This was an absolutely fun event. And for a good cause. So my aim was to have as much fun as I could with it.
But you know what’s not fun? Getting an injury.
I woke up at 4:30am on that Sunday morning to prep for the hour drive to the Starting Point in Arnold, Maryland. The night before, I had all my gear laid out:
- Underarmor Compression Shirt
- Nike Combat Compression 3/4 Pants
- Kuhl pants
- GORUCK shirt
- Fleece pullover
- GR0 with 4 bricks
And you know the rest. The required items, etc. and all.
Anyway, we arrived around 6am to the SP, which was a parking lot outside the ENDEX, went into the grocery store to fuel up on food and disengage ourselves in the facilities.
And nap. Napping is so much better right before an event. At this point, I was so pumped (and in pretty good shape) that I could not fall asleep. Tracy, who drove us to the event, and Alex, my brother, did their own thing. I don’t remember much because I had to step out, stretch a bit, and see other people show up.
The large number of people that showed up between 6:30 and 7am looked like an army. 87 of us were there (I think?) and were ready to party. Some people were drinking, others bullshitting, and even some who were participating in other events earlier in the weekend (A Tough and Light in Philly) were in full force with their bravado. One could only be excited to fit in that C/L/L, and I was looking forward to feeding off that energy.
Derek and Tom were our Cadre for the event. I had initially signed up for a Danny Boy event, but things happen and he was not able to attend. Completely understandable.
After roll call and inspection, our team set off down the road. Not many cars were on the road, but a two-column formation running down the street was easy to navigate out of danger.
Our first stop: a small wooded clearing, where the Cadre introduced themselves formally, talked about the event, and had us do some warm-ups for an introduction.
Everyone formed up into two lines facing each other, front-lean rest, and shook the person’s hand in front of us, did a push-up, and shifted over to our left. Repeat. People were dilly-dallying on their handshakes and talking, because the Cadre decided to get everyone up for squats, bicep curls, and more with the rucksacks (keep in mind we were not using the same rucksacks).
Luckily, I spotted my GR0 with it’s ruck handle design I put together when I saw someone doing squats with the bag. Once we were to move out, I would run over and grab it. Jackpot.
Our movement ended up with a ruck march to a field, but on the way someone dressed up as Deadpool used a toy car (think a child’s sit-down scooter) to ride down the hill we were rucking on. This broke a rule: Don’t get past the flag.
At some point, the Cadre decided we would bear crawl, and I was super confident I could do this. I love bear crawls (pffffft. fuck no), especially up a hill (HA. YEA RIGHT).
Movement continued to a park. More talking from Cadre, pairing up, and then a demonstration of our next movement: Estonian Wife Carries. While two volunteers fudged up their demonstration by doing a “standing 69” (wtf guys, there are children present), we saw a real demo. Movement ended at a baseball field.
Two teams were made for a tunnel of love competition, with our tunnel winning. To be honest, I loved this part. I was amped up, yelling “I’m a big guy, make way!” and shoving through as the 3rd to last person on our team. Kicked ass, I felt awesome.
A cake was introduced, as we had birthday people present. People went up to eat the cake (so this is a GORUCK thing) via pushups or whatever to finish the cake. Cadre Hannah, a young girl who battled cancer and was a guest Cadre, showed up. Guys, she is the most adorable-est thing I’ve ever seen, and the most cruel Cadre I’ve met. She used a bullhorn to drop commands: pushups, rolls, etc. it was hilarious and fun.
After this ended, our movement was to pick a log from a bunch of downed trees. We found a nice one, and lifted it up. I was super gung-ho about participating in this tree carry, which was heavy as hell, however when tall people started to bump in, I realized I was on my toes trying to help. At this point, someone told me to pop out. I couldn’t help anymore, and that bummed me out. One of the guys under the log, who I’ve done events with in the past, asked me to grab people from the back of the line, so I darted to get more bodies for the log, jumping back and forth with whatever I could do.
This log movement ended at a school’s baseball field, where we lined up for a competition relay race. Me, being amped up, was first in my line. Let’s do this! My cartwheels to one end was sloppy, but instead of somersaults back, I did forward rolls (“This is much faster!”). I made a mistake and got dizzy once I stopped, so I did one more roll and landed on my shoulder. *crunch* was not a sound I wanted to hear, but the pain that followed was harsh. Pretty sure I broke something, but I had to be pulled away from the relay and the rest of the baseball activities. My shoulder hurt so bad, I couldn’t even lift my arm. What the fuck did I do?? Someone brought me an icepack, another person handed me pain pills of some sort. I was absolutely at the mercy of my shoulder pain. My gung-ho attitude was faltering, pretty sure I looked like my world was ending………..
Anyway, an EMT shadow looked me over, moved my arm a bit, and indicated I didn’t break anything and it was probably a bruise or strain. With this on my mind, I was fine with keeping up with the rest of the team. My brother took my ruck for me and we rushed back into formation. At this point, I was offered liquor and more pills from someone else. I’m not ashamed that I downed the liquor and passed on the pills. There was a point where the Cadre had people do a “ruck pass” where we marched on, however we passed rucks from behind us to in front of us to each person. I participated. How could I not? I paid to be there, to help, to keep the machine going: I asked people to pass it to my left, because my right arm was fucked.
I ended up with a heavy ruck, but at that time I didn’t care. I realized we were near ENDEX. Last obstacle: run across the street as a team. I ran so hard, with the ruck bouncing against my back, over one shoulder. We ENDEX’d in a neighborhood, I got my patch, and went with everyone back to the restaurant event for St. Baldrick’s to get sauced up even more.
So this was my first GORUCK injury. I’m seeing a doctor about my arm, but the feeling is coming back so I’m okay with it. I earned my patch, missed out on a relay, but I was there.
Another event in the books.
Digital Kawsay 