The West Coast debut of BattleFrog Series has been overwhelmingly positive, but not without trepidations. Attendance has been light to moderate, but those who have gone have vocally enjoyed themselves tremendously. The initial grumbling about the “San Francisco” race being held at Lake Sonoma, which is a rather a long distance from the actual City by the Bay slowly quieted, as social media photos began to emerge of breathtaking views and promises of impressive elevation. As it became clear that the terrain unto itself was going to be an amazing obstacle, registrations came in, and racers got excited. Christopher “Beard” Acord put out a promise of a free beer on him to any athletes who could finish in sub 2 hours. A pretty good indication that we were in for one heck of a ride.
BattleFrog NorCal
The first few obstacles were typical though the new MOBS units holding them together looked fantastic and felt VERY safe and sturdy. All seemed par for the course until we were stopped dead in our tracks by the next obstacle – the hill scramble. This one was a beauty – a true hands and feet scramble for many, that had several false crests and slowed down a lot of unsuspecting racers. The 360-degree views, however, were a stunning distraction and kept everyone loving every painful step. This was not a hateful never-ending Wintergreen sufferfest however – this felt…good.
At the top, the hills kept coming and going at a very sustainable pace. The obstacles ranged from your favorite standards (wedge walls, inverted walls) to exciting and innovative versions of others (The Weaver, and a new configuration for Tip of the Spear) and then…there it was. The game changer.
The best part about heavy carries is that when you shed your burden, you feel so light that sprinting is a must. More walls, the return of the always fun caving ladders, and a wonderful slog through the immensely refreshing Lake Sonoma flew by before the Jerry Can Carry once again taxed our stamina. It was blessedly brief however, and the obstacles and gorgeous terrain that followed were all challenging but really fun and doable, even for a miniature human such as myself. Favorites like the tree cargo and 60 Degrees were welcome by everyone and smiles were way more prevalent than grimaces, despite the difficulty some were experiencing. I talked to a lot of racers around that point, not identifying myself, and every last one of them were excited to sign up for the next race. There was no question that BattleFrog was triumphant in their risky decision to take the location so far into new territory.
In a show of true understanding of the human spirit – BattleFrog did not let the race end on an obstacle that promised a high failure rate. It is important that people end their experience feeling accomplished, and with the always visually daunting but doable BF staple, the Delta Cargo as the final obstacle, we crossed the finish line exhausted, exhilarated and happy. We, along with the approximately 1700 other racers that crossed that line that day earned the heck out of our medals.
Oh, and for those of you keeping track – no one collected on Beard’s challenge.
Rating: 5/5
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