Obstacle course racing continues to inspire a lot of people to get off the couch, train hard, and have a lot of fun at these unique and challenging events. Earlier this year I got to be a part of the team that launched a new race series called BattleFrog, which made a lot of noise in the industry by bringing unique events with a Navy SEAL theme to the OCR community. The races garnered a lot of attention due to their high level of organization and outstanding courses, making BattleFrog one of the hottest new events to hit the OCR circuit in a very long time. But in 2015, the race management team is taking it to a new level. Yesterday, they announced a new BattleFrog Elite division, and a total prize package of $1 million.BattleFrog Elite is designed to attract the very best competition possible to these OCR events. As the organization rolls out more events next year, it will also begin tracking season-long points totals, ranking the top 250 elite mail racers, as well as 125 female and masters class racers as well. Those season points will count towards the BattleFrog Elite Series Cup, and at the end of the season, $50,000 in prize money will be warded to the top 30 ranked male athletes, with an additional $50,000 going to the top 30 females as well. On top of that, $25,000 will be awarded to the top 15 ranked competitors in the male masters division, and another $25,000 will be given to the 15 highest ranked female masters competitors as well.
But that is just the beginning. In November of next year, the first ever BattleFrog Series Championship will take place. That event will bring together the top ranked athletes in each of the divisions to race head-to-head to see who will be crowned as the BattleFrog champ. Three other races that will be held throughout the year will provide chances for others to quality for the event as well, giving them an opportunity to get a slice of the $60,000 in cash prizes that will be given away at the event.
Additionally, my friends over at BattleFrog have announced that they are forming Team BattleFrog to compete in events in 2015 as well. The athletes who have already been named to this group include Ryan Atkins and Claude Godbout, both of Canada, as well as Corinna Coffin of the U.S. Atkins and Coffin will serve as team captains.
In 2015, BattleFrog will be showing up in more cities across the U.S., allowing more racers to take part in the Navy SEAL-themed event. In addition to old favorites such as Atlanta and Pittsburgh, which hosted races this year, BattleFrog events are now scheduled in Austin, Houston, and Cincinnati too. For more information, and to view a full race calendar, visit BattleFrogSeries.com.
