The Heavy - 24 Hours
The cadres for this event included former Green Berets, Force Recon Marines, and an Israeli Duvdevan commando. These guys are the definition of tough and it was amazing to hear their stories throughout the event.
Most GORUCK events are run as one team with a single cadre, but due to the size of this event they divided us into platoons and the cadres cycled between us. More cadres = more pain.
We started at the New York Vietnam Veterans Memorial and lined up for our gear inspections. Everyone had to be in alphabetical order at the start of the event. There is a known packing list and you better have everything on that list. One of the people in another platoon forgot extra batteries for their headlamp, and the entire platoon was punished with a round of exercises.
After gear inspection there is a brutal workout known as the Welcome Party. The cadres use it to get our minds right and prepare us for all the pain that is to come. Each of the three events in the HTB (Heavy, Tough, and Basic) has a gear inspection and Welcome Party at the start, but the Welcome Party for the Heavy is the hardest and longest of all. We weren't allowed to wear watches for the event, but we estimate the Welcome Party for the Heavy lasted around three hours. Each cadre has their own signature exercises to torture us with and we got a taste of all of them as they rotated between the platoons.
Here are some videos to give a sample of what we did:
Here's a great picture someone took towards the end of the Welcome Party showing the World Trade Center lights:
Once the Welcome Party was done, it was time to finally start moving out! Most of the event is grinding out miles under heavy weight, and here's a video of my platoon showing all the coupons we had to carry for the first 40 or so miles of the event.
Our first movement took us over the Brooklyn Bridge.
We stopped off at a park in Brooklyn for the first opportunity for people in our group to share their personal stories about 9/11.
One of the women in our platoon was the daughter of an NYC firefighter who was one of the first on the scene. She was in middle school at the time and her father was seriously injured (but survived) and there were a few days where they didn't know if he was alive or dead. From that day through Christmas, every weekend was filled with funerals for her father's closest friends. She said it's crazy how literally everything in her life was shaped by this one day, even so far as getting her tuition to grad school in England paid for by a 9/11 victims fund.
After story time, we did bear crawls and step ups in the park before heading out.
We took the Manhattan Bridge back over the river, which gave us an amazing view of downtown.
We went through Chinatown via Canal Street to get to the west side of the city. I have no idea what time it was by this point, but it was late enough that the streets in Chinatown were emptier than I've ever seen them.
Once we hit the west side, the cadres told us to hurry up and get to the pier next to the U.S.S. Intrepid as quickly as possible. Once we got there, we were treated to another brutal workout which lasted well over an hour.
By this point, most of the "shadows" (people following the event taking pictures) had dropped off for the night. So not a lot of pictures for what we did throughout the night, but it was mostly just covering a lot of distance.
Next up, we rucked all the way up to the Fireman's Memorial at 100th Street. We lined up along the stairs there and the cadres decided it would be fun to have the platoons compete against each other by passing our rucks back and forth down the line like a fireman's bucket brigade. The winning platoon got to dump some of their coupons off onto the platoon that came in last place. My platoon was a close second, so we didn't get to dump any of our coupons but we also didn't get stuck with any new ones.
After the Fireman's Memorial, we headed downtown again and the sun started to come up, which told us we were about 12 hours into the event. Around an hour after sunrise we got to stop at a park for 20 minutes of "priorities of work", which in my case included cleaning my feet, applying more lubricant to them, changing my socks, chugging electrolytes, and eating a couple Clif bars and some Skittles. Foot care is critical for surviving this much distance under weight, and I got through the entire weekend without any blisters.
Sunrise also meant it was time for a cadre shift change, and the Green Berets who had been so nice to us up to this point were replaced by Force Recon Marines who took a much less gentle approach to things. They immediately screamed at us that we better not disappoint them or we were going to pay for it.
