13 lucky gloom brothers donned the extra weight to conquer a BRUTAL 8 mile trail ruck in preparation for the Frozen Triangle 10-miler happening Feb 8th. After hearing from young Snap he was running behind 15 minutes, the on-time 12-PAX set out from Pump House Park and set a blazing pace down the North Bank trail toward the City. En route, Offshore came running past from the other direction and mentioned the Buttermilk was treacherous. Hmmmm, maybe we should have listened… Starting 15 minutes behind the pack, there was no way Snap was gonna catch up. But the PAX was stopped a few times for water and stretch breaks, and their beloved Q also made them do some IC Flutters and Squats once we crossed the Bell Isle bridge. We also added the Bell Isle loop, but still young Snap hadn’t arrived. This was where the Q asked for volunteers to go back for the SIX, and the PAX split with Ponch leading the front runners toward the Buttermilk, while YHC and a platoon of big-hearted warriors circled back over the Bell Isle suspension bridge in search of Snap. Turns out he blew past Bell Isle and was about to cross the Browns Island footbridge, but we got him turned around and once united we took off at double speed to catch the front runners. Finally reaching the Buttermilk, we knew catching up was going to be near impossible – the entire trail was covered in ice. A few of us who participated in the Grow Ruck had many reflective moments remembering the painfully slow progress under extra weight on these same trails, only then they were slick with hard rain instead of hard ice. Right then we all agreed Rodeo Clown’s strap-on ice grips to be a genius move. It was grueling but the PAX set out to try and catch up with the front-runners, and we periodically shuffle-jogged where the trail permitted. As it turned out we never had a chance to catch them, and the Ponch Crew were driving past us as we were finally crossing the Nickel Bridge. SUPER proud of these men for taking on what turned out to be a wildly challenging CSAUP. In comparison I expect the Frozen Triangle ruck will be a walk in the park. We have 15 PAX so far HC’d to ruck it – WHO ELSE WANTS IN?!? Yours AYE! ~DTH
