Catch up on GORUCK Games – Day 1

Saturday, April 22, 2023

EVOLUTION #3

Secret Service Snatch Test

53lbs for the men, 44lbs for the women. 

AMRAP 10 min

The women went first in two heats. This gave an advantage to all the athletes that went after the first heat. It became apparent that you wanted to wear gloves for this test, as some of the women in the first heat tore their hands.

This is an event where it was reported that there were some errors on the leaderboard, which we will address at the end of the Day 3 write-up. This was a pretty straightforward and good event for testing the fitness of these athletes after a night of very little sleep.  

Top 3

Women  Carly Wopat (270 reps), Calypso Sheridan (254 reps), Lauren Weeks (233 reps)

Men  Rylan Schadegg (213 reps), Michael Miraglia (207 reps), Austin Azar (192 reps)

Evolution 3 results are listed here.

The athletes were then served breakfast. After the meal, the athletes were briefed on what the next evolution would be. In this next test, athletes would have to run a loop that was about 1,000 meters in length carrying progressively heavier sandbag and their rucksacks.

EVOLUTION #4

Sandbag Suck

For Time:

1,000meter Sandbag Run 60/40 pounds

1,000meter Sandbag Run 80/60 pounds

1,000meter Sandbag Run 100/80 pounds

Jarrett Newby can run with weight and no one is stopping him. The video of Jarrett casually shrugging “Where is Hunter” came from the finish line of this event. This was another piece of great programming from the weekend that really fit with the themes of what GORUCK stated they were looking for in their champion. If you wanted an event predictive of the grittiest athletes at the GORUCK Games based on the programming, look to this event for both men and women.

Top 3

Women  Lauren Weeks (22:35), Carly Wopat (24:10), Vivian Tafuto (24:41)

Men  Jarrett Newby (17:27), Rylan Schadegg (21:00), DJ Fox (22:00)

Evolution 4 Results are listed here.

EVOLUTION #5

Scenario Shoot

Athletes are presented with an active shooter scenario and have to perform the following:

1. Neutralize the shooter.
2. Turnicate the wounded.
3. Drag two 100-pound sandbags that are clipped together for about 100 meters.

*10 burpee penalties for mistakes

Athletes were given a class on the proper mechanics of their firearms and told how to neutralize an active shooter scenario while carrying. They were also taught how to apply a tourniquet to a wounded individual properly in the hours leading up to this event.  

The way the event went, the athletes would walk into a café or convenience store and were told to go up to the counter to order something at the cash register. 

The place was filled with all the cadre and event runners acting as patrons to the establishment, talking loudly. 

Eventually, a skirmish would break out and one of the patrons would become an active shooter taking aim at another patron. They were to neutralize the active shooter, treat the wounded, and then carry the sandbags. The clock began once the active shooter pulled out his weapon.

This was a fun event for all athletes from all reports I got. There were some interesting mistakes and even one male athlete busted into the scenario shooting the place up like a wild west saloon and was shot by the active shooter.

You can hear Matt Kempson and Cole Schwartz describe this Evolution in great detail on this podcast.

Top 3

Women  Carly Wopat (2:25), Rachel Water (2:26), Calypso Sheridan (2:31)

Men  Rylan Schadegg (1:57), Dylan Miraglia (2:02), Adam Hawes (2:02)

Evolution 5 results are listed here.

EVOLUTION #6

Shoot and move.

Athletes would be using live ammunition. They would need to shoot at small white targets with a full clip of 6 bullets, then run a short loop. For every miss, they would have to carry a progressively heavier sandbag around the loop.

Athletes were briefed on the event and taught how to safely use firearms leading up to this event. According to some of the athletes, this was an event that involved some strategy. Several athletes noticed, carrying the 20lbs or 40lbs sandbag around the loop made no difference. So if you were able to hit the first three or four targets, then you just emptied the clip quickly at the next two or three because hitting them would not affect your time to a great degree.

Top 3

Women  Carly Wopat (5:43), Calypso Sheridan (6:10), Margaux Alvarez (6:49)

Men  Dylan Miraglia (3:54), Matthew Kempson (4:03), Austin Azar (4:18), Michael Miraglia (4:18)

Evolution 6 results are here.

After getting dinner the athletes were back near their campsite and the sun had set. This event was meant to be done in daylight since it would involve the athletes swimming in Alligator infested River water (St. John’s River) but with the sun already down, a tiki torch light for their evolution was going to have to suffice. 

EVOLUTION #7

Knot Swim

4 rounds For Time:

200-meter Ruck Run

50m Swim (not with a ruck)

200-meter Ruck Run

At the end of each round, tie a specific knot.

Athletes were given some instruction on how to tie the three knots they would need to, with the proper lengths of rope and how each one should look. Athletes who went later had more time to practice their knot-tying skills. The three types of knots they had to tie were a bowline, square knot, and clove hitch, each with a specified length of tail rope. If an athlete failed during the event to tie the knot properly, they were given 3 attempts to get it right before having to do the run/swim/run again. 

On the female side, this event was won by the 3 collegiate swimmers, who were probably the most comfortable in the water at night.  

You can hear a complete breakdown of this event on this podcast.

Top 3

Women  Calypso Sheridan (24:23), Lauren Weeks (25:06), Vivian Tafuto (25:40)

Men  Jarrett Newby (28:30), Matt Kempson (30:15), Dylan Miraglia (30:52)

Evolution 7 results are here.

The athletes were taken back to the campsite and allowed to shower and rest up for the night for another unknown length of time. Apparently, something happened here with the cold shower and a family of raccoons that the public will just never know about unless you can get one of the cadre or athletes to talk about it.

The call time for day 3 was again at 7 am and the athletes may have been given a total of 5-6 hours of sleep.

While the athletes were shooting and swimming there was a thunderstorm over their campsite, so when they returned, some of the athletes who had hammocks had completely drenched bedding for the night.

End of Day 2.

Day 3 post coming soon.

All images: Dan Sell Photography

See more of these photos on the GORUCK Facebook Page.