The primary cadre assigned to our platoon at this point, Cadre Cleve, has a reputation for being especially brutal with his workouts. So we didn't want to disappoint him. He told us an engaging story (using very colorful language) about the background of how Al Qaeda came into existence and their early history leading up to 9/11, along with the history of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
The story took a while for him to tell, and we were the last platoon to leave the park. But leaving last didn't matter to Cleve and he told us he wanted us to be the first platoon to make it all the way to the World Trade Center site (and we didn't want to disappoint him and face his wrath) so we had to move quickly to overtake the other platoons. The other cadres eventually figured out that Cleve was trying to race them and told their platoons to speed up as well, so we had a serious competition on our hands.
Fortunately, we managed to be first but it was close. We got downtown about 10 minutes before the time the first plane hit, and we were able to experience the memorial ceremony from a reasonable distance (security concerns meant we couldn't get too close with all our rucks and coupons.)
After the ceremony, we went to a park for more stories about 9/11 and a group hug.
Our next goal was to get to the Staten Island Ferry, and once again Cleve told us we had to be the first platoon there (we were.) We took the ferry to Staten Island, and our entire group was sweaty and smelled terrible so we went to the top deck. I feel bad for all the other passengers.
Once the ferry docked, we headed over to the Staten Island September 11th Memorial. We learned that the vast majority of the 343 firefighters who died on 9/11 lived on Staten Island.
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Next, we did 343 step ups on park benches to remember the firefighters.
Then we took the ferry back to Manhattan and rucked to a park to do a workout in honor of the 13 service members recently killed in Afghanistan. Someone in a platoon ahead of us collapsed on the way to the park (not sure what happened) and the cadres had to call an ambulance.
After the workout in the park, we were told we had to move quickly because we had a deadline to get back to Ground Zero. The cadres told us if we missed the deadline it would not be pleasant. Fortunately we made it in time so we didn't need to find out what they meant by that.
We gathered in a rooftop park next to the World Trade Center site and all the cadres gave speeches about how proud they were of us for completing the first 24 hours.
My first Heavy was done! This was an amazing accomplishment for me, but I couldn't stop there. I was going for my bolts and I still had two events remaining.
We had approximately three hours until the next event, and there was no time to waste. HTBs are made or broken in the time between events. The group I was rooming with had made an excellent choice with the hotel, so we were only a short walk away. One of my roommates grabbed a pizza for us, and we began the process of showering, changing clothes, foot care, hydrating, and swapping out the gear in our rucks for the next event.
The Tough - 12 Hours
One of my roommates decided to sleep a bit between events, which was a big mistake because it was almost impossible to wake him up. Oversleeping is the number one reason why people fail to complete an HTB. We got a late start getting out to the next event, but initially didn't think anything of it because we thought we had plenty of time.
Our hotel was in Lower Manhattan, and the start point for the Tough was up on Randall's Island. We took an Uber up there, and unfortunately it was hard for the Uber driver to find where to drop us off. After the driver left, we realized we were about 2 miles from the start point with only a few minutes until the next event. Even jogging with our rucks, it would take us close to 30 minutes to get there. This was 10:00pm at night and Randall's Island is pretty empty to begin with, so there was no chance we could get a cab or call another Uber to save some time.
Being late is a big mistake. The cadres always say "Early is on time and on time is late." Usually when one person is late the whole team gets punished, so we were nervous.
Fortunately, someone else in an Uber heading to the event saw us running with our rucks and stopped to give us a ride. That Uber driver had trouble too, and we got there 10 minutes late. We were honest with the cadres about what happened, and it seemed like other people were having the same problem, so we surprisingly escaped without any punishment. We were expected to fall into ranks for ruck inspection with no delays though, and made it through okay.
Since this was a new event and not everyone doing the events this weekend was in for the full HTB, we had some fresh bodies to help us at the Tough! Many of the people who got beaten up the hardest at the Heavy decided not to continue, so we were starting out stronger overall than just a few hours before.
Things seemed promising, then came the Welcome Party.
I've done Toughs before so I know roughly what a Welcome Party for them should be like, and this was a lot more intense than a normal Tough. We cycled between all the cadres again, and some of them gave us very vague instructions to do impossible things. The whole intention of this was to break our minds and wear down our bodies, and it absolutely worked.
