Embrace the Suck - GoRuck Challenge (part 1 of 4)

Before I did the GoRuck challenge, I had a tough time describing what it was (largely because I didn't know). Afterwards, I still have a hard time describing it, but here goes. The GoRuck challenge is a 10-12 hour team event (not a competition) of special forces style exercises/drills where you will test your physical limits, learn about teamwork, and embrace the suck.

Best picture that encompasses the event

I first heard about the GoRuck challenge from the Art of Manliness blog. If that link to the AoM blog is right, I've known about the challenge for over 1.5 years, but I feel like it's been longer. I had never really taken the initiative to sign up, so The List was a good reason to do it.

Before the night began, I knew that I would carry 40lbs the entire evening and to go along with thatI could expect pushups, running, water, carrying additional heavy things, and pain. However, I didn't know to expect trespassing, borrowing, and a partial prostate exam. Put simply, it was a fun night.

The night was full of varied activities that are worth sharing, so I am going to break this into 4 posts to not leave anything out.

Summary (TL;DR version)

This was a wholly different experience than I'm used to. I'm used to individual sports where I can rise and fall on my own. It also usually covers a lot of horizontal distance. This was a team event that ended up only covering ~7.5 miles. I can't carry railroad ties by myself, I needed my team's help. I loved this event because it was unique and challenging. I don't want to sugar coat it though, it sucked. This is definitely top 3 hardest events I've done. This was more challenging than the Ironman I've done. I won't be doing another one simply because of how hard it was. However, I still HIGHLY recommend people do one. Sign up, test your resolve, and embrace the suck.

Our Cadre was great, he didn't get in your face and wasn't a pain in the ass just to be a pain in the ass. I equated him to the disappointed parent. If you weren't putting in the effort, he would calmly tell you to do it again with a tinge of disappointment in his voice.

The finishing 1044 class

Check out parts 2, 3, and 4.