I’d like to sincerely thank BattleFrog for inviting me out to their inaugural event in Georgia this last weekend. I had a wonderful time and it was an honor just having the opportunity to be there. I’ll just come right out and say, I’d rate it a solid 9 out of 10 stars. Usually, I’d be inclined to say that they did a great job for a first event and I expect to see great things in the future, but BattleFrog made a solid first showing that easily rivals organizations that have put on dozens of events. Then, they even took it one step further with the Navy SEAL demonstration and Helicopter rides.
COURSE: I’d rank it in with the top 10 courses I’ve ever ran. All of the obstacles were quality built. They made marvelous use of the terrain. There were plenty of walls of different sizes and variety. Fun obstacles such as a tube slide where you drop out into the water, a slip’n slide, and a paintball gun range. Strength obstacles such as a tyrolean traverse, the jerry can carry, where you had to carry two water jugs down at your side, and the 16′ high quarter pipe wall. Even the barbed wire crawl had a unique twist with the jacks spread throughout it giving you the feel of being in a war zone.
FESTIVAL: The music was great, there was food and water, tents for shade, tables and chairs to relax on, a playground for the kids, a quality washing station set up, tires to flip, a dunk booth, and a small ninja warrior type of setup with a salmon ladder and peg board to play on. Did I mention the Navy SEAL demonstration and helicopter rides. It was an A+ show that you’re not going to see at any other obstacle race.
Truth be told though, I was most impressed with the team behind it all. This isn’t just a few individuals with a small dream and even smaller budget trying to make their way into the world of OCR. This is a full fledged team of Navy SEALS, administrators, investors, etc. dedicated to giving you the greatest OCR experience you’ve ever had, and I imagine last weekend was just the beginning of what you can expect to see from them in the future.
Now, there were some minor bumps in the road such as people getting mixed up with the 5k and 15k courses being ran at the same time, but honestly, of everything I saw, other organizations that have been around for years are still struggling with the same issues. As a matter of fact, I was allowed to go to their debriefing meeting after Saturdays event, and I heard solutions being made to problems that still plague other top OCR organizations.
This may be BattleFrogs first event, but don’t kid yourself, they have big plans, and the only place I see them going in the future is UP!
