PITTSBURGH MOG MILE HTB 2023

2023 Pittsburgh Mogadishu Mile GORUCK HTB

By: Randy Becker

Don't ever let anyone tell you Pittsburgh is flat. Sure, you see the downtown area and the NFL game coverage and think it's a nice, easy place to walk around. When you get away from the main area, the contours and hills of the surrounding area make themselves known. Quickly. It's home to the steepest street in the USA, so beware when someone says they want you to come to Pittsburgh for a "light ruck".

When GORUCK put the MOG Mile HTB on the schedule for Pittsburgh, I didn't hesitate to sign up. I had been training 2 years earlier for an HTL, but it was moved to Philadelphia and I couldn't make a drive that far. My registration emails were received on November 28th, 2022. I had about 10 months to train.

I had done previous events. A couple Toughs, a few Lights/Basics and a couple Star Courses, including a 50 miler. This was a whole new animal for me. Could I put together distance with strength and stay awake? Let's find out.

I starting rucking a lot. During the Memorial Day Tough in 2022, my left knee started getting very sore by the morning. I had to pull out of the Basic because of it. I wanted to make sure I could strengthen it as much as possible before attempting this. All in all, I rucked about 350 miles with weight starting at 20# and hitting a peak of 65#. I combined this with sandbag carries, workouts and the occasional chopping of wood. Oh, I made sure to incorporate hill training as well. 

I knew preparation was going to be most important. Workouts were one aspect, the other was the clothes, food and medication. Having everything separated and ready to be used at the appropriate times can go a long way to keeping the anxiety down. I had everything packed for each event and everything for between each event set and ready. I watched the Facebook event pages like a hawk to make sure I caught everything the Cadre added to the list. 

The day of the Heavy, I made my way to Pittsburgh early. There was a Steeler game on that Sunday and I wanted to make sure I got a good spot to park and reset between each event. The Gateway Parking garage provided this opportunity and was right next to the start point. 

One of the Steel City Ruck Club leaders, Caitlin, had posted to Facebook for a pre-event gathering at Sly Fox. I went to meet people and get some food in me with enough time to digest before it was go time. Lots of people from out of town, including me, I guess. I'm part of the Steel City Ruck Club group, but I live an hour away, so getting to weekly events is not feasible. Especially with kids. 

After eating, I went back to my car to prepare. Another SCRC member, Kirk, parked in the same garage and moved his vehicle next to mine. We created our own little area to do what we needed to do and lookout for each other.

Heading for the start point, I could feel myself getting nervous. I had been in Toughs, but what was going to fill the other 12 hours? Was I even ready for 24 hours? Could I keep my joints going with the regiment of pain meds I brought? I sat down in the start area with others and starting meeting more people. More of us gathering to experience the fun.

Just before 6pm, we started forming up. Standing in formation, arranging ourselves in alphabetical order and waiting. Soon after, Cadre Barbarossa and LDB showed up. I had LDB as a Cadre before for the LOTR events and this was my first time with Barbarossa. Still, this was a Heavy, so I was outside my comfort zone already.

6pm, admin phase started. Here we go. The usual checklists of who's here and making sure you have everything required. Cadre introductions and then the part of admin I was most nervous about. I have heard this speech from LDB before. "We all have injuries and whatnot. We're not here to make it worse. Who has issues?" This was tough for me as I had to admit to myself that im not in my 20s anymore. My knees and right shoulder are feeling a half a lifetime of sports injuries, a meniscus surgery and wear and tear. Time to be honest. I rose my hand and swallowed my pride. I looked LDB in the eyes and told him. He put his hand on my shoulder and giggled a little and said "you're here with all that?". I didn't know if it was a giggle of "what are you doing here?" or "if you're here, others can get through it as well". 

I don't remember a whole lot of details about the night. We were divided into chalks like the Rangers in Mogadishu. We moved from waypoint to waypoint and presented the information about the 18 soldiers that died in the Battle of Mogadishu. After each soldier, we did a WOD in remembrance. I stuck to my plan of food/water/oral rehydration salts at each waypoint and pain management with medication. Beef jerky and Larabars. Naproxen and Tylenol. Seemed to work most of the night for my knees and shoulders. However, my back was starting to howl at some point.

