Ruck Resistance Run to debut at JBM-HH

A new, active duty-only endurance run is coming to Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall.

Registration is currently underway for Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall’s inaugural Ruck Resistance Run, a double phase event which will test servicemembers’ fitness at exercise stations and a one-mile run which will also be filled with exercise challenge stops.

The base’s first Ruck Resistance Run will be held Friday, May 18 with the first wave invading the course at 6:30 a.m.

The event will be divided into two parts – phase one is called “the pit” and phase two is the one mile run. At the five pit stations, Soldiers will execute as many repetitions as possible in two minutes. After each team finishes the 10-minute pit workout, points will be tallied and accumulated by the amount of repetitions made. Pit exercises will include box jumps, tire flips, kettlebell swings, burpees and a rowing exercise. The entire fitness competition will take place while Soldiers are wearing loaded rucksacks and PT uniforms.

“We’re trying to take it [the pit events] down to a level to where it challenges and appeals to the Soldiers, but it is not so hard that it turns them away [from competing],” said Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation sports specialist Sylvia Garcia. “The challenges will be short yet intense. We think you may get your butt kicked, but we know you can do it.”

The event is being assembled by MWR to allow The Old Guard units to bond, compete and test their physical fitness readiness.

“This is going to be the inaugural try. It is in support of our Army Strong BANDS [Balance, Activity, Nutrition, Determination and Strength] campaign in the month of May,” said Brandon Lamberson, who is a member of the run’s organizational team. “This is to support Army fitness and sports. In terms of celebrating that, we want to really expand the program. We wanted to try something different that combines fitness and the run.”

Participants will start with the 10-minute pit challenge in the vicinity of the Fort Myer Fitness Center. After the pit sessions, teams will tackle a mile-run loop that includes straightaway runs on Wainwright and Sheridan Avenues, which will be mixed with challenge stops. The challenge stops will include pull-up, push-up and bodyweight squat stations. The winning team will be decided by a combination of the fastest run time and the total number of points earned during the pit phase.

Assembled teams will consist of five members and a volunteer who will be involved in tabulating reps and times and who will serve as a team alternate. If a tie occurs, Lamberson tells of how a deadlock will be broken.

“If there is a tie, which is very possible, we go to a bench-press [weightlifting tie-breaker],” Lamberson said. “It will be a 135-pound bench press. The teams that are tied will select one person and the [person with] the most amount of repetitions will win.”

Lamberson and Garcia are currently recruiting and seeking Army units to compete in the first-ever JBM-HH event.

“We may only get four companies to do it this year. We may get 10; we may get two,” said Lamberson. “This is the first of something – anytime you do something for the first time in the military, you never know what you’re going to get.”

Teams interested in participating in the endurance run can contact Lamberson at brandon.s.lamberson.naf@mail.mil or Sylvia Garcia at sylvia.l.garcia.naf@mail.mil or telephone them at 703-696-7868 or 703-696-7860.