Friday, April 21, 2023

GoRuck sent an email for all athletes to meet at GoRuck HQ in Jacksonville. The athletes were told to set down the massive packing list and bring in a large duffel outside in line, based on the preassigned athlete number. The competitors had no idea what events they were about to do over the next 48 hours, how many events they would need to complete, or if/when they would be allowed to sleep. Inside HQ were clothes, shoes, gear, ruck bags, and more labeled with the athlete’s number. Once all the athlete’s new gear was repacked in their duffel, some admin tasks, photos, and more were taken care of, the athletes were briefed on evolution #1 the Functional Fitness Test.

The first four events that make up the first evolution can be completed by anyone and we were told there would be a worldwide leaderboard that these athletes were setting the standards for. The briefing happened and then immediately the first eight women were lined up to begin the sandbag burpees.

EVOLUTION #1.1

Sandbag burpees – AMRAP 2 minutes

80-pound sandbag for men, 60-pound sandbag for women

Athletes must touch their chest to the sandbag, then stand and throw the sandbag over their head (not shoulder), no requirement to stand to full extension.

Each person had a cadre/judge watching them. The women in Heat 2 did not know the Heat 1 scores unless they had counted someone when they went. As soon as heat 1 finished, heat 2 began. The Men were followed. Some athletes jumped out to quick leads but faded in the second half while others were steady the whole two minutes. This was a quick start to the weekend and became more about who could lift the bag quickly over their head instead of who was quickest at burpees.

Top 3
Women  Carly Wopat (31 reps), Vivian Tafuto (29 reps), Mirjam Von Rohr (29 reps), Mirando O’Neil (29 reps)
Men Dylan Miraglia (32 reps), Rylan Schadegg (31 reps), Michael Miraglia (31 reps)

Evolution 1.1 results are listed here.

EVOLUTION #1.2 

Suitcase Carry – For Time

200m Sandbag Suitcase Carry

80 pounds for men, 60 pounds for women

Women wet first again but this time they equalized the heats into two (2) heats of six (6). There were some interesting strategies for using bent arm positions versus a carry by the side. Athletes ran down the middle of the road between two stop signs, while the limited spectators made sure no cars pulled out or hit anyone. 

Nearly all of the athletes ended up with cuts on the sides of their legs from the rubbing that appeared red and scabbed throughout the weekend. The strongest athletes were able to do this event completely unbroken and really run with the bag without regard for the skin on the side of their thighs. 

Top 3

Women – Carly Wopat (46-sec), Margaux Alvarez (52-sec), Jerine Klingberg (52-sec)

Men – Mack Roesch (50-sec), Jarrett Newby (51-sec), Austin Azar (52-sec)

Evolution 1.2 results are listed here.

EVOLUTION #1.3

Hand-release push-ups AMRAP

Athletes were told the judging would be strict and no worming or rocking would count. Straight body position must be maintained the entire time.

Athletes were briefed and some silly questions about worming push-ups and doing some kind of dolphin rocking thing were asked and the athletes were told they were going to be very strict. During the event, it looked like every push-up was still counted, even some of the questionable ones on both male and female heats.

Nearly every athlete at the end had a big sway back and was still grinding for those reps. This event was done in the shade of the HQ building so the athletes did not burn their hands or endure any extra sun exposure. While competing it was difficult to understand who was ahead but some of the cadres said the count out loud while others only used a ticker.

Top 3

Women – Lauren Weeks (77 reps), Mirjam Von Rohr (77 reps), Katie Knight (68 reps)
Men – Matthew Kempson (89 reps), Rylan Schadegg (76 reps), Adam Hawes (74 reps)

Evolution 1.3 results are listed here.