A couple of waypoint movements, combined with the hero WODs we were doing were starting to take a toll in the darkness. I was headed to a bad place. I started questioning what I was doing, if I could keep going. Seeing some other people drop didn't help. It was a little cold. We were getting rained on. There were some arguments among us during movements. I was in a bad place. I confessed to another participant that I was about to use that quitter cash. However, I told myself, try to make it to the next waypoint. One step at a time. 

Then, came some mercy. We were in a small park doing the hero WODs. I was about to call it. I saw the truck our shadow, Eric, was driving to meet us at different places. I bet he could give me a ride back to my car. $20 may not get me there. About the time I was truly ready to quit, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Some light in the sky. Holy shit, I made it to sunrise. Just hang on a little longer. Then, an announcement from Cadre Barbarossa was a god-send for me. Priorities of work, 30mins. 

30mins with the sun on its way up. It was a real boon for me. A huge morale boost. I saw the sun creeping higher and that jolt woke me up. I made it through the night. I had previously experienced that feeling of boost from the sun during Toughs, but still questioned if it worked. It did that morning. I felt re-energized. My back still hurt, but with the sun coming out, it receded a bit. I was able to refocus on the tasks ahead.

With a new sense of self and taking some inventory, I was ready to move on to the next waypoints. Turns out, the next stop would be fun and a blast from the past for me. The Cadre directed us on our way and we eventually entered the parking lot for a paintball park. Wow, I haven't played paintball in 20 years. This is going to hurt a little. This is why LDB added a pair of pants and a long sleeve shirt to the packing list. Most followed that request. A couple didn't. 

We were going to play some scenario paintball. First was a simulation of the battle of Mogadishu. Each team had the same odds. 30 vs 10. Each team had to be in the breach. Each team experienced the chaos. Each team got pelted with paintballs. Welts on legs, arms, backs, necks, heads, etc. A huge adrenaline rush. After that was a "defend the fort" type scenario. Each team took turns defending and attacking. It was a rush and a welcome break from WODs and coupon carries.

After a few hours, it was time to get on the road again. Now, a nice shade of neon yellow/green, we headed out. These details are also lost to me, but we made our way to one last place to do the last hero WODs and then onto the Endex. Once we got to where we could see the Fort Pitt Bridge, I tried to keep up and help with the 120#, water-filled bag as much as possible. The combination of Tylenol and Naproxen were really kicking in and I did OK carrying the bag.

Once at the Endex for the Heavy, I had a huge sigh of relief. I made it. I beat the night. I didn't make it harder for anyone, that I know of. I didn't get injured. I did what I had to do. Modified exercises to make sure I didn't aggravate anything and tried to do my best for my team mates.

During the patching, it was all smiles from everyone. Onlookers from the street staring, per usual. I got my first Heavy patch, finally. I felt pretty emotional in that moment. I trained, I made it through. It was time to celebrate. For about 30 min, it was bliss. Then came the reality that it was time to prepare for the Tough.

I headed back to my car to eat, re-tool and try to sleep. Once back at the car, it was changing out the ruck for what was required for the Tough, changing clothes and getting food and water. I relaxed for about an hour and then tried to get some sleep in the car. I made sure to set my alarm to wake me up an hour before the Tough was scheduled to start and made sure the alarm was loud. Turns out, I didn't need it. I could only get about 20mins, but it did seem to give me some sort of recharge. Now, it was final preps and heading to the start point for the Tough.

I've done a couple Toughs. My first event was the Ramadi Tough with Cadre Whiskey Mike in 2019. 12hrs or so, carry coupons, do workouts, learn a little bit. The MOG Mile Tough was pretty similar, as I remember, but with a difference. We started off the same with the admin phase, divided up into chalks again and did a little PT before reciting the Ranger Creed. After doing it loudly and correctly, we headed out. 

Tonight, the Cadre had some new knowledge for us as the theme was Ranger Training. We learned a little about dynamic room entry from Barbarossa and then had class about combat medical care from LDB. Everyone who did the Heavy, from what I saw, was able to keep their eyes open for Barbarossa, but sitting and listening to LDB, I could see eyelids getting heavy. His class was by no means boring, there was a lot to learn about combat dressing and tourniquet use. But, those of us who had been up for 24hrs already were having to fight sleep. 

