GORUCK Light : V-day Massacre

This year is going to be a year of many GORUCK events.  Collecting the patches is so enticing!  I want to go on all the adventures, too.

They were hosting 2 Vday Massacre light events in Charlotte.  I was originally signed up for the morning session, but I moved it to the afternoon session when I thought I might be doing a race in the morning.  I ended up not getting to do the race, but that meant that I got to sleep in.

I watched videos of the events going on in different cities, for Vday Massacre, on facebook live.  I started regretting my decision to sign up... the funishment didn't seem so appealing, carrying heavy stuff in the wet and cold in the mud, with misting rain outside, while I was warm inside.

Once I got there, though, I was excited.  Time to turn on my competitive juices and hunger for adventure.  It was my first light.  In the GORUCK arena, I did a Tough (12 hr beat-down overnight) in 2016 and a Constellation (12 hr gentleman's event overnight).  This would be 5 hours, with 10lb instead of 20lb in the ruck, and less heavy stuff to carry. 

 

The mood from the beginning was different.  You get the fun version of the Cadre, who doesn't even require you to call them Cadre - he goes by Garrett, at Lights.  It's about having a good time, at Lights.  I liked it.  The Vday Massacre event was a mix of history and the usual themed event.  It's related to the Moran and Capone rivalry that grew in Chicago after Prohibition, and why Prohibition is bad because it impinges on freedoms, and what happened to Capone.

The welcome party was some sprinting, crab walking... a light and quick say-hello party.

 

I liked how Garrett sprinkled in some random Special Forces lessons learned along the way... first, Building Rapport.  Get to know people, to build their trust, and maintain it.

 

We carried one log as a team, and we called it a "still", since we were about bootlegging.  We went through the town, and went along a greenway sidewalk.  We split up into 6 teams of 4, taking turns on log duty, and on flag and team weight duty, and on road guard duty.  I liked being road guard, because you got to sprint ahead, then protect the road from cars as the team went through.  The "still" was better than usual, because there were others my height or shorter, but it's still hard. 

 

Our point of no return was another park, where we heard more of the story, and completed a task where we dragged our rucks up a hill, low-crawling to the flag.  We learned about Astronomical, Nautical, and Civil twilight, and how twilight plays tricks on your eyes because of the refraction of light.  That's why enemies like to attack then... it's harder for you to shoot back at them then.

On our way back, we learned another lesson.  We weren't sure of how to get back (we had to go back a different way from how we came), and a scouting pair was sent out... but we didn't have a GOTWA plan.  While they were out, Garrett told us about how we should know where they're going, others being taken with them, time planned to be away, what to do if they don't return, actions to take if either group gets hit while we're apart.  They came back, and we found a different way onwards.  

It was a light mood.  I enjoyed just being out, rucking, surrounded by people, meeting people, getting to decompress from usual life.  I like the mood of Lights.

We finished with the end of the history lesson, and then did an obligatory Tunnel of Love for Vday to earn our patches.  Fun times.  About 9.5 miles covered.  It made me want to do more events, even more than I'm already signed up for!