EVOLUTION #1.4

The 100-pound mile – For time:

8 lengths of the 200m straight away between two stop signs in the road with a 100# rucksack

The female athletes went first. They were told to pick up the rucks from outside the HQ doors and carry them to the start line 50m away and be ready to start. They lined up and all twelve went at the same time. Out quickly were Carly, and Cali, followed by Vivian, Lauren, Katie, and Jerine in the chase pack. Cali gained some distance on a fading Carly after the first 200m, then it was Cali, Vivian, and Lauren with about 10m between them until the halfway mark. From there Vivian made a pass of Cali and it seemed the top three were established with about 50-100m separating all the ladies in the second half of the mile. 

Positions 4 through 8 were still kind of mixing it up. At the finish line, each woman veered to the right and collapsed on the grass, getting that 100# ruck off their back as quickly as they could.  

Next, it was the men’s turn. It was no question, from wire to wire, Jarrett Newby came here to win this exact event. He flew, winning by 59 seconds. It looked like he was on cruise control for the second half of the mile because there was no one challenging him. Rylan had a firm second place here and did just enough to keep himself about 35-40m ahead of the 3rd place battle between Matt Kempson and DJ Fox. Michael Miraglia and Austin Azar were very close behind in their own battle.

Top 3

Women – Vivian Tafuto (8:40), Caroline Schweikhart (8:56), Lauren Weeks (9:34)

Men – Jarrett Newby (7:00), Rylan Schadegg (7:59), Matthew Kempson (8:14)

Evolution 1.4 results are listed here.

Dinner Break

After the first evolution was complete, athletes were told dinner was on the way and they would have about a 1-hour break. Dinner turned out to be a couple of welcome sandwiches, After dinner, all the duffels and gear were to be loaded up in pick-up trucks. Those trucks then disappeared and the athletes were left with their rucks (with hydration bladders) and the clothes on their backs. Another 20 minutes went by and the sun had set so it was getting dark quickly. 

The athletes all lined up by their roster number and they were marched about three blocks down the road to the Jacksonville beach. They kept marching down the sands and into shallow water. All men and women would start this event together.

Evolution #2

High Walker aka Unknown Night Ruck

With the water up to their knees, the athletes were given an inspirational speech. With a flag being held up in front of them, they were asked the meanings of the colors of the flag, but over the waves and confusion, no one could properly answer so they were forced to do a burpee in the water with their rucks on. The rucks weighed 45 lbs for the men and 30 lbs for the women. Once they stood up they were asked about the colors of the flag again and what they mean, but again insufficient answers led to more watery burpees. After about 4-5 burpees, the athletes were brought back on the hard-packed sand of the beach and lined up on their bellies.

They were told they would be running South on the beach until one of the cadre told them to turn around, unknown distance, unknown duration. Just as in last year’s GORUCK Games, The leader for the men and the leader for the women would have to carry a flag on a pole that weighed about 30 lbs. If anyone wanted to pass the leader, they had to take the flag from them and carry it. 

Athletes ran about 4 miles where they reached a cadre and were told to turn around. They turned around and ran 8 miles back. They turned around again and ran another 4 miles before finishing at about 16 miles total. The women’s lead pack came out hot and was swapping the flag about every 200m, at one point in the first few miles, they even passed the lead men.

At the finish line, athletes would wait for a truck to pick them up and drive them to their secret campsite where their duffel bags were waiting.  

Top 3

Women – Vivian Tafuto (2hr 56min), Lauren Weeks (2hr 58min), Caroline Schweikhart (3hr 8min)

Men – Jarrett Newby (2hr 41min), Rylan Schadegg (2hr 54 min), DJ Fox (2hr 55min)

Evolution 2 results are listed here.

You can hear Cali, Carly, and Calypso describe this final event in great detail on this podcast.

The athletes got to the campground between 12:30 am and 1:45 am and had to set up their tents/sleeping in the dark. There was a cold outdoor shower for those that wanted to use it and a restroom facility. The athletes did not know what call time was the following morning and were in their sleeping bags between 2-3 am.

They had a 7 am call time for Saturday morning.

End of Day 1

Read what happened GORUCK Games Day 2

All images: Dan Sell Photography

See more of these photos on the GORUCK Facebook Page.