I have been counting the days since participating in my first BattleFrog 15K in NJ (August 2, 2014) and the time was finally here! I volunteered in NJ and had a blast and gained a great deal of respect for BattleFrog, so I decided to take a PTO day from work Friday and drive to down Thursday night to volunteer all day Friday. I was offered a media pass by MRG and didn’t need to volunteer, but I made a commitment to Oscar and Lex and wanted to honor it.
Shortly after my 21st birthday, I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus. This blow was hard to handle as I had been very sick for some time and being diagnosed with both at such a young age was a hard pill to swallow. For the next eight years of my life I became very ill and spent a lot of time at the hospital. Lupus and RA were controlling my life. I had numerous surgeries, blood clots, and a detached retina.
The Running Scared 5k started in 2013 and is now the official opening event of Boone Hall Fright Nights in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina located just outside of Charleston. Fright Nights is a month long festival that is a combination of a haunted hayride, a medieval haunted castle, a 3D nightmare adventure, and a full blown zombie town. The Running Scared 5k kicks off all of the Fright Night festivities leading up to Halloween and includes a number of side shows, vendors, and a variety of food tents.
The Mighty Run was developed to raise money for care provided on The Masonic Care Community campus. The Mighty Mites course rose over $12,000 to benefit its Child Care Center (the Center cares for children ages 8 weeks to 5 years old from all over the community). The Mighty Run raised almost $38,000 for its rehabilitation center. Everyone connected with the Mighty Run, clearly felt a great deal of pride on Saturday, despite the rain and cold, participants ended the course with smiles and energy!
Spartan started with the obstacles right from the get go on this race. After the initial climb, you had a ridiculously long barbed wire crawl through mud and water. It felt like a quarter mile, but the water felt great with the heat. My arms and knees were torn up after this one. The next obstacle was the monkey bars. I gave them a shot, but I couldn't hold on, since the “bars” were more like pipes, and I have tiny hands. So on to the burpees for me.
Ever since they entered the scene in the Spring of 2014, they have been everything you can could ask for in an OCR. The staff embraces everyone at every level, creating a friendly environment for everyone participating, making you feel like part of their B-Frog family.
Participants were immediately faced with a deep and slippery mud pit that had people laughing and taking melfies (mud selfies). The trails were well marked and the terrain was fantastic with streams, hills and trails cutting in and out the conservation area. With over 1200 acres of woodlands, there was a lot to choose from.
I researched City Challenge and what separated them from other OCR players. The first thing I noticed was that the course has no mud or water obstacles. What also caught my eye where some of the obstacles such as Battle Rope Jumps, Sumo Squat Kettle Bell Swings, Slam Ball Strikes, Caravan Parkover, and Heavy Bag Guantlet
I did a fun race this past weekend with a girlfriend. It was the Lozilu race which took place in Broomfield, Colorado. Normally I steer away from girl only runs as they are not as challenging as I would like. But that is because I have over 50 OCR's and these runs are great for 1st timers, with no pressure of elite anything. It is to go out and laugh your butt off and to play, like when you were kids.
After learning about BattleFrog I was thinking about going and running the course. While researching the event and obstacles I noticed the volunteer link on the BattleFrog website and checked it out. The idea of volunteering and getting to run the course for free made BattleFrog seem like a no brainier. BattleFrog would get awesome help (me) for the day and I would meet the staff, hang out with SEAL's, meet more OCR regulars, and run the course for free?
