4 Races in 4 Weeks: Week 2: Review of GORUCK Challenge

The second event in my 4 week race series is the Washington, DC July 4^th GORUCK.  However, this one is not a traditional race, but an extremely challenging team event.  GORUCK is different from any mud race I have done.  Here is the best summary, pulled directly from their website:

8-10 hours

15-20 MILES
AVERAGE PASS R

ATE: 94%

A serious test of physical and mental toughness, Cadre ensure that you become a team through mission-based scenarios and lots of good livin’.  The GORUCK Challenge is a team event, never a race. Think of it as a slice of Special Operations training where - from start to finish -- a Special Operations Cadre challenges, teaches, and inspires your small team to do more than you ever thought possible. Leadership is taught and teamwork is demanded on missions spanning the best of your city. The hardest part? Signing up.

To make it even more challenging, you need to carry a ruck on your back with 4 or 6 bricks (4 if under 150 pounds and 6 if over) inside and wear it throughout the entire event.  My ruck weighed 45 pounds including the bricks, hydration pack and other gear.

The start point was 9pm at Rose Park in Georgetown, Washington DC.  95 people were at the start point.  After roll call, the “Welcome Party” commenced which lasted approximately 2 hours of calisthenics including push-ups, air squats, 8 count body builder, flutter kicks, etc. all while wearing the weighted ruck.  After the never-ending Welcome Party actually ended, we broke up into 3 teams each led by a different Cadre and was led off for the rest of the nightly adventure.  The Cadre all have Military Special Forces training and use their leadership skills to teach us how to work together as a team to complete the requirement “missions”.  During the course of event we were required to carry additional items.  Our team included carrying tree logs, rail road ties, and various weighted sand bags in addition to our individual weighted rucks.  I saw other teams carrying a concrete parking spot curb and a large granite rock.

During the course of the event we rucked, we duck walked, we crab walked, we were completed soaked when we elephant walked through a fountain around 4am, we won our team relay race in the pitch-black-dark, we box jumped, we raced up the Georgetown Exorcist stairs, and bear crawled and sprinted our way as a team to the top of the Lincoln memorial around dawn all while wearing our weighted … (well you get it).  Our last mission of the event ended with a ½ mile stretch of buddy carries.  

Every event is different and ran by different Cadre who find their own special way ‘Building Better Americans.’  12 hours later and 6 litres of water consumed, I was completed exhausted, sore, but I had a high sense of accomplishment, and a GORUCK patch to prove I did it!

The verdict:  this is unlike any event I’ve done.  It is a physically and demanding event that will bring you to your breaking point and then take you past it.  Will I do another one?  I’ll let you know once I find a muscle in my body that doesn’t ache.  I’ve looked for the past 2 days and I haven’t found one yet.

If you are thinking about doing a GORUCK, I totally encourage you too.  If you have any questions on training, gear, bricks, etc. please post your questions below.