Quarter I 2020 Mental/Physical Challenge: Marathon Ruck

DO HARD SHIT: EVERY DAY

The event was cancelled due to COVID-19 Pandemic. But I did it anyway - in my own way.

March 15th, 2020 was the scheduled date for the Bataan Memorial Death March in White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. The Wednesday prior to this I woke up to an email from the event administrators; up until this point I was 100% ready to go, both mentally & physically.

The email read:

"WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE

Press Release

White Sands Missile Range Public Affairs Office Building 1782, Headquarters Avenue

White Sands Missile Range, N.M. 88002 | 575-678-1134

For More Information Contact: White Sands Missile Range Public Affairs

Release No. # 6 March 11, 2020

Bataan Memorial Death March Cancelled

WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. (March 11, 2020) – Out of an abundance of caution, the U.S. Army made the decision to cancel this year's Bataan Memorial Death March scheduled for March 15, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 threat."

It was in that very moment that I knew I had to figure something out. Every quarter this year I am using the three months prior to train for different & unique mental/physical challenges and the Bataan Memorial Death March being a marathon ruck definitely qualified for that in my book.

This was going to be my first challenge of the year and I had been training since January for March 15th, just to find out it was cancelled shortly beforehand. That same day I texted a good friend of mine in Colorado and told him I was thinking about coming out to visit the family and spend some time with him and he was said to come on through. So I rented a sprint van, drove from Van Meter, IA to Northern Colorado and did exactly that. I took a few days to get there and along the way I stopped at different Whole Foods grocery stores to eat and restock, stopped at different Lifetime Athletic clubs to workout and hit the sauna (read: hold the line, even while traveling), and I slept in the back of the van.

March 15th, 2020 came and Mat and I woke up at 4am, hit the road to ruck by 5am and as you'll see in the video, we were 20 miles in at around 1pm. We averaged 15-17:00 miles with 30-60lbs on our backs, so we ended up finishing around 230pm with a homecoming from his family, which was absolutely amazing.

We finished out the 26 miles with 26 pushups and the rucks still on; it was only fitting to finish on a strong note like that. Hugs, high fives from the boys and the family, and a beer afterwards to celebrate. Up until that point, I hadn't had a single sip of alcohol since December of 2019 and let me tell you, it was glorious!

All this to be said: For me, it's never about what's happening in the world around me because my world exists in one place and one place only - in my mind. I keep my mind strong, my body strong, and everything and everyone else in my life can see it and it's my hope that it rubs off on them (AND YOU READING THIS) to the point where it facilitates action within your lives.

Quarter one mental/physical challenge was a success, even if it was cancelled. In my mind, it was never cancelled, I just needed to adapt, overcome, and persevere to make it happen in my life.

Apply this lesson to anything and everything in your lives: Adapt. Overcome. Persevere.

#TheDillonBurnsMethod