In this week’s blog post, I’d like to recount some of the events of the GORUCK Challenge that a few of us did this past weekend. And I’d like to do it from the perspective of someone who experienced a paradigm shift as part of the event – and that would be me!
On Saturday, Jess, Ken, Ryan, Tod and I met up in Arlington with 44 of our closest friends to participate in a GORUCK Light Challenge. As a bit of background, GORUCK is a company that started making rucksacks, and then transformed into a company that puts on challenging events that are meant to be physical tests as well as lessons in teamwork, leadership, and generally building better Americans. They are super fun. As another bit of background, I’ve done quite a few of these GORUCK events, mostly the 12-hour “Tough” overnight challenges. I had done one GORUCK “Light” before as well, and so I knew what to expect – a watered-down version of the Tough, about half as long and half as intense… or so I thought!
Although this Light challenge was definitely much shorter, there were a few new evolutions that made parts of it pretty physically grueling! Our group picked up 4 heavy logs about halfway through our ruck, and the instructor had us walk for extended periods of time in the “High Boat” position – holding the log with our arms extended overhead. That gets old in a hurry!
We also had a fun but difficult crowd-surfing exercise where we had to lay down on our backs in a line and pass each other down, racing against another team.
I went into this event assuming that I was not going to be challenged, but there were a few unexpected moments of brilliant intensity that blew my assumptions out of the water, and after that I realized I had better stand by for more!
I didn’t mention earlier that this GORUCK Light had a special significance – it was occurring near the anniversary of the Battle of Mogadishu, where several Army Rangers, Delta Force operators, and special ops Air Force pilots died in October 3-4, 1993. This battle was made most famous by the book and movie, Black Hawk Down. We knew that at some point we would be recreating the Mogadishu Mile, in which US forces had to get their dead and wounded comrades out of the Black Hawk crash sites and back to the Mogadishu airport where they were based.
What we didn’t know was that we would be joined during our entire event by a veteran of the Battle of Mogadishu, a man named Gregg who was a newly minted Delta Force operator at the time. Each time we stopped our ruck to hydrate or get instructions, Gregg would spend a few minutes telling war stories from his time in Somalia. It was so interesting to be able to not only learn about this historical event, but hear it from someone who was there. He was mostly unemotional, although sometimes I would notice him pause before continuing on to tell us about another one of his buddies that died that day. There were many strategic military lessons that his unit learned there, and also many political lessons that our country learned there, and Gregg was a master at weaving these all into his account.
By the time we were about to start our own Mogadishu Mile which ended the event, Gregg had finished his story, and there were a few detailed questions from the group, but many more somber, silent faces. I experienced another unexpected moment of emotional intensity here, one of great pride and sadness for our fallen warriors but also massive appreciation for those that have the courage to come back and tell the story.
My point in framing my GORUCK Light experience in this way is to provide a cautionary tale against making assumptions. Don’t assume something is going to be easy – maybe a workout that even seems too easy for you to waste your time with it. Don’t assume that something isn’t going to be fun. Be open to new opportunities to get out there with your friends and experience life, because it just might be interesting. You never know when and where an unexpected moment of intensity will be waiting for you!
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