It all started with a Highlander Adventure backpacking trip in 2023 that inspired Spartan Brand Ambassador, SGX Coach, and Unbreakable Athlete Jennifer Madura to connect with and become an ambassador for the nonprofit Responsible Stewardship. Responsible Stewardship is on a mission to educate others on being good stewards of the lands they recreate on, educating others through action with their erase the trace trash cleanups. Being an avid obstacle course racer, Jennifer saw an opportunity and decided to do an experiment by wrapping up her trifecta weekend in Dallas, TX by erasing the trace at the 2023 5K Spartan Dallas Sprint race. She walked the course and completed the obstacles, all while carrying a trash bag; removing 23 pounds of racer-related trash off of the course.
In 2024, Jennifer had an idea and started setting things in motion to raise awareness with Spartan racers on a larger scale. Having aspirations to trifecta chase in 2025, she wanted to find a way to do some good and give added meaning to her racing journey, and so the idea for the Erase the Trace Race Series was born. She returned to the Dallas venue in 2024 with an exciting announcement; she was officially partnering with Spartan and Responsible Stewardship to educate racers on understanding and minimizing their impact on the Spartan trail and venues in 2025, and the Erase the Trace Race Series was officially a go! To celebrate, a special Erase the Trace Race wave was launched and 33 pounds of trash was removed from the 5K Spartan Dallas Sprint course, a 10 pound increase from the previous year, highlighting the need for this new Spartan as stewards initiative.
Jennifer’s goal for her 2025 Erase the Trace Race Series trifecta chase: to raise awareness of the environmental impact made by obstacle course racers and encourage others to embrace social responsibility in keeping the lands we recreate on clean. She made a pledge to dedicate each 5K Sprint she completes in 2025 as a Responsible Stewardship cleanup and is inviting others to join her mission. The Erase the Trace Race Series kicked off their season this January at the Spartan Trifecta Weekend in Perris, California, where a team of 9 volunteers collected 59 pounds of trash off of the 5K Sprint course.
The Erase the Trace Race Series is taking place at 14 different Spartan trifecta weekends in 2025, launching with the 1:00 pm Sunday Sprint waves. More cleanups may be added to the schedule, and you can find a Responsible Stewardship information tent at select Spartan venues during the series. Jennifer believes that together we can create a culture of environmental mindfulness, work to reduce our impact, erase the trace when we see it, and foster a culture of stewardship in the Spartan community. To find out more information on the Erase the Trace Race Series and see how you can get involved, please visit https://linktr.ee/jennmadura. Let’s do some good together and usher in an era of Spartans as stewards!
