Reflections on the Year Gone By and The Year to Come

First, thank you.

The fact that so many of you read my ramblings is truly humbling and something I am grateful for. While there will always be a few Senior GRT in our midst, it is safe to say that this is a really amazing community to be a part of.

In fact, I can’t stop thinking about what Dan said in his AAR after his first event. He said, “In a time when it often seems like society’s greatest challenges come from an inability to work together, it was tremendously reaffirming to see and feel so concretely that we can attain remarkable feats through collective effort.”

For me, that’s what this community is about. There is a lot that we don’t agree on (like those stupid handles on the bottom of the Rucker). But, when we come together, we do some pretty cool stuff.

Ok, now that all that sentimental stuff is out of the way, let’s talk about 2018.

Most Read Articles of 2018

You all read a lot of stuff this year. Here’s what rose to the top.

1. Best Shoes for Rucking – This post dominated the year. In fact, it was read almost twice as much as the #2 article.
2. GR1 Framesheet Upgrade – This was a bit of a surprise to me when I pulled the stats just now.
3. What to Wear to a GORUCK event – This was in last years list and is usually well read.
4. GORUCK Selection Finishers – This post kind of blew up this year. What do you think, will we add any names in 2019?
5. Best Socks for GORUCK – You people love your socks.
6. Top 10 Training Tips for GORUCK – I was happy to see this post in the top ten this year. I like it and think it is helpful.
7. Five tips to Crush the GORUCK Star Course – Many thanks to Christian Griffith for contributing this gem.
8. CrossFitter does a GORUCK – This was a surprise to me. It could have something to do with a CrossFit website I launched during the most recent Open that got a lot of traffic from the CrossFit community.
9. GORUCK Packing List – This makes me chuckle because it is, more or less, just the packing list from GORUCK.
10. GORUCK Packing Video – This was fun to make. I showed exactly what and how I pack out my ruck for an event.

Other Rucking Stuff from 2018

While I didn’t talk too much about it over here, one of the big highlights of my year was acquiring the domain Rucking.com.

I have been eyeing the domain for a long time (since launching ruck.beer) but the owner never wanted to part with it. This year, after about a month or two of negotiations, I finally got the owner to sell it to me and I went to work to build the site.

For me, Ruck.Beer is where I can nerd out about all things GORUCK, Rucking, and tell jokes that only you weirdos will understand.

For Rucking.com, I hope that I can make a contribution to the sport of Rucking. So, the articles over there are much more about rucking itself (not GORUCK events), the clubs, the causes,  and what a great activity rucking is for people of all fitness levels.

And, of course, 2018 is ending with a huge bang and the launch of Monthly Rucking Challenges.

The response to the Rucking Challenges has been so overwhelming. Hundreds of you have signed up and more and more sign up every day. I honestly had no idea if you all would be into it. Apparently, you are 🙂

Which leads me to 2019…

Looking forward to 2019

I am really excited to see how the Monthly Rucking Challenges grows in 2019. I already have a sponsor lined up for February and the prizes are going to be amazing. The challenge is set and not only will it be a challenging ruck, but it will be meaningful.

My heart is excited and heavy when I think about it. It will be a good one.

And, the rest of the year is gonna be great too. You might as well just sign up for the subscription because you’re not gonna want to miss any of these.

Events

In addition to running the Monthly Rucking Challenges, I look forward to doing some events this year. So far I plan on doing:

• GRT Reunion
• Richmond Tough and Light
• DC Star Course 50-Miler
• Another HTL (… well, that’s a long shot at the moment).

Websites and Stuff

I am hoping to get a little more regularity in my posting across Ruck.Beer and Rucking.com in 2019.

In particular, I’m hoping to have more gear reviews on both websites (I have reviews of Recycled Firefighter Rucks, 5.11 Rucks, Brute Force Sandbags all in the queue at the moment. I also got a Grip6 belt for Christmas that I want to let you all know about.) as well as more how-to and “tips” posts.

While I wish I had more funny stuff to write for Ruck.World, those gems just don’t come to me very often. (Any of you smart-asses want to write something for it?)

Oh… yeah… I almost forgot. I am in the middle of a whole new project for the community built entirely around gear. I wish I could tell you more, but it is nowhere near ready to show you. The buildout phase on this one is going to take some time… which is something I don’t have a ton of right now. But, it should be live in January or February if all goes well.

Again, thank you.

Seriously. This is a great community. Thank you for letting me be a part of your 2018.

Now, go sign up for Monthly Rucking Challenges and get your calendar ready for a Rucking great 2019!