24 PAX descended upon Chapel Hill in the middle of the night ready for the first training session for the F3 Custom GoRuck Challenge in October. The fun began at 0300 at the Outdoor Education Center. The whole Hard Commit thing fell apart as we had 7 HCs fart-sack and 7 rucktards show up who had not HC or SC….
Dunphy began the festivities with the disclaimer, intro and administrative details covering the basics of a GoRuck event such as safety first, buddy system, crossing guards, American flag duty, etc. After a quick ruck inspection for required weight, hydration and reflective strips, we were ready to begin.
Q was turned over to Subprime and the welcome party was underway. Immediately, rucks up overhead and walk down to the sand pit. Quick F3 warmup sans ruck: SSH, Windmills, Imperial Walkers, body squats, merkins.
Rucks back on and lineup for a high crawl in the sand across three volleyball courts and bear crawl back. Next, team up in teams of 3. One partner’s legs are dead so he must be carried across the sand. Switch partners twice so that everyone is carried and then the last leg was the choice of the team as to whom was carried twice. TClaps to Kanye and Candlestick for being on a team with Blindside and carrying his petite frame! Next came 15 x merkins followed by 10 x slow merkins. Then, 20 x prisoner squats. Then, 20 x thrusters. Then, rucks out in front for a 15 count. Repeato the rucks in front. Then, lineup in two lines back to back and have a seat in the sand. Count through the pax (for some the increments of 5, counting proved to be difficult but with some effort we got through it) for 100 flutter kicks and finish with a celebratory throw of handfuls of sand in the air just to be sure that everyone was covered in sand. Head back up to the parking lot with rucks up the whole way.
Q is turned over to Chachi who began explaining how the first time hack would work and reinforcing the safety details from before. Team Lead and Asst Team Lead were assigned and two telephone poles were fetched from the woods.
0400 First Time Hack – Coupons: 2 telephone poles, 1 sandbag, 2 kettlebells
1 hour to get to golf course right past the intersection of Burning Tree & Pinehurst (2.8 miles). Teams were given a map with the start and finish marked and they could ask only one PAX for help with directions. Talking privileges were revoked so only the TL and ATL and local of their choosing could talk along the way. First time hack was made with no more than 3 minutes to spare. Because the first time hack was made, both logs were dropped and talking privileges were restored. After a quick break to eat and hydrate, it was time for the next phase of fun.
0510 Get Wet
PAX buddy up and walk into the pond and take a knee. Each pair individually gets out of the pond and fireman’s carry your partner around a pole 50 feet away. Switch halfway and return to the pond. Others remain in the pond until all team members have completed the fireman’s carry.
0530 Second Time Hack – Coupons: 1 sandbag, 2 kettlebells
New TL and ATL assigned. 45 minutes to get to the intersection of Pope & Clark Lake Road (2.5 miles). Much faster pace required given only 45 minutes but without the poles, the PAX could move much quicker. A crucial mistake was made before leaving for the 2nd time hack. Ol’ Glory hit the ground and all 24 PAX paid the price merkin style. After the 40 brutal ruck merkins and time already ticking on their time hack the TL & ATL got the PAX moving. The sun came up along this stretch. While the PAX was making good time under the guidance of their TL & ATL they got a little cocky. This may have been with lack of logs or the hope provided of the sun rising but either way mistake were made. Several intersections were crossed without crossing guards out to block traffic. Vehicles coming or not, safety, procedures and instructions comes first. The price of these errors, ruck overhead squats. Time hack was made so everyone enjoyed a quick break to hydrate, rest and eat. *Cadres made an exception for the buddy rule 1 time and 1 time only along the route. Gopher dug himself a hole, borrowed some paper towel and went off into the woods to lighten his load….
0615 Last Time Hack – Coupons – 1 sandbag, 2 kettlebells
25 minutes to get to TBL. After 10 minute head start, Chachi kills someone every 5 minutes. The first to be killed was Pepe, the 2nd was Amtrak and the 3rd PAX choice was Costco. The PAX started out double time and moved quickly but by the time 3 PAX were being carried, the pace slowed dramatically but everyone did push though and make it to TBL!
TClaps to Lo Pair for stepping up to the challenge and being a beast. Always looking for a way to help and support the team.
TClaps to Blindside for being the only one to wear his ruck during TBL. Blindside carried extra weight throughout and proved he is a complete stud during TBL while everyone else dropped their rucks
TClaps to Amtrak, Bob Vila, Lo Pair, Blindside, Subprime, Dunphy, Chachi, Riggs, Bartman and Coco for pushing on into TBL after the ruck
