New Faces Win Hard Charge Championship at Inaugural Minneapolis Event

Minneapolis, MN, May 21, 2014 --(PR.com)-- HARD CHARGETM national television show and premier obstacle course racing series, named two new CHARGE Champions at the event this past Saturday, May 17. Veteran obstacle racer, McCauley Kraker of West Allis, WI captured the Men’s CHARGE Championship, while St. Paul resident, Angie Voight, took the Women’s title in her first OCR event.

Kraker, a champion Spartan racer, enjoyed his first HARD CHARGE event, in particular, the course design. “I loved it. Definitely designed to be a fast, competitive race and that’s what we had out there today.” Maintaining an average pace of 7:45 min/mile, Kraker won the title and Championship Truss in a time of 31:00. He beat former CHARGE Champion and six-time HARD CHARGE competitor, LeEarl Rugland of Roseau, by less than 1 minute. Despite suffering a slip on the very first obstacle, Angled Ambush, Rugland managed to complete the race in a time of 31:40 and earn second place. Regular HARD CHARGE top-three finisher and five-time competitor, Kevin Stankiewicz of Bismarck, ND, came in third with a time of 32:41.

Voight ran away with the Women’s race early on, maintaining an average pace per mile of 9:23 and finishing in a time of 37:31. “This was a challenging race for me,” she said at the finish line. “I’m a runner so I wasn’t worried about that aspect but I wasn’t sure what to expect from the obstacles. They were difficult but I made it through all of them. No penalties!” She beat second-place finisher and fellow St. Paul resident, Erin Ward Block, by more than three minutes. Block finished in a time of 40:44, well ahead of third-place finisher, Missy Charboneau of Fridley, who crossed the finish line in 43:08.

A full list of top placers can be found on the HARD CHARGE Facebook page, while complete race results, and event photos and videos are available at HardCharge.com/minneapolis2014.

The event was HARD CHARGE’s first in Minneapolis, and hosted thousands of participants, volunteers, spectators and local vendors. Two episodes were filmed for HARD CHARGE, the first and only obstacle course racing television series. It focuses on the world’s fastest-growing adventure sport and the athletes who compete for the title of CHARGE Champion. The series airs nationally on Comcast SportsNet, Fox Sports and various local affiliates across the country. Locally, episodes can be seen on Fox Sports North every Friday night at 11.

Those interested in taking part in the next HARD CHARGE event will have the opportunity on June 14 in Fargo, ND. Viewers can watch the series, then decide if they’ll CHARGE a HARD CHARGE course for Fun or CHARGE for Glory to earn a spot to race on TV. See a full list of upcoming events and register at HardCharge.com/events.

In addition to the strong turnout, the event benefited Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals at Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare. Also, hundreds of shoes were collected and donated to national charitable organization, Barrel Aid.

HARD CHARGE® is a world-class obstacle course racing (OCR) series, and the first and only national OCR television show. Designed to challenge every fitness level, HARD CHARGE courses are four to five miles, feature military-inspired obstacles and are divided into CHARGE for Fun and CHARGE for Glory heats. Participants may navigate the CHARGE for Fun course at their own pace, or compete in the CHARGE for Glory heats where top racers earn the chance to be featured on HARD CHARGE, a national OCR TV series that airs in 80 million homes through Comcast SportsNet, Fox Sports and local affiliates across the country. HARD CHARGE is a proud national partner of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, with every event benefitting the local CMN Hospital.

For more information, video clips or hi-res photos, contact Lindsay Babb, HARD CHARGE director of PR and marketing, at 701.261.4440, email lindsay.babb@HardCharge.com, or send her a message on LinkedIn or Twitter. To learn more about HARD CHARGE, visit the website at HardCharge.com, find on Facebook, follow on Twitter or watch videos on YouTube.