Joe De Sena

Early life

Joe De Sena grew up in Howard Beach, Queens, with his mother Jean, a yoga aficionado, and his father, Ralph was a business owner. De Sena built a small business around selling fireworks, and then a t-shirt sales business at a young age. Joe later began a pool cleaning business while a teenager, where he earned 750 customers in his local area. Joe eventually moved with his mother and sister to Ithaca, NY, and four years out of high school he attended Cornell University. He eventually restarted the pool cleaning business and later sold it for $500,000. Following this, he began a career on Wall Street. At a brokerage firm De Sena worked as an equities and derivatives trader and engaged various outdoor activities ranging from multiple IronMan races, to the Iditarod by foot.

Racing career

De Sena first became interested in long-distance events after gaining weight while holding his desk job, and trying to reverse the process through running the stairs of his apartment building. He later moved to Vermont in order to continue a private stock trading business. His moved his family moved as well to Pittsfield, Vermont to operate a farm, a bed and breakfast, and a general store for hikers that he purchased. Here he became an ultramarathon runner and began to compete in other long-distance events. This included athletic events like the Ironman and the Furnace Creek 508 Bike Race, as De Sena competed in several hundred extreme races after moving. In one year, De Sena completed fifty ultra events and fourteen Ironmans.

Spartan Race

In 2000, De Sena's team became stranded in the Quebec wilderness during a 350-mile winter adventure race, when he had to dig himself beneath the snow to survive. It was here that he claims he made a distinction between "difficult" situations and "desperate" experience, and inspired him to create his own endurance races. De Sena met Andy Weinberg and they decided to develop a new series of obstacle course races. They cofounded the Death Race, and the first edition in 2007 saw only eight competitors, with three completing the race. The original race is still held at De Sena's farm, where in 2014 only forty of three hundred entrants completed the race. He also hosts individuals at his farm for long-term personalized outdoor training. In 2008 De Sena began the Peak.com Corporation with Julian Kopald to promote endurance sports, including Peak and Spartan.

In addition to running the Death Race, Peak.com founded the Spartan Race in 2009 as a less strenuous obstacle course test. He is currently serving as the company's CEO. In August 2012, the Raptor Group, an equity firm run by Jim Pallotta, invested in Spartan Race with John Burns from Raptor Consumer Partners joining the Board of Directors for Spartan Race, Inc. The new venture began as Spartan Race unveiled a new stadium series of races beginning with Fenway Park. In 2013, Spartan Race expanded the stadium series to include CITI Field, Miller and AT&T parks.

Writing

De Sena is a contributor to publications including Entrepreneur. In 2014 he published the book Spartan Up: A Take-No-Prisoners Guide to Overcoming Obstacles and Achieving Peak Performance in Life, co-authored with Jeff O'Connell. In 2016 he followed up that book with Spartan Fit!: 30 Days. Transform Your Mind. Transform Your Body. Commit to Grit. No Gym Required. De Sena is also the host of the Spartan Up! podcast, on which he interviews various public figures on their achievements.