St. Patrick’s Day Convergence Ruck (Promenade Park) – 3/17/18

St. Patrick’s Day Convergence Ruck 3/17/18 Backblast

PAX: Jimmy Dean, Sipe, The Mickey, El Chapo, Woodstock, Ticket, Jennay, Stark, Shakira, Brute, Ollie, Splinter, Wake, The Hoff, Tupac, Sunshine, Brita, The Colonel, Stamper, FNG-Mark Bueller (Socrates), Ozzie, Bourbon, Raven, Jingle Bells, Hedgehog, Mater, Danica, Cooter, John Henry, Valdez, Worm, Bambi, The Mayor, Modell, Gap, Cogsworth
Q: Klinger

Total Distance: 8.67 miles
Total Time: 2 hrs 45 min

The Thang: 37 brave men posted at Promenade Park in Downtown Toledo on this fine St. Patrick’s Day morning for a convergence ruck. The weather was perfect. A bit cold (mid 20’s) but no wind so seemed pretty ideal for some hard work. As PAX strolled up to the start point, they were greeted by 4 – 9 foot long logs.

At precisely 0400 hrs, YHC gathered the PAX together and welcomed them all. We had one FNG – Mark Bueller, and he was brought into the circle and the 5 core principles of F3 were explained. A disclaimer was also discussed. With those admin details out of the way, YHC proceeded by explaining the details of the ruck. First, PAX were instructed to line up by height. Next, teams of 4 PAX were made with all members approximately the same height. Then, 2 teams were joined together to form a squad. In total, there were 4 squads with approximately 8-9 PAX per squad. YHC chose a squad leader for each squad and briefed them on their mission. Simply, the mission was to choose one of the 4 logs and carry it along the route. Squad leaders were responsible for coming up with a plan of how they wanted to handle rotation of PAX on the log. After allowing a couple minutes for them to develop their plan, we formed up into 2 columns and headed out.

Since the logs were of varying weights (some heavy, some lighter), at each mile the logs were shuffled between the squads, so that equal time was had on the heavy ones and light ones. Squad leaders were changed out every 2 miles. We moved along at a decent pace and PAX did a great job of rotating on and off the logs.

Points of Interest along the route: St. Vincent’s Medical Center, Central Catholic High School (home of the Fighting Irish), Rosary Cathedral, Scott High School, The Toledo Art Museum (stopped for a quick photo), and Historic St. Patrick’s Church.

Once we got to St. Patrick’s Church, we put the logs down and took a 5 minute break to refit, refuel, and hydrate. YHC prepared a brief history lesson on the Irish in Toledo, as well as some info about St. Patrick’s Church. Then, we loaded back up and continued along the route. YHC knew that we were starting to get short on time and was looking for a spot to stash the logs so we could pick up the pace. Finally, once we hit Summit Street, there was a nice grassy area. YHC made a deal with the PAX that we could drop the logs if we could stay together and do some speedrucking! They were happy to oblige and we formed up and headed out. We proceeded down Summit towards the High Level Bridge, crossed over it, made our way through International Park, crossed over the river again on the Cherry Street Bridge, and then proceeded on Summit St. back towards Promenade Park.

YHC realizes that he bit off more than he could chew with respect to time and distance of the planned route. Apologies to all the PAX for not making it back to the start point before the start time for the beatdown. It was pretty cool that the PAX that had arrived for the beatdown only made their way down Summit St. to greet us as we approached our Endex. Since we were running late, YHC completed a Nameorama as we were rucking. COT and naming of the FNG were deferred to the end of the beatdown.

YHC was impressed with all PAX on this adventure. Everyone did their part and the teamwork was great. The goal was to put in a longer distance and do some training for GrowRuck, and YHC believes this was accomplished! The leadership and determination in this group of men continues to amaze me. Keep on getting better!

Oh, and if you’re curious, YHC did secure the dropped logs and transported them back to Sylvania. May or may not have stashed them in a spot that would be convenient for use on future Tuesday rucks!

AYE!!

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