What Building Spartan Taught Him About Surviving the Unthinkable | Brian Duncanson (Pt. 2)

Send us Fan Mail

🎧Ep 226: What Building Spartan Taught Him About Surviving the Unthinkable | Brian Duncanson (Pt. 2)

In part one of this conversation on Evoke Greatness, Brian Duncanson shared what decades of adventure racing and helping build Spartan taught him about choosing hard things.

But what happens when you don’t get to choose the hard thing?

In part two, Brian takes us deeper into the story behind Spartan and the lessons that eventually became the foundation of his book, Becoming Spartan.

He shares how Spartan grew into something much bigger than an obstacle race. Almost immediately, stories began coming back from people whose experience on the course became a catalyst for transformation. People navigating divorce. Alcoholism. PTSD after military service. Amputation. They weren’t simply crossing a finish line. They were proving something to themselves.

Then Brian found himself needing those same lessons.

A cancer diagnosis discovered unexpectedly during a dental visit changed everything.

Suddenly, resilience wasn’t a business philosophy or something tested during an adventure race. It became personal.

Brian shares how he approached cancer the same way he had approached seemingly impossible races: don’t try to conquer the entire mountain at once. Find the next checkpoint.

In the hospital, that became walking laps around the floor with his IV pole. First half a mile. Then a mile. Then two. Then finding the stairwell.

Little goals. Little victories. Keep moving.

We also get into the business lessons behind Spartan, including what Brian calls “two-bike math,” operating without all the resources you think you need, finding opportunity inside constraints, and learning to adapt instead of waiting for perfect conditions.

This conversation is ultimately about something bigger than Spartan.

It’s about what happens when the mindset you’ve spent years building becomes the thing you have to lean on when life gets hard.

In this episode, we talk about:

• How Spartan became a vehicle for transformation, not simply an obstacle race
• The unexpected stories Brian began hearing from Spartan participants
• Building a business when resources are limited
• “Two-bike math” and learning to accomplish the mission with less
• Why constraints can force creativity
• The cancer diagnosis that changed Brian’s life
• What adventure racing taught him about facing cancer
• Creating checkpoints when the finish line feels impossibly far away
• The power of tiny victories
• Why resilience is built long before you actually need it
• The lessons behind Brian’s book, Becoming Spartan

Brian’s story is a reminder that we don’t get to decide when life will test us.

But we do get to decide who we’re becoming before that test arrives.

📖 Brian’s book: Becoming Spartan: Leveraging Friction to Forge, Scale, and Outlast

Find Becoming Spartan

📱 Connect with Brian:

Instagram

LinkedIn

Brian’s links

A rising tide raises all ships, and I invite you along on this journey to Evoke Greatness!

On a health journey too? Join me as I navigate Hashimoto's and Perimenopause like a BEAST 🔥

Rho Discount Code: https://rhonutrition.com/SONNIE15

Meraki Discount Code: