GRL115: Tunneling in San Francisco

Light does not mean easy.  This must be distinctly understood or nothing wonderful can come from the story I’m going to relate.  Is it going overboard to misquote “A Christmas Carol” when speaking about a physical fitness event?  Yes, but overboard is what Light 115 was all about. 

Photos by Humberto Abeira

It was supposed to be a toe in the water of Special Forces training.  It was supposed to be a class of 30.

It was supposed to be less than a challenge; less than 6 hours; less weight; no beatdowns.  Everyone came in thinking it was supposed to be one thing or another.  The only expectation that held true was that it was the most fun event I have ever been a part of.  It was hard, heavy, long, and I got to share it with 89 of the greatest people I have ever met!

San Francisco is where I earned my Tough patch in GRC 662.  I remember a clear feeling of apprehension and dread as I drove to the Parade Grounds that night.  When I arrived I was nervous and intimidated.  It was game time and there was no room for joking.  The event was a typical Cadre Bert event; long, wet, and involved fine Italian furniture and logs.  I used humor to get through and proudly earned my patch but I can’t say I enjoyed it.  Light 115 was completely different.

The drive in was full of anticipation and excitement.  Waiting for the event start, I was joking with GRT friends and even took a couple of “energy” shots.  The city was cold, foggy, and the cadre had predicted a 100% chance of rain.  It was shaping up to be a good day.  I had convinced three friends to do their first event with me, and I could see the same look of apprehension on their faces that I had before my first event.  Cadre got right down to business.  Several of us (including me) had not paid attention to all the details and the Cadre decided to give us a full Welcome Party.  In 662 I almost threw up and considered quitting at the Welcome Party; this time I was loving the suck.  A high point was when I met Selection finisher John Maris in the first Tunnel of Love of the day.  Let me set the scene: I met his far more awesome wife Laurie in 662 and been friends with both of them ever since.  It was a Bear Crawl position Tunnel of Love, and I see John crawl under me and I’m not kidding this was basically the exchange:

“Well, hello John! Its nice to finally meet you!”

“Nice to meet you too, who is this?”

“Stephen Fares, I met Laurie in 662.”

“Oh, Stephen it’s great to finally meet you!”

“Hell of a way to make an introduction.”

“It’s a good way.”

The Tunnel of Love is the best way to meet a GRT.

So after buddy carries and low-crawling through the dew, we made our first movement to the beach.  The fog was burning off and the Sun finally shone thr

ough.  The Sun is the big difference in Light.  Humans love seeing the Sun; it’s a sign of hope, it lifts the spirits, and day drinking is always more fun.  This is why Challenges, Heavy, and Selection now all start at night and Lights are during the day.  So we hit the beach and get in the water for the first time.  Now for me, I love surf time in GORUCK.  I look forward to it; I’m weird and I know that but I love the ocean and I’d rather be there than doing anything else.  For others, it’s the first big step.  I told my FNG friends that they will get wet, but they didn’t seem to get it; until now.  Let me be clear to you non-west coasters: the ocean here is cold.  Average temperature is 60 degrees of Fahrenheit.  Anyway, we get in and do several exercises in the surf and I notice a strange phenomenon.  The people around me are making funny noises and having a damn good time.  Light is starting to make sense.  We low crawl up the beach and then the Cadre tell us to Crab-Walk back to the surf.  They say we shouldn’t drag our butts, and I decide to be funny.  “Damn, I was trying to get some more sand in my ass!”  The cadre laughs and smiles and I finally get what Light is.  Light is hard; It’s tough; It’s fun; And it can’t be done by the Cadre alone.

We get off the beach and we move out.  There’s enough GRTs that we don’t lose contact, so the Cadre gave us some casualties and a big log to make our lives more fun.  I was a casualty.  This is something any GRT would rather avoid but if Cadre says you’re dead, you play dead.  I was hauled and schlepped for several miles by awesome people.  It sucked to be carried but I recommend it, because you meet great people and appreciate the idea of the team more.  Sometimes you carry, and sometimes you get carried.  People will always shock you.  We made it to the top of the trail with the 1000 pound log and all six casualties.  We then headed down to the beach faster than surfers on a vacation day.  We got in the surf and soon had our asses handed to us.  The Cadre weren’t completely responsible for this; no, Mother Nature decided to get in on the party too.  Did we complain?  HELL NO!  We loved every minute of it.  We were being knocked around in the surf while the Cadre (who were in there with us) counted off flutter kicks.  We were getting beat up, working hard, getting knocked around in the surf,  and laughing like hyenas!  Light is not easy but it was the most fun I have ever had.

Cadre then split the 89 person class into two of the longest Tunnels of Love ever.  Winner gets strap privileges.  Tide is coming in on both, so it is a crawl through sand and surf.  Luckily, my team wins.  Cadre allowed us to go for a quick swim to clean up.  The winners took some “energy” shots before following the losing team up the trail.  We made it back to “civilization” and had to pass through another tunnel.  Now we went through this same passage, by the Golden Gate Bridge, to get to the beach, and chanted our way through it the first time. Coming back, we decided to deafen any poor soul that wanted to occupy the tunnel at that time.  “GO!!  RUCK!!”  echoed through the chamber until it became an indistinguishable and crushing din.  We exited and were the center of attention.  Tourists took our pictures and we posed like sandy rock-stars!

It should be mentioned that the two unfortunate souls tasked with leading this unruly mass, were two of the finest individuals I have ever met.  The Team Leader was a teenage boy who was set to go to Ranger School he said; he certainly looked the part and had a voice to match.  The Assistant Team Leader was a ‘seemingly’ shy 16 year old girl, who managed to handle a group that would make R. Lee Ermey weep like a child!  There was some yelling and a little disorganization, but the Cadre solved that by giving us one last dip in the sea.  After that we were a well oiled, encouragement spewing machine.  Cadre said Indian Sprints; we cheered every person going up the line.  And then I saw something special.

One of our classmates was a marine who had lost his leg.  I saw him at the start but didn’t really notice him again until the Indian run.  What got my attention was that even though his main prosthetic failed and he resorted to a ‘peg leg’ of sorts, the encouragement he received in the sprints was no more and no less than any other member.  We had all become a team.  There was no excuse to quit, and no reason to feel less accomplished.

We – laughing and boisterous – marched back to the Parade Grounds and received our patches.  The satisfaction I felt was no less than that of my first Challenge.  We made it.  There were no drops.  I made new friends and rejoined old friends.  At 7 hours it was only 1 hour short of a minimum Challenge, but the feeling was so much different.  We were all smiling and that’s what Light is all about.