In 1908, Teddy Roosevelt issued an executive order to members of the military, later echoed by JFK:
“Do 50 miles in under 20 hours.”
Pretty straightforward, eh?
In JFK’s time it became a national craze, a challenge accepted by people of all walks of life despite claims in those days of the growing softness of the American people. Claims not too dissimilar to those made these days.
We believe those doubting the generations of today are looking in the wrong places. Many of us are not only up to such a 50 Mile Challenge, but we’re starving for some way to push ourselves to those new limits, and beyond.
Echoing Teddy Roosevelt and JFK and adding in our own Special Forces inspiration, here’s a challenge for those of you who seek such things - The GORUCK 50-Miler Star Course, the first rucking ultramarathon of its kind:
Finishers earn the GORUCK 50-Miler patch, which will never be for sale.
You and your team of 2-5 (including you) show up at the Start Point. A GORUCK Cadre will issue you a list of waypoints. The route you and your team choose will be your own, so choose wisely. The minimum distance possible will be just over 50 Miles. You can expect to see the best sites in your city, and you can expect at least one long movement taking you to the outskirts, and possibly beyond.
Prior to starting the clock, we’ll ensure that you make a successful comms check with our remote support team via text message. At each waypoint, you’ll be responsible for texting a picture of your team. This will serve as verification of your mileage, and by the end you’ll have a great album of photos to document the experience.
NOTE: This is not a Cadre-led event and there are no push-ups or smoke sessions.
Rules:
Register as an individual, ruck as a team (you are responsible for forming or finding a team of 2-5 ruckers)
Includes: the opportunity to earn the finisher’s patch, and a cold one or two at the end point.
Required items:
Recommended items:
If you come in under 20 hours, you and your teammates earn the patch. If you don’t, there’s always next year.
It’s about the journey, and finishing is a noble and worthy goal. But for those kindred spirits who want a little healthy competition, we’re offering some GORUCK cash prizes for the winners.
GORUCK Cash Prizes (redeemable at goruck.com), per team:
Everyone earns a beer (and a hug) at the finish. We’ll see ya there.
Monster has not yet selected your cadre. Not to worry, he's on it.
Note: Your cadre will lead the class, teach team building-building and leadership lessons based on his time in Special Operations