Is there a word for turning something into a competition?

I'm looking for a word, expression, or more succinct phrase that captures the idea of taking something that did not start as or was not originally intended to be competitive, and making it into a competition.

Example:

"The purpose of the firefighters' training exercise was to learn a new skill, but they ______."

It is a similar idea to "weaponization" of something - taking something that wasn't intended to be used as a weapon and transforming it into one.
"Competitionization" doesn't really hold water, nor does adding "-ization" to most of the synonyms for "competition."

Is there an appropriate word?

Solution 1:

A term for taking a task and turning it into something resembling a game is gamification. Stack Exchange exploits this paradigm by awarding points and ranking the contributors in each space as well as answers. Answers are also tied directly to each contributor.

Merriam-Webster defines it as:

the process of adding games or gamelike elements to something (as a task) so as to encourage participation

Solution 2:

It can be expressed relatively succinctly using the term escalate.

"The purpose of the firefighters' training exercise was to learn a new skill, but they escalated it into a competition."

"The purpose of the firefighters' training exercise was to learn a new skill, but it escalated into a competition."

ODO:

escalate VERB

1.1 Make or become more intense or serious.
[no object] ‘the disturbance escalated into a full-scale riot’
[with object] ‘we do not want to escalate the war’

‘Soon enough playful shoving escalated into an all-out war, which ended with Alex tackling Jamie to the floor.’

‘When you've made your point and the other party has made his point, please do not escalate it to a never-ending heated discussion.’

Solution 3:

You could say that the learning exercise devolved into a competition:

to gradually go from an advanced state to a less advanced state

The purpose of the firefighters' training exercise was to learn a new skill, but it quickly devolved into a competition.

[Merriam-Webster]