This was my sixth BattleFrog Xtreme of 2015 and the one I had most been looking forward to. I had known for a while that BattleFrog would have more than one Platinum Rig. I also knew BattleFrog planned to bring some new obstacles never used by BattleFrog and this excited me. I also had  a sneak peak of the very sexy and unique (to only this race) finisher medals and being the glorified medal whore that I am, I needed to add it to my growing medal display.

Canadian racers sweep top spots:

Canadian OCR racers and couple Ryan Atkins and Lindsay Webster finished first in the male and female Elite divisions. Other popular Canadian OCR race couple Marco Bédard and Claude Godbout finished fourth and third also in the male and female Elite divisions.

Pre-race MC:

I have never hidden the fact that I consider Coachpain Dewayne one of the sports best MC’s and he didn’t let me or any racers down the entire day. I originally wasn’t going to mention Coachpain Dewayne in this article, but then I realized a lot of Canadian readers/OCR racers are probably not aware of how amazing a job he does, so I felt it important to point out he is worth the price of registration alone.

The Course:

The course started out with a sprint and the first obstacle on the course was the “over/under/thru” and after another short sprint, the next obstacle was “Ramp Wall’s”, which is an angled wall that racers have to climb/run up and back down. The next obstacle was “Strong Man”, which this was the first time I have seen this obstacle at a BattleFrog event and it required carrying a bucket shaped concrete block a shot distance and back. After another brief sprint the course arrived to the next obstacle “60 Degrees”, which has been a staple obstacle for BattleFrog all season and one I personally enjoy, its a series of angled bars that racers have to climb up, over, and back down. This is an obstacle that I have noticed at all my BattleFrog races that racers have seemed to get intimidated and struggled with. Up next was “Iced Coffee Challenge” another new obstacle for BattleFrog, that had racers enter into large containers filled with ice cold water and coffee beans and I have to say on a hot sunny day this was pretty much the only obstacle/chance to get in in cold water and cool down. I hope BattleFrog keeps this obstacle as a regular for 2016.



At this point, the course continued and up next was “HOOYAH” which has been around for a while, but recently was updated/modified. The obstacle started out with a wall climb (with assistance of two attached boards) and then a slide down through a black drainage pipe. Just ahead was “Tunnel Rats” and then after a brief sprint up next was “12′ Ladder Wall”. The next three obstacles where “Pond Crossing”, “Hump Overs”, and “Monkey Bars”. A short distance ahead was “Log Pull”, which was actually ropes attached to concrete blocks also shaped like buckets. The next two obstacles, just up ahead and not that far apart from each other and were “8′ Wall”, and “Tire Flip” and then came “Caving Ladders”, which is a military style ladder that racers had to climb up and ring a bell. Up next was “Tree Cargo”, which was a cargo net attached to large tree’s. This section of the course was one of the rare parts that were out of the sunlight and in tree cover but eventually the trail exited out of the woods and up next was “Inverted Wall”. A short sprint ahead was the next obstacle which also happened to be the one obstacle that was a deciding factor in the outcome of the Elites, it was already one of, if not the largest Platinum Rig’s in existence, but BattleFrog added an additional Platinum Rig to it, which made it longer and very difficult.

The course had another short sprint and the next obstacle was “Normandy Jacks” and then came the “Jerry Can Carry”, which was a long looped section of course to carry one can and while we had the can still with us, racers  entered another wooded section and while still carrying the can racers had to high step through a black nylon cargo net and then a short distance ahead came the “Rope Climb” obstacle. Racers continued on carrying the Jerry can’s and came to a log “Balance  Beam” to cross while carrying the Jerry can, this wasn’t hard at all and really felt like a filler obstacle to up the total obstacle numbers, but it still was  challenging. After a short distance, racers finally completed the Jerry can carry. After another brief sprint up next was a “6′ Wall” obstacle and just a short distance ahead was another BattleFrog staple obstacle, the “12′ Rope Wall” obstacle that is a very challenging wall climb with the assistance of a rope and one board attached to the wall. Just ahead was the next obstacle “Wedge Wall”, which was also a new obstacle for BattleFrog and was a very slightly angled wall with boards attached near the bottom (for racers feet) and mountain climbing hand notches attached near the top (for racers hands) and racers had to traverse across.



The next obstacle was “Delta Ladder”, which is a massive structure with nylon cargo nets attached to it and racers have to climb up it, then across the top of it and then back down it. A short distance ahead was the “Wreck Bag Carry”, which went for a pretty long looped distance and around the middle of the loop had a “4′ Wall” to place the Wreck Bag on and then climb/hurdle over. After the Wreck Bag carry the next obstacle was “Platinum Rig # 2”, which was also a really long and challenging obstacle. A short distance ahead was the final obstacle on the course the “Tip of the Spear”, which I have to say with my studded sneakers on was pretty easy all day. A short distance ahead was the turnoff for Elites (to do the second lap) and BFX (BattleFrog Xtreme) racers to continue doing multiple laps.

The Bling:

The bling for all racers was a new, unique, and special just for this Championship event medal that is awesome and very cool looking.  BattleFrog also provided a different finisher medal for the Elites, open wave, and Xtreme racers and it’s a medal and very happy to add to my 2015 race display. BattleFrog also provided a shirt that is new and specific to this  Championship event.

Overall Feelings and Event Rating:

BattleFrog designed a course that had more obstacles than they have had at most of their recent races/events and even introduced several new obstacles that had not been used by them and this made for a fun and very challenging course. They also now own four Platinum Rigs which are all BattleFrog Green and have the BattleFrog logo right on them, which is cool and allows them to design courses that will be very challenging on the upper body and grip strength.

The course spent the majority of the 5.5 miles directly in the sunlight and even though they had a fair amount of water stations, I wish they could have designed more than just one obstacle that allowed racers to get wet and cool down, I personally would have enjoyed more than one of the above mentioned obstacle “Iced Coffee Challenge” placed on the course. To be fair, I prefer cooler weather and more water obstacles than most, so this is an opinion I am sure not everyone will have or agree with.

As noted above, the course was challenging and fun, staff clearly worked hard to put on the best event they could, the volunteers were all polite, the bling was some, if not the best medal in the OCR industry, and even though I spent no time in the festival area, it was set up well and looked to be good times all day. I am rating the final BattleFrog event/race of the year a 5 out of 5 stars and have to say since the change in leadership, I have seen  the fire and determination return with the people I know and deal with that work for BattleFrog.

BattleFrog is coming to Canada:

BattleFrog will be coming to Toronto on July 2nd, 2016 and the course designer will be Ryan Atkins. BattleFrog will also be in Montreal on July 9th, 2016 and that course will be designed by Marco Bédard. I am planning to interview both of them regarding both upcoming races/course, so please keep an eye out for those interviews in the future.