Red Frog Events

Red Frog Events, LLC is an independent event production company based in Chicago, Illinois. The company's events currently include Great Urban Race, Warrior Dash, Beach Dash, Red Frog Bar Crawls, Firefly Music Festival, and Farm to Fork. Founded in 2007, Red Frog Events won the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Dream Big Small Business of the Year Award in 2011..

History

Great Urban Race

Mirroring the television show The Amazing Race, Joe Reynolds wanted to give the masses the opportunity to experience the same type of competitive adventure. Reynolds organized and launched Great Urban Race, LLC and hosted the first race on September 15, 2007 in Chicago.

In December 2008, Reynolds brought on four Event Coordinator interns ("Tadpoles") and moved the business from his dining room into an office in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood to help keep up with planning and organizing Great Urban Race.

Birth of Warrior Dash and Red Frog Events

In 2009, Reynolds' brother-in-law, Ryan Kunkel, joined Reynolds in order to keep expanding Great Urban Race and to help develop new events. In the summer of 2009, the first Warrior Dash was held in Joliet, IL.

In 2009 Reynolds renamed the company Red Frog Events, LLC.

A New Office and New Events

In 2010, Red Frog Events moved from their Lincoln Park office to their current location on 320 West Ohio Street. The office space was designed by Torchia. Designed to have the feel of a campground, the office features tree houses, a rock climbing wall, a slide, a gutted camper and a s'mores station.

On November 13, 2010, the first Beach Palooza was held at Daytona Beach, FL. The running series has now been re-branded as Beach Dash to maintain consistency with their Warrior Dash race series.

In 2011, Red Frog Bar Crawls was launched. The first event, a Halloween costume bar crawl called Nightmare on Clark Street, occurred on October 15, 2011 in Chicago. Snow Day in Washington D.C. was the next in the series, on December 17. Two more bar crawls were introduced in 2012, Bright 'N' Tight in San Diego, California, and Derby Days in Charlotte, North Carolina.

In 2012 the Firefly Music Festival was launched in Dover, Delaware, bringing in over 60,000 attendees for the three-day festival. The headliners included The Killers, Jack White, and The Black Keys.

Red Frog's newest venture, Farm to Fork, took place on September 22 at McDonald Farm in Naperville, IL.

Events

• Great Urban Race is an urban scavenger hunt that is held in cities across the United States. In a typical race, teams solve twelve clues and complete a variety of tasks while exploring the city. In 2011, there were 37 U.S. qualifying races and a qualifying race in Australia and Canada. The championship race was held on November 12, 2011 in New Orleans, LA. There was a total of 21 races across the country in 2012, with the championship race being held in Las Vegas, NV on November 10.
• Founded in 2009, the Warrior Dash is an obstacle race and mud run. Participants compete in a three to four mile run through AbOUT twelve obstacles. All participants receive a free beer, if they are of legal age, and can participate in the after-party, which is involves music, food, and beer. Since the inaugural race in 2009, Warrior Dash has expanded to Australia and Canada. Their launch in the UK was cancelled in 2012 due to low registration numbers.
• The Beach Dash (formerly Beach Palooza) was launched by Red Frog Events in 2010. Similar to the Warrior Dash, this event is a 5K race with 12 obstacles along a beach. Red Frog Events has hosted 11 Beach Dash runs across the nation.
• On October 15, 2011, Red Frog Events hosted its first Red Frog Bar Crawl, Nightmare on Clark Street, in Chicago, IL. Nightmare on Clark Street visited six Halloween decorated bars in Wrigleyville that provided exclusive access and red beer to all participants. Snow Day in Washington D.C., Bright 'N' Tight in San Diego, CA, and Derby Days in Charlotte, North Carolina, were the following events put on by Red Frog Events.
• Firefly Music Festival is a music festival in Dover, DE. The festival lasts three days and features MusicAL performances, dining and entertainment at the Dover International Speedway, which is transformed into a festival area featuring four stages called The Backyard, The Porch, The Lawn, and Firefly Stage. The 2012 lineup featured The Killers, Jack White, The Black Keys, John Legend, The Flaming Lips, Ok Go, Young the Giant, and Cake.
• The Farm to Fork is the newest event from Red Frog Events. Farm to Fork is a farm dinner in Naperville, IL. Each course is prepared by a chef mostly using ingredients found on the farm and paired with alcoholic drinks (either beer or wine). The inaugural Farm to Fork featured chef and Chicago native, Valerie Bolon. Farm to Fork took place on September 22 at Naperville's McDonald Farm which is also home to The Conservation Foundation as well as the Green Earth Institute.

Awards & Honors

Won:

1. U.S. Chamber of Commerce Dream Big: Small Business of the Year 2011
2. 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work for
3. Stevie's American Business Awards: Fastest Growing Company with up to 100 employees
4. Golden Bridge Awards: Business Expansion of the Year
5. WebAwards:
   • www.redfrogevents.com - Outstanding Website
   • www.warriordash.com - Event Standard of Excellence
   • Red Frog Blog - Blog Standard of Excellence
6. 2011 Chicago Innovation Award Winner

Finalist:

1. Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year: Joe Reynolds, Midwest Regional Finalist
2. Power 30 under 30: Ryan Kunkel, Current Finalist
3. Inc. Magazine's 2011 Top Small Company Workplaces: Red Frog Events was a finalist