We started at Mission Park in San Francisco at 1:00 am. We were lined up and single file and our rucks were inspected to make sure we really had the 6 bricks. We were informed to take off any watches, GPS, cell phones, etc. We were not allowed to know what time it was or where we were. Then we were lined up to be assessed by the Cadre (like a drill instructor). We did a number of physical training activities in this park. The hardest one was called inchworm pushups. This involved everyone lining up head to toe on our stomach. I had to put my feet on the person behind me's shoulders. On the Cadre's command we had to do a push up. Not only was the body weight and ruck sack weight heavy, but the person in front of me was more weight. Another one was a race. Two lines at opposite ends of the park, about 100 yards apart. One person starts by crab walking, then when he/she (yes, we had a couple of ladies do this) reaches the other side the partner goes back doing a bear crawl. Remember all this time we have our rucks on. This race was taking a lot longer then everyone expected. We finally finished this and it was time to move on to the next thing. We were then lined up in formation to go for a jog. One person at all times had to carry the American Flag. One person had to wear one of the two hats (orange cone) at all time. The team has an additional 25lbs that we had to rotate who carried it. Our choice to carry was enough canned goods to weigh 25lbs. Luckily these were in another ruck sack, which made it a little easier to carry.
We had to run at a pretty good pace and if were did not keep pace we had to drop and do inchworm pushups. The next destination was about a mile and a half. If some bystander were to ask us what we are doing, we were suppose to respond with yelling "GORUCK". Our next stop was at a place called Corona Heights Park. The nice part about this stop was the view from the top of a hill. The city was all light up below us and pretty peaceful. We got to take a rest here. Enough time to take a few sips of water and a snack. It was time to move on and our Cadre noticed a couple of logs lying to the side of the pathway. So, we had to pick one and take it with us. This log had to weigh about 2000lbs, at least that is what it felt like.
We ended up hauling this log for about 3 miles total. We had 6 people on the log at all times, and rotated personnel about every 30 to 60 seconds. There were 25 of us total, so it was not long until you were back under the log. Once the log was picked up, it was not allowed to touch the ground again. After what seem like forever, we stopped at a gas station to take a break and grab some water. Most of us had the water bladders, but we need to be refilled. We parked the log in the handicapped parking space, which got a laugh out of everyone. We were there for about 10 minutes, and of the brave ones used this opportunity to drink some beer. Needless to say, I passed on the beer. We had to carry the log again to the next destination, which seemed like 5 miles away but was only a couple of miles.
During our next route with log, if we saw a police officer, we were supposed to yell "THREAT" and hit the ground. We had to do pushups until he/she was gone. We had a number of visits from the police through the night and day. Once was someone called them to complain we were making too much noise. The others were officers on patrol and just curious what we were up to.
We finally got to the next park, which I think was south Golden Gate Park. This one had a playground, soccer field, and baseball field. The sun has been up for a couple of hours now, so there were plenty of people at the park. We dropped the log at the side of the baseball field. We got to take another break. Then it was time for a game the Cadre came up with. We split in to two different teams. This was a relay race. Team 1 has to army crawl to first base, then crap walk to second base, then bear crawl to third base, and then army crawl back to home. Team 2 had to do the same but in the opposite direction (home to third to second to first to home). Our Cadre encouraged confrontation. Meaning when we passed our opponent about second base, we were to deter them from moving on. At half way from third to home (or first to home), whichever team was losing was allowed to send one person to deter the winning team. The winning team was allowed to send one guy to defend. This was a lot of fun. By then end of the race, it turned into an all out brawl. All in good fun, no one was ever upset. The winning team (the one I was on) decided to take the punishment with the losing team. So, we all had to grab a handful of dirt and use our water to make it into mud. Then we had to "Camo Up", which means rub the mud all over our face and neck.
Next, all we knew was to run. We did not know where we were going. We ended up running to the Golden Gate Bridge and across it. Saturday in San Francisco, there was tons of people of the bridge. Most moved out of the way, but there were a few we had to persuade to move. We got to the north side of the bridge and took a break and refilled our water. I was sure by now it had been about 10 hours and we should be done...No, I was wrong. We had to run back across the bridge and down to Crissy Field (which is the park right under the Golden Gate Bridge). On the run back, we had injuries (real ones or ones that the Cadre decided were "wounded in battle"). So, either one person had to pick that person up and carry or three people had to carry that one person. By the time we made it down to the water, everyone was either hurt or carrying someone.
We had to line up single file, interlocking arms along the beach. We walked into the water until we were about knee deep, took a seat and lied on our back. Then we proceeded to do flutter kicks, sit ups, hello dollies. Then we rolled over on our stomach and had to do some more inchworm pushups. Then we had to run back on the beach and form a circle. We then had to toss sand on each other. Get back into the water for more pushups, squats, thrusters, etc. Back to the beach and toss more sand. We then had to do more inchworm pushups on a circle. We were supposed to all be in the up position and walk our hand three steps. So, the circle was supposed to rotate. This was not happening, no matter how many times we did it. Then we lined up in two lines, shoulder to shoulder next to someone. Then they told us to look at the person next to you and then buddy carry them about 30 yards. I looked at the guy next to me, and there was no way he was carry me. So, I had to carry my ruck, him and his ruck. Then the Cadre tells us to line up in two lines and follow him and keep pace. He only went about 50 yards and stopped. He looked at us in disgust and told us to get back in the water. He had us line up in two lines about knee deep of water. He then said "Do you want to quit?". We all in unison said "NO". He said "Good, now take off your ruck...you are done". There was a big sound of relief as we all dropped our rucks.
I would say it is the hardest race/challenge I have done. I would not say it was fun, but I am very glad and proud that I did it. For completing, we got a patch that says "GORUCK TOUGH". That is all that I needed. Looking back, it was a wonderful experience and I think I would do it again.
Afterwards, I ended up mapping out where we went, which is below. So, we went about 11 miles and a total of 12 hours long. Luckily there was a photographer with us the whole time. I have included the link to the flickr page with all the photos
Yes, I paid to put myself through this!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/causticjb/sets/72157631934692885/