When we thought the Welcome Party was done, it wasn't. We went to a soccer field and were instructed to do bear crawls across it and then sprint back as fast as possible. Then walking lunges across and sprint back. Then crab walks and sprint back. Then grab a buddy and bear crawl while dragging them to the halfway point, switch positions with them for the second half, then sprint back. If we didn't do any of this stuff fast enough, the cadres warned us that we'd pay for it.
Once the Welcome Party actually was done (after at least two hours) we gathered up the coupons and began our first movement. The cadre told us to move quickly, but we weren't given any specific time goals or instructions other than that.
We went over the Wards Island Bridge to Manhattan, and up a big hill until we hit Central Park. Then we went down the east side of Central Park until we hit the bottom, then moved over to Seventh Avenue and continued moving south.
At this point we were told our goal was to get to Times Square. Our cadre told us that the other platoons were heading there as well, and the faster we got there ahead of them the more time we'd have to rest.
We were the second platoon there (got there right after the first) so we were in good shape. Someone caught a glimpse of a clock and it was around 4:00am, so this was about 34 hours into the HTB and I was starting to get exhausted. My teammate (who has done dozens of GORUCK events) told me it was okay to lay down and close my eyes while we stopped as long as I kept my boots on and was ready to jump back into action immediately when the cadre said it was time to go. So I laid down on the ground with my head on my ruck in the middle of Times Square and shut my eyes. I didn't get any sleep, but it was a nice break for a few minutes and now I have a picture to remember it.
Once the other platoons arrived, we did some story time (with new people in the Tough there were new stories about their experiences with 9/11) and then we did a workout in Times Square.
After the workout, we moved out but made sure to stop for a platoon photo in front of the big American flag.
Around 10 blocks south of Times Square, the cadre gave us a chance to stop at a convenience store. We were only allowed to purchase water or Gatorade though, and we had to be done and ready to move within 10 minutes.
Right before we headed out again, he told us our next checkpoint was Washington Square Park. He said if we made it there within 36 minutes he'd let us dump out some of our sandbags to lighten the load, so that was motivation enough for us to move quickly. Sunrise came during this movement too, and that always boosts morale for overnight events.
I don't know how close we actually came, but we made it in time and got to dump the heaviest sandbags out. But nothing in GORUCK is free, so once we dumped the sandbags the cadre picked two of our team members and declared them as "casualties." That meant they weren't allowed to walk (we had to carry them) and their rucks also had to be carried by others on the team. We had a security barricade that we needed to climb over too, so the casualties had to be passed from one side to the other.
Our final checkpoint for the Tough was a firehouse near the World Trade Center that lost a lot of people on 9/11. GORUCK has stopped there every year since they started doing the 9/11 memorial events, so they have a close relationship. We got there way before all the other platoons, and that close relationship benefitted us because we had a lot of people who needed to use the bathroom and they were more than willing to let us use theirs!
We did another workout right as the other platoons started to arrive. Our platoon's cadre made a bet with another platoon's cadre about which team could hold planks with their rucks on the longest, and we had to pick five people from each team to go head to head against each other. Every time one of our people broke the plank, our whole team had to do burpees. Fortunately our people were stronger, and we only had two people go down by the time they lost all five.
Once all the teams arrived, we lined up and shouted in unison "Who do we love? FDNY! Who do we love? FDNY!" over and over again before one of the firefighters made a speech.
Every year, the cadres present this firehouse with a new Special Forces flag (they have quite a collection hanging up inside) and this year the Force Recon Marines presented them with a Recon & Sniper Foundation flag.
After a couple more speeches, the Tough was over! Two events down, one more to go. We got our patches and headed back to the hotel to prep for the Basic which was in three hours.
The Basic - 6 Hours
We went back to the hotel for the same routine: shower, change, foot care, hydrate, put new gear in the ruck, eat. One of my roommates got us turkey sandwiches, potato chips, and Gatorade from the deli next to the hotel, which was a better choice than the pizza we had before the Tough. Then we got an Uber to the start point (Rockefeller Park) and made sure to allow plenty of time to arrive early.
