As you may know, the inaugural GORUCK Games occurred this past weekend at Sandlot Jax Fitness Festival in Florida. For those invited athletes, most of the events, times, distances, and weights were unknown beforehand. The Games were a lot of fun, so let's get into what happened.
Friday Night:
We were introduced to the cadre, they gave us our rucks (45lbs for men, 30lbs for women) and they gave us a swag bag filled with awesome items like t-shirt, shoes, hat, and patches!
Our first brief was pretty vague. All we really learned was what time we needed to show up for a Ruck Saturday morning, where, and with what. It was 6:00am at the GORUCK HQ with the rucks we were provided. Electronics weren't going to be allowed for this event, so we were told to leave them behind.
*Some videos may not show up in certain browsers...sorry. No idea what's going on with the technology here, but you can view all of the live footage from the event on our Facebook Page Here.
SATURDAY:
EVENT 1: 12 MILE RUCK
Before launching for the 12 mile ruck (which they didn't tell us how long it was until later that day - though most assumed), they had us stand in the ocean for a few minutes where we sang the National Anthem and rules were covered.
I felt really good on the ruck except for one little issue. I could have sworn that they said there will be water on the course (obviously beside the ocean water haha). As a result, I nixed my water plans and decided I'd drink when available during the ruck. I clearly misheard, because there was no water at all. The back half of the event was pretty rough without hydration for the 110ish minutes I was on the course (didn't see my official time), but I still finished in 9th according to the results that came out later. I was pretty pleased with that all things considered.
EVENT 2: 20LB WEIGHT VEST PULLUPS
Historically weight vest pullups and chinups have been my go-to for upper body pulling strength and grip strength work. They are super beneficial and a lot of bang-for-your-buck. That being said, I hadn't done them much this year, so I had no clue how many I'd get before dropping to the ground. I was able to get 15 reps. Not bad for me, not great for the competition. (Click here to view video if it doesn't load in your browser)
EVENT 3: 10LB KETTLEBELL TOSS
This is the worst for me. I just am not good at these types of events. The Army does almost the exact same test for their new fitness test, so I've done it a bunch of times. Still not good at it. I never cared before either, but turns out it would have helped to have developed the skills for. (Click here to view video if it doesn't load in your browser)
EVENT 4: 100LB CARRY FOR 1 MILE
The guys changed out their 45lb plates in their rucks for 20lbs. Then we were given an 80lb sandbag. With the cumulative 100lbs of weight, we needed to complete four laps around the event field as fast as possible. I have no idea how I placed here, but judging by the number of bags/people that were back when I finished, I think I was around the middle of the pack. (If video doesn't load in browser, click here to watch on Facebook)
EVENT 5: FARMER'S CARRIES WITH RUCK ON AND 60LB SANDBAG IN EACH HAND
This was just a lot of weight. I didn't count (still haven't watched the video and calculated either) my distance/laps, but again, I think I was around the middle/bottom middle of the pack where I finished based on how many of the other athletes had dropped their sandbags already. (Video Below)
EVENT 6: 80LB OVERHEAD SANDBAG HOLD
I did poorly on this event sadly. I felt really good when it started, but early on my left elbow started to bend and I wasn't able to lock it back out and ended up dropping the bag way earlier than I thought I would. 80lbs overhead isn't easy to just hold, but still, I was hoping to perform better on that event. According to my wife on the video, I only made it to 1:45. (Sorry, because the video had music in the background it may not play properly here).
SUNDAY:
EVENT 1: SAVAGE RACE URBAN OBSTACLE COURSE
THIS WAS AWESOME! I loved the setup and the obstacles they chose. It was super fun to do an OCR that was so tightly compact and had such variety of technicality. Really great event. I was very happy with my performance for this, and I would love to do a short course like this again someday. Someone make events like this! (Video Below - sorry again, background music is messing up the sharing for it).
I did not make it into the top 8 to then proceed into the final rounds, but it's all good. Obviously I always want to place as high as possible and perform very well, but it doesn't happen every time. The events I train for and typically do well in went well for me at this event. Those events that I don't train much for and didn't do as well at weren't a huge surprise to me.
The GORUCK Games were a lot of fun overall! I liked the variety of challenges and the other athletes there were absolute beasts. The group competing was awesome, and it was a fun weekend. I'd highly recommend that you submit and application to compete next year if you feel so inclined (and if they host the Games again). It was a worthwhile experience!
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