In an exclusive conversation with The OCR Report, Battlefrog announced their relaunch will be pushed back to late 2021. Battlefrog previously announced at least two races for 2021, with the first to be held in April near Miami, Florida and the second to be held soon after in Key Biscayne, the island Key just south of Miami.
Like many races, the reason for the postponement is COVID-19. The venue for the first race of Battlefrog’s relaunch is Amelia Earhart Park, in Miami. The City of Miami has converted much of the park into one of the largest COVID-19 Testing Centers in South Florida. While the park is being used as a testing site it will not be available to host large events such as an obstacle course race.
When asked what the rescheduled date would be Battlefrog representative Hamlet Martinez could not say. “We are aiming for September at Amelia Earhart Park and November at Key Biscayne. We don’t want to reschedule and reschedule again and again. It wouldn’t be fair to the runners who are excited to run our course. The vaccine being out there is good news for everybody. But we don’t know how long it will take for everyone to get the shot.”
Martinez said even the September date will be dependent on whether Amelia Earhart Park is still occupied by COVID testing. “They are not sure, and they don’t want to give us an answer until they have an idea about how many tests they can do between now and then.”
In addition to the uncertainty due to COVID testing, local environmental regulations are a factor for the Key Biscayne venue. Martinez said Battlefrog has had to be flexible with this second venue due to local environmental regulations. “They have a narrow window each year where we are allowed to hold events. We can do it in April and May. After the first week of May they shut down and you are not allowed to do any race at the venue until November”
Even with both races rescheduled Martinez made a point to mention the work going on behind the scenes. “We have already obtained 80% of the obstacles from before. The engineer that worked on the obstacles before is working with us again. Every obstacle has to be approved by an engineering company. We are working on all these details.”
“Logistics and operations was one of the problems Battlefrog had in the past. That is my expertise.” Martinez said. “When they were putting races in almost every state they didn’t have warehouses to hold the obstacles in different areas. How are you going to move these obstacles from one town to another? We are talking about freight and trucks. There are weight considerations with wood vs. metal. These are the things we are working on every day to make this happen. It is going to happen.”
Martinez emphasized a return to the core values of Battlefrog, especially their relationship with the US Navy SEALs. “We are going to be involved with the US Navy SEAL Museum, The Trident House. They were put to the side in the past and we want to bring them back again.” Martinez also said among the Battlefrog employees will be past members of the US Navy SEALs.
Martinez expressed his confidence in the process. “Battlefrog WILL be a part of OCR again. We are coming back. We are working every single day to bring back Battlefrog.”
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