Another round of fresh bodies for this event! The Basic is the easiest of the GORUCK Challenge events. Usually the people who sign up to only do a Basic aren't the strongest people in GORUCK, but by this point we needed all the help we could get.
I kept telling myself "You just have a Basic left. No big deal, you can crush this event in your sleep." And it had to be that way, because we were 42 hours deep in this thing and I was just barely staying awake. Most people doing an HTB hallucinate during the Tough because the night messes with their head and they are exhausted from the Heavy. I had some minor hallucinations during the Tough (not as bad as some others) but they were getting stronger now.
"The Welcome Party will be easy because it's just a Basic," I told myself. So we lined up for ruck inspections, and immediately afterwards a cadre yelled out "Where are my HTB people at? I need you all to form ranks over here because we have something special just for you."
So it turned out it wasn't going to be "just a Basic" for us. The fresh people got a regular Basic Welcome Party, but for everyone going for their bolts the cadres were holding us to a higher standard.
This video shows the infamous "Tunnel of Love" where everyone lines up shoulder to shoulder in the "downward dog" position and the person at the end needs to low crawl with their ruck underneath everyone else. Then they get in position at the other end and we keep going until everyone has gone through.
After the Welcome Party where they separated the HTB people from the others, we formed back into our platoons and grabbed the coupons for a movement across Lower Manhattan.
Next, we went over the Brooklyn Bridge. For my exhausted brain, the repetition of those wooden boards on the bridge moving under my feet was absolutely hypnotic and I actually fell asleep while walking! Fortunately my friend was right next to me and she noticed I was sleeping and woke me up. Speaking with others after the event, I wasn't the only person who fell asleep going over that bridge.
By this point I was beyond tired and was completely dehydrated. We all were. But fortunately we were all a team and were looking out for each other. We encouraged each other to keep drinking water and electrolytes, and eat a bit of food whenever we got the chance. When things get this bad, sometimes looking out for a teammate can be a welcome distraction from how much pain you're feeling yourself.
After crossing the bridge, we moved to a fire station in Brooklyn which lost a lot of people on 9/11. Based on descriptions I've read of previous 9/11 GORUCK events, I knew what was coming: We were about to get a workout in while getting sprayed with a fire hose.
The water from that hose was cold and it hit hard. And the pavement we had to do pushups and high-low planks on was rough. But the whole point was to experience some pain and suffering for the people who died on that day.
Next, we rucked back over the Brooklyn Bridge and over to a fire station in Lower Manhattan to hear about the people they lost on 9/11 and to see a memorial they had set up.
Once we finished at the fire station, the cadre told us we had to get back to the World Trade Center site as quickly as possible. If we took too long, there would be a lot of pain waiting for us when we got there.
We were around 47 hours deep by this point and had covered well over 60 miles under heavy weight, and I was broken. I was certain that we had a brutal workout waiting for us at the end (known as a "shark attack") and wanted to save some energy for that and not move so fast. But this is where the power of the team comes in, and why nobody can finish an event like this alone. My teammate saw that I was hurting and she told me not to worry about what may lay ahead of us, just to move as fast as I could now and that pushing through the pain would be what I remembered when I looked back on this event.
So I hustled as fast as I could to keep up with the front of our platoon, and pushed through all the way to the end.
And that shark attack I was expecting? It never came. I had been worried about saving my energy for nothing.
Instead, we got speeches from all the cadres, telling us how proud they were of all the hard work we put in this weekend to honor the people who lost their lives on 9/11.
The event was done and after two very hard years of training, I had finally earned my bolts!
The best part of all was sharing the experience with some amazing people. I met about 30 people this weekend for the first time who I had previously only known through my online training groups, and it felt like meeting old friends. And now that we've been through something like this together, the connection is beyond words.
The first thing most people say after they earn their bolts is that they never want to suffer through something like that again (at least until someone talks them into signing up for their next HTB.) But not me! I can't wait to do this again, and to learn from my experience so I can be a stronger teammate the next time around.
I'm looking forward to hopefully doing two more HTBs in 2022!