It’s a beautiful sunny day and the breeze is gently cooling us as it sweeps across Lake Ontario and down the hill to meet us. Nervous racers are gathered at the base of the Fort Henry hill awaiting the final instructions before the first annual military Cannonball Rush 5K begins.
A quick thunder storm came in Friday night at Carolina Adventure World to set the tone for the race weekend in which Battle Frog held its second event ever. The storm cooled the air for a little while that night, but it wasn't enough to save anybody from the blistering heat to come during the race. The sun was already shining bright by the time the elite heat racers took the start line. For anybody who hasn't been to an OCR at Carolina Adventure World, it is one of the most underrated and unexpected terrains for a course in the Southeast.
When I first identified this event, I became interested to see what it was all about. I had reviewed the information on a few examples of this event in other areas, so I thought I would give it a run. I was very happy that I entered this event, as it turned out to be a quality outing.
As a keen obstacle racer I have met some fantastic people during events and while networking online. Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Sharenow (Brian) who is one of the creators of the BADASS Dash. His company has been associated with sporting events for over 15 years and became more focused on OCR in the last 10. Brian has been the Race Director for the last 2 years and works with a crew of talented people who are all passionate about building a fun and safe event for everyone to enjoy.
The hard fact is this; businesses fail. It happens every day, all over the globe. Whether they are a Detroit carmaker or the corner bakery, the collapse of these businesses inflict plenty of damage - both primary (the owners, employees, banks, etc.) and collateral (those employees' families, 3rd parties, and customers) and he fallout can get pretty ugly; social media makes damn sure that happens.
BattleFrog’s second event picked right up where the Atlanta event left off last month. There was no chance of them experiencing a Sophomore Slump in Carolina this Saturday. A 15k Obstacle Course Race that is designed by and operated by US Navy Seals, this is a world class OCR that offers Cash Payouts for the 15k Elite Heat Runners, a 5k event, and a 1k Fun Run OCR for children. With fitness competitions in the Festival Area, inflatable bouncy play zones, great music blaring from the PA’s, and Seal Team demonstrations throughout the day along with helicopter fly-overs, even when you weren't running you were having fun and staying fully entertained.
Since earlier in 2014 when OCRWC announced their intentions to develop a world championship that isn't tied to one specific brand of events, there have been a few jabs that have been thrown in their direction from Joe, in conversations and interviews he has used variations of "we only acknowledge one OCR World Championship, and it's held in Vermont each September." This was completely to be expected, Joe and his ever-growing team has sunk millions of dollars into developing and advertising the Spartan brand all over the world, it only makes sense that he would protect his investment when asked about a direct competitor. He's spoken with so much vitrol in the past about his distaste for the tactics of Will Dean and Tough Mudder's when both races were fighting to develop a foothold in the industry. His dismissive comments when asked about OCRWC clearly didn't seem like he was lowering the boom on the fledgeling event. Or did it?
From my first event to this day I have been excited about the prospect of pushing my limits and the limits of the obstacle course racing events. The end of the line for the two largest events in our country are the Worlds Toughest Mudder and the Spartan Death Race. Having participated in WTM in 2013 I am now about to take on the Death Race and find out if I have what it takes. The two events have chosen vastly different atmospheres and different challenges to apply to its participants.
Nestled at about 5,000 feet on the Mogollon Rim you find yourself in a different climate and vegetation. On the outskirts of town are the rodeo grounds and the location for the 2nd Annual Mogollon Monster Mudder 5k obstacle race. I did not have any expectations about this race and how easy or difficult it might be.
Knowing that we were going to be running up and down mountains, I decided to take a slower pace at the beginning of the race. I didn't want to burn out early. From what I saw, it was pretty much the mass consensus once we reached the first climb. I have to hand it to Dan. He managed to find every single track trail that had a steep grade and long distance to climb. Calves and quads were to be tested this day! After about 2.5 miles of running up and then back down that same mountain on the long trail, we make our first loop back through the festival area for the Rolling Mud and Monkey Net obstacles.
