 DEKA events.
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If an athlete qualifies for in the elite category, they will receive an invite to participate as an elite first. However, they may choose to compete in their age group. If an athlete wants to compete in age group, they can simply ignore their elite invitation, and then accept their age group invite that comes later.
DEKA FIT
For DEKA FIT, there are 15 qualifying events around the world:
- Zaragoza, Spain – Regional Series (Q4, 2022)
- Tenerife, Spain – Regional Series (Q4, 2022)
- Austin, TX, USA – Regional Series (February 11th, 2023)
- Knoxville, TN, USA – Regional Series (March 4th, 2023)
- NorCal, USA – Regional Series (April 1st, 2023)
- SoCal, USA – Regional Series (May 6th, 2023)
- Carolinas, USA – Regional Series (June 24th, 2023)
- Malaga, Spain – Regional Series (June 24th, 2023)
- Puerto Rico – Road Show (July 15th, 2023)
- Madrid, Spain – Regional Series (July 29th, 2023)
- Ontario, Canada – Road Show (July 29th, 2023)
- Lancashire, UK – Road Show (August 15th, 2023)
- Northeast, USA – Regional Series (August 26th, 2023)
- Midwest, USA – Road Show (September 2nd, 2023)
- Orlando, FL, USA – Regional Series (September 16th, 2023)
To qualify for DEKA FIT elite, you must have competed in an elite wave at a DEKA FIT event, and have a top 20 time for the year.
To qualify for age group, you must have competed in an age group wave and have a top 20 time in your age group. Open wave times do not count towards qualification.
DEKA MILE & DEKA STRONG
For DEKA MILE & DEKA STRONG, there are over 700 qualifying events at Spartan affiliate gyms across the world.
Since there are no elite waves for DEKA MILE or DEKA STRONG, you just need to finish one event and have a top 20 time for the year.
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Team Divisions
The same qualification standards apply to the teams divisions for DEKA FIT, DEKA MILE, and DEKA STRONG. The top 20 will qualify (in elite and in age group).
Although it is possible for a competitor to qualify in multiple team categories (male, female, and/or co-ed), they may only compete in one category at each DEKA Teams World Championship event. Competitors must compete with their original partner; no substitutions are allowed.
DEKA GORUCK
The top 10 males & females will qualify for the GORUCK division. There are no age group categories for DEKA GORUCK, so it’s the top 10 overall for the year.
Invitations
Registration will open for DEKA FIT shortly after the September 16th Orlando DEKA FIT.
Registration will open for DEKA STRONG & DEKA MILE shortly after September 24th.
Emails will be sent out to qualifying athletes. Athletes will be given 7 days to register. At the end of this registration period, if spots remain open, an email rolldown will take place until all 20 spots are filled.
Important Dates
Keep these dates in mind as you’re waiting to hear if you qualified for DEKA World Championships. You can also check out our unofficial DEKA leaderboard to see if you’ve made the elite top 20.
Date Action 9/22 The first DEKA FIT Elite, Age Group, and Teams qualifier registration email goes out to the top 20 in each category. 9/29 Top 20 exclusive registration window closes, and a DEKA FIT rolldown email will go out to athletes and teams ranked 21-40+. Once this email goes out, registration is FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVED. 9/29 The first DEKA STRONG & DEKA MILE Elite-Only qualifier registration emails will be sent to the top 20 overall male, female, and teams. You will have until 10/3 at 11:59 pm EST to register. 10/3 Last day for DEKA STRONG & DEKA MILE elite athletes to register (11:59 PM EST) 10/4 The rolldown email for DEKA STRONG & DEKA MILE Elite-Only qualifier registration will be sent to the 21-40+ overall M/F and teams. Once this email goes out, registration is FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVED. 10/9 The first DEKA STRONG & DEKA MILE Age Group qualifier registration emails go out to the top 20 in each Age Group. 10/15 Last day for DEKA STRONG & DEKA MILE age group athletes to register (11:59 PM EST) 10/16 The rolldown DEKA STRONG & DEKA MILE Age Group Qualifier registration emails go out to athletes ranked 21-40+ in each Age Group. Once this email goes out, registration is FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVED.
Prize Money
The total prize purse across all events at the World Championships is $19,500.
Prize money for the 2023 DEKA World Championships is awarded to the top 5 males & females in the Elite division in DEKA FIT, DEKA MILE, and DEKA STRONG.
- 1st Place: $3,000
- 2nd Place: $2,000
- 3rd Place: $1,000
- 4th Place: $500
- 5th Place: $250
The top 3 men & women in the Age Group division receive a podium prize & recognition, but no cash prize.
Teams
The top 3 Elite male, female, and coed teams for DEKA FIT, DEKA MILE, and DEKA STRONG each receive the following prize money.
- 1st Place: $1,000
- 2nd Place: $600
- 3rd Place: $400
All podium winners also receive a Spartan RAM trophy.
GORUCK
The top 3 finishers in DEKA GORUCK receive a podium prize pack from GORUCK.
Open Heats
There will be no open heats at the 2023 DEKA World Championships. If you don’t qualify with a time from a previous DEKA event, you cannot participate. This event is only for those who have qualified with a top time.
Volunteer Heats
The only exception to this is volunteers. If you volunteer for the World Championships, you will have an opportunity to race in an open volunteer wave. DEKA has not released the time for this wave yet. I imagine it will be at the very end of the day. Based on the number of championship races and the final time on the official schedule, expect them to run this heat after 6pm on all days.
All volunteers will have an opportunity to receive a finisher’s shirt, medal & trifecta wedge on the World Championship stage. Alternatively, DEKA World Championship volunteers can choose a free entry to a different DEKA FIT or Spartan Sprint/Super/Beast open heat.
We’ll keep this page updated as more details come out. Let us know in the comments if you have any questions about the 2023 DEKA World Championships.
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