When Brian Carney left the Navy SEALs in 2013 after 13 years of service, he didn’t really know what line of work to pursue.
That was three years ago and, in that time, the South Deerfield man created an obstacle-course racing event known as the Bone Frog Challenge, which has grow exponentially. On Saturday, the 2016 Bone Frog will take place at its birthplace, Berkshire East Mountain Resort in Charlemont, and thousands of participants and spectators are expected to arrive.
Carney grew up in South Deerfield, went to Deerfield Elementary School and graduated from Frontier Regional School in 2000. He immediately went into the Navy and became a chief petty officer credited with seven combat deployments.
Carney moved back to Deerfield along with wife Sarah (Bohonowicz), who grew up two streets over from Carney, although the two were a year apart in high school and did not really know each other. They met a half dozen years ago when Carney was stationed in Virginia Beach and she was working at the pentagon. Like Carney, Bohonowicz was athletic, having attended Umass on a full field-hockey scholarship after graduating from Frontier in 1999.
One thing Carney knew about was obstacle courses, having competed on many during his grueling SEAL training. And right around the time of his return to Deerfield, obstacle-course racing was exploding nationwide, with races such as the Spartan Race and Tough Mudder leading the way. Carney decided he wanted to try his hand at creating such a course, but first he needed a name.
The unofficial SEALs mascot, according to Carney, is the Bone Frog, and you will find the image of a tatooed frog skeleton on almost every SEAL. To honor all SEALS, Carney decided to name his race the Bone Frog Challenge.
The final piece to getting his race off the ground was finding a host venue. He searched up and down the East Coast, from Massachusetts to Florida and everywhere in between. After talking to what he figures is around 100 venues, someone from the area asked, “Why don’t you talk to Berkshire East?”
“I grew up skiing there,” Carney said. “I met with (Berkshire East owners Roy and Jim Schaefer) and they turned out to be major military supporters. They were incredible. I owe my company’s success to them. I used all of their resources.”
Carney said that over a four-month period he and his brother-in-law designed the course and on Sept. 16, 2013 about 300 racers took part in the inaugural Bone Frog.
“Looking back at pictures, this thing was rag-tag to say the least,” Carney laughed. “We probably put the entire thing on for 500 bucks.”
Despite the small budget, Carney said the reviews he got from the competitors were great.
“I’m competing with the Spartan Race and Tough Mudder and people are saying that this blows them away,” he said.
Since then, the Bone Frog has held two events per year, one at Berkshire East and another on Staten Island. The event at Berkshire East is held every year on Armed Forces Day, and in 2014 that event attracted 900 racers, growing to 2,000 racers (plus another 2,000 spectators) last year. This year, Carney expects upwards of 7,000 people at Berkshire East. Plus, there will also be 2016 Bone Frog Challenges held in Atlantic City, N.J. (June 18), South Carolina (July 23), Atlanta, Ga., (Aug. 27) and Orlando, Fla. (Sept. 24), and the Bone Frog Championships will take place on Oct. 29 back at Berkshire East.
“People have told me that this is so much better than what the other people are putting on,” Carney said. “These other people are businessmen trying to put on a military-style obstacle course. The only thing they know about military-style courses is what they’ve read in books.”
The Bone Frog is not something designed for a “Weekend Warrior,” someone who only works out on the weekends. The main course spans nine miles and contains 36 obstacles, or about one every quarter-mile. There is also a 3-mile course designed for beginners, and something called the Tier 1 Challenge, which is the nine-mile and three-mile courses run back-to-back.
“I just can’t make this thing tough enough for some people,” Carney laughed. “We only opened up the Tier 1 race to 300 people and it sold out in one week.”
The first heat of the day on Saturday goes off at 8:30 a.m. and will feature the Elite athletes, and heats will follow every 15 minutes. There is also an after-party with beer, food and music.
For more information go to the Bone Frog website at www.bonefrogchallenge.com. Racers can still register for this weekend’s event, either at Friday night’s prerace dinner, or early Saturday morning at Berkshire East.