It all started with an anthill and it just grew from there. In prepping for my virgin Q back in October, I eyeballed the site in daylight and found a particularly large fire ant mound, a hole in the ground, and two posts in the middle of the trail; all of which I determined all needed to be marked as safety hazards for the upcoming pre-dawn workout. So I purchased a couple of glow sticks to mark these risks and the rest is history. The mumble chatter was real and it was hilarious hearing the guys react to a fire ant mound marked as a safety hazard; in retrospect, I see the humor in it. But the lure of the glow stick was too strong to resist and I used them in subsequent workouts (The Barry Sanders Q at Detention, and Faith, Hope, and Love Q at The Petting Zoo). The idea for a yuuuge glow stick marathon struck me shortly after Christmas and once the idea for going all-in hit me, I could not let it go. I was curious what would happen if I swung for the fences and blew my annual glow stick budget on one massive Q.
The Scene: Two half mile paths at Juggernaut taking two different routes to the same soccer field. Each route had 25 glow sticks along it and the soccer field had 25 glow sticks aligned in rows of 5 over a quarter mile layout for a grand total of 75 glow sticks placed upright in the ground like little tombstones glowing in the dark.
The Plan: At 5:44 the first minute of Space Oddity blared over the loudspeakers with David Bowie urging us to take our protein pills and put our helmets on before counting down to liftoff. A quick two minute explanation of the plan, a disclaimer for two FNG’s and it was on. We divided into two groups and one group ran off on path A while the second group ran off down path B. Every blue glow stick alternated between Single Count SSH x 10 and Burpees x 10, every green glow stick = any ab exercise x 10, every pink glow stick = any squat exercise x 10, and every yellow glow stick = any Merkin x 10. Both groups reunited on the soccer field which we ran twice for reps 260 thru 750. As we exited the soccer field each grouping ran back to the COT via the opposite path they had come in on which gave us reps 760 – 1,000.
The Report: 7 of the 14 PAX completed the full 1,000 reps and 1.5 mile run in the allotted time, another 3 of us were within striking distance and in retrospect probably would have completed the challenge had I not pulled us off the soccer field two minutes earlier than I should have in order to make it back to COT on time. We had those two minutes to spare at the end which we filled with Burpees and the opening of All of the Lights by Kanye West which is a horrible, horrible song but has an incredible 45 second lead in that was applicable as 1/2 of us had completed All of the Lights. VHS was alone as the first to cross the finish line and then a group of six who paced each other the whole way finished together shortly before the rest of us crossed the line one by one.
The Stats: For those who completed the full 1,ooo reps, (not counting all of the Burpees you did at the end) you performed:
- 160 Burpees
- 160 SSH
- 220 Squats
- 220 Merkins
- 240 Ab Exercises
- 1.5+ miles run
Great work! So inspiring to see all the PAX grinding out rep after rep and encouraging one another along the way. FNG’s Beavis and Butthead I relinquish the glow stick mantle and pass the torch to you.
