When Cousin Eddie reached out to Goat and me to see if one of us would lead the June ruck, I allowed every opportunity for Goat to step up, but instead he played the firehouse shift card. So I stepped up to the plate with an idea for a creative way to keep the pax together as a team — one of the goals I learned from GoRuck.
Seven men came out on a glorious June morning. Seriously, is this June or April? Clear, low 60s and no humidity. So cool in fact that I opted for a long sleeve tee. At 0515, Titan was still getting the dog on her leash and Springfield was still enroute, as the rest of us got started. With one addition: a 25-foot fire hose.
The plan was for everyone to grab a section of the unfurled hose and ruck single-file as a group. I envisioned the guy at the back shuffling to the front while everyone else slowly passed the hose forward. This would continue — kinda sorta like an Indian run — as we journeyed from the Harris Teeter parking lot to the Davidson firehouse.
Right away I realized we would have a problem as there were only five of us. When Canuck saw the hose, he turned tail and walked off. Titan could have been helpful, but he opted to walk his dog instead. That left 4 of us on the hose which led to a lot of drag as large sections of hose touched the ground between ruckers.
But then Springfield showed up as we were approaching the greenway, and things started looking up. We developed a bit of a rhythm with the lead man pushing the pace while everyone else consciously moved along the hose, passing it forward until the last man could pass the end nozzle to the guy ahead of him and shuffle forward. With YHC adding constant reminders to “Mush!” and “Pass the hose!” we got into somewhat of a routine as we marched up South Street. By the time we passed Ben & Jerry’s on the way to the firehouse, we looked like a well-oiled mildly productive machine.
The plan was to meet up with Goat at the station for a Mobility Minute®, but he was absent when we arrived so instead we rolled up the hose and deposited it in the back of his truck. Then we continued our ruck down 115, and back to the AO. Springfield tookk this opportunity to catch up to Canuck. Cousin Eddie and myself made a few stops for some pain stations as the six caught up. Caesar and Drive Thru maintained a constant pace throughout, and Titan strolled along with his dog and some tunes. Drivers that passed us may not have realized we were supposed to be a single group, but in the end everyone put in a solid 5k.
We met up with Goat at Dunkin for coffee and communal commiseration over several woke topics. RBG and Crude showed up to discuss People’s Republic things (at a distance). All in all it was a successful ruck. I look forward to what Titan has in store for the July ruck after being voluntold to take it. Aye!
HONORABLE MENTIONS
- Kudos to DriveThru for coming out of retirement to join us for an F3 workout! I’m hopeful he’ll join us again despite being forced to do a little more than the promised walk this time
- T-Claps to Cousin Eddie for offering a monthly ruck at his AO and for joining me for pain stations along the way
- Many thanks to Caesar for picking up the coffee tab
- YHC greatly appreciated Springfield’s encouragement on the hose idea. I may have thrown in the towel without his positive mental attitude
- Titan brought the tunes but unfortunately we were separated for most of the trek. I look forward to seeing what he comes up with next month to keep us together
- I always appreciate Canuck for being a friend through all of my inanity. First a full moon, then a fire hose — what will he be forced to endure next?
- And BZ to Gnarly Goat for allowing the use of his hose. The men were throughly impressed.