Joe Warner Bragg Heavy 2019 AAR
Tips for getting through a 24-hour endurance event like no other
Note: I originally wrote this back in 2019 on a private Facebook group. I’m reposting it here with some small updates to preserve the story.
This After Action Review (AAR) presumes that you are already familiar with the GORUCK Heavy, a 24-hour team building endurance event.
Cadre Dan calls the Joe Warner Bragg Heavy the King of Rucks, and this year’s event lived up to the hype. This Heavy was legit — the Robbie Miller WOD, a 3 hour 12 mile ruck, a ruck with a LOT of coupons, an obstacle course traversal, rifle PT, and log PT were but a few instruments of destruction that the cadre administered to our team.
To top it off, we were betrayed by the 50 degree weather forecast with rain and chilling winds that left the class shivering in penguin huddles whenever we waited for the next evolution. We all got our money’s worth for pain and suffering.
During rifle PT, Cadre Jerad asked us why we were doing this event. I’ve written previously about how having a strong ‘why’ can help stop you from quitting when things get tough during an event. However, I actually had trouble answering Jerad’s question at first. I had a definite why for doing last year’s Bragg (which I’m keeping private), but it wasn’t the same as this year’s. After last year’s event was cancelled due to Jerome Gonzalez’s unfortunate passing, I decided to come back to finish what I started. But that ‘why’ wasn’t enough.
Then I thought about my ‘why’ to continue doing these events, which is “to live.” What I mean is that we are unable to determine what our true potential is unless we continuously challenge ourselves to be better. We can’t experience life if we only remain in our comfort zone. The suffering from GORUCK events tests our resolve and grit, and overcoming that pain strengthens us for the harsh realities of life. That certainly was closer to answering Jerad’s question, but I still felt it wasn’t enough as I laid on my back during rifle PT with a busted windbreaker and rain falling on my face.
Later in the event, we were waiting on the field after another WOD. It was raining again, the winds were howling, and I stood there cold and wet with my broken windbreaker. I suffered, but I didn’t mind. Quitting wasn’t even a thought in my mind. Instead, I thought about Joe Warner and Jerome Gonzalez.
I never met Joe. I only saw two videos of him. The first was from a Light where he was doing the “on your feet, on your bellies, on your backs” evolution. I remember the class laughing as Joe’s funny personality shone during that exercise. The second was his infamous run across The Plain during a West Point GORUCK event. After seeing those videos, I couldn’t wait to be in a GORUCK event led by him, but Joe passed away in late 2014. Even though I didn’t know him, I knew that the world was robbed of his presence. Joe was such an amazing guy, that he did a Bragg Heavy as a participant but didn’t tell anyone he was in Special Forces. He was just a humble guy suffering with the rest of the team, admitting that the suffering sucked but he wasn’t going to quit under any circumstance.
Then I thought about Jerome. I didn’t know him either, but I wish I did. I found out that he had finished a bunch of GORUCK events and Spartan Races, and was training for the 2018 GORUCK Selection, with last year’s Bragg Heavy being a milestone event. Jerome was a kindred spirit as we were both going after the same thing. I recall shaking his hand at the admin line before last year’s Bragg Heavy started as our last names were alphabetically close, and had things worked out differently, we might have been good friends. Cadre Dan in an emotional speech mentioned how Jerome crushed a lot of the standards of last year’s Bragg Heavy PT test (which was indeed a ball kicker). Thus, to honor him, we did a variation of that PT test, which was christened the Jerome Gonzalez WOD. It was fitting to go through that test again near the end of this year’s Bragg Heavy in his honor.
And as I thought about those two guys, I realized that I was also doing the Bragg Heavy to honor them. Both men enjoyed pushing themselves, testing their limits, and never quitting no matter what. I didn’t care how cold it got, how heavy the logs were, or how many miles we had to go (and according to Dan, it was about 40 total). I’d suffer until the event finishes, because those men would have done the exact same thing.
Thank you, Dan, Fury, Marcus, Fagan, Jerad, Nate, Karl, and Montreal for running a great event. To my teammates, thank you for suffering with me. We all needed each other to finish, and I’d be happy to do another event with you.
If you’re thinking of doing the Bragg Heavy, here are some tips (although some of these can apply to any GORUCK Heavy)
- Whatever the weather forecast says for the event, expect it to be 10 to 20 degrees colder because of the wind chill.
- Train hard. While mental strength is important, being physically strong will pay dividends in this event, especially for those evolutions where it pays to be a winner. Look at Tactical Barbell, Heavy Drop Training, and/or Pathfinder Ruck Training to get you into Heavy fighting shape.
- Ruck 12 miles in under 3 hours. That’s the new Heavy standard, and those who met it at this event got to rest while those that didn’t immediately started a coupon ruck afterwards. Again, it pays to be a winner, so don’t skimp on your ruck training. If you ruck consistently, you’ll get stronger and will be able to move at a faster pace.
- Pack a real food item like a sandwich along with your snacks. Stuff like ProBars, gummy bears, and M&M’s will not provide enough calories for something as intense as a Heavy.
- Until you have the patch in your hand, the event is not over. I won’t spoil the surprise, but let’s just say that Dan tricked a few people into thinking the event was going to end.
- If your windbreaker has trouble zipping up during your training rucks, it’s definitely not going to close when the zipper is filled with sand after some low crawls. I learned this the hard way with my cheap windbreaker and ended up getting a little extra suffering in the cold rain.
For those gunning for the Bragg Heavy (or any Heavy for that matter), good luck to you. Train hard, get your mind right, and remember your why. Enduring for 24 hours is a grind, but as long you don’t quit and take it one evolution at a time, you’ll earn that patch at the end.