Then, the cold was creeping in. I don't think a lot of us were prepared for how cold it got that night. Looking back after the Tough, it had gotten down to 44*. However, with that 10-12mph wind coming right off the river next to us, it had to be around the mid-30s. People were shivering and teeth were chattering. LDB asked about our personal first aid kits. I opened mine up to check out the contents that I had packed and found that I had packed a lighter. If nothing else, I could start a fire, if needed. I figured I could use the lighter to get a little warmth, but when I sparked it, I realized all the fluid had leaked out and it was dead. That was a kick in the gut. No repreave for me. Oh well, everyone else was miserable, too. Just make it to the dawn.

After the classes, we set out again and eventually made our way uphill. We ending up at the top of some neighborhood and the wind was not letting up. Since we were higher in elevation, we were more exposed. We heard more about the Rangers and how they trained and their stories throughout the night. We had been moving slow, but steady. We missed most of the time hacks during both the Heavy and Tough and had to do some bonus fun. 2 burpees for every minute we were late. We did a lot. Too many to count.

At one of the later waypoints, a park, we had some good living. During the night, we had to keep a low profile, so we recited the Ranger Creed in a low voice. Since it was now daylight, we recited the Ranger Creed loudly. It was time to move again.

Throughout the night, each team had its own designated coupons. For some reason, at this point, we just couldn't get them separated and get moving. That prompted some extra special love from LDB. It was kind of amazing to me how that switch flipped from nice-ish Cadre, to "un-fuck yourself, now" Cadre. 40+ burpees and then a sense of urgency to get our shit together and finish this. One last waypoint and then on to the Endex.

The patching after the Tough was a little surreal. When the Cadre handed it to me, I thought to myself "Do I really have just one Basic left to complete this weekend?" At that point it was between 35-36hrs of event with 20 minutes of sleep. My food and medication plan worked a little better for the Tough, so I felt OK. Once again, 30 mins of bliss and then back to the car for resupply and preparation.  

The time between the Tough and Basic was pretty much the same as between the Heavy and Tough. Get some new clothes, get food and water and make sure you got everything in your ruck. There were no special items or instructions for the Basic, so I tried to sleep. Again, only got about 20mins while making sure my alarm was set and was loud. Time came and went and it was now the last event for the weekend.

Heading toward the start point for the Basic, the sun was shining, but it was cold and windy. Started this one with 3 layers up top and don't remember taking anything off the entire event. Admin phase, dividing into chalks and then some starting PT and we were off. This time, the theme was The Battle of Mogadishu.

The first TL and ATL had radios. This was to simulate the situation for when the Blackhawks were shot down and the convoy trying to get to them. Cadre LDB was the command and control and was relaying directions to the TL to lead us through downtown Pittsburgh to find the first downed Blackhawk. It was chaos once again. Not only did we simulate the mess of directions, we had to contend with actual downtown traffic and people while trying to stay safe through the streets and keep moving. We eventually made it to the rally point and then had a small problem to deal with.

There are a few green spaces downtown. They are scattered throughout and provide some color in a concrete jungle. We arrived to the area and started filing into the grass. I didn't notice, but there was a security guard looking frazzled at the sight of us. Then, a man in a suit with an earpiece appeared and addressed LDB. Turns out there was some foreign dignitary engaged in some high level negotiations in the federal building across the street. Some people said they saw a couple of blacked-out Suburbans parked nearby and everyone put 2 and 2 together. Needless to say, we unassed ourselves pretty quickly to move out of that area. We moved a block up and were out of their zone. No harm, no foul and we continued on learning about the battle. 

The next movement was further away from downtown to a field to hear more about the battle and some of the various roles played by different soldiers. Right before the field, we had reports of casualties, so people and their rucks had to be carried the last quarter mile or so. 

After the lesson, we were able to ditch the coupons because we had to run our own MOG Mile. Once time started, we had to hump our ruck just under a mile with a 15min time hack. I couldn't really run with a ruck and my knees, so I shuffled as fast as I could. I was near the back, but I knew I was fast enough to make the time. We made it under 14mins. I was relieved. I didn't want to be the one who made us fail. Tylenol and Naproxen.

After the Mile, we headed to the Endex. It was another mile or so, and we had to go back through downtown, but it was finally the light at the end of the tunnel. I was about to get the HTB done. It was still light out, but the sun was definitely starting to go down and the warmth slowly going away. We made it to the endex and formed one last time. 

Getting the Basic patch and then the HTB Bolts was the culmination of 10 months of training. All those miles rucked on the road. All those workouts. All the sandbag carries. All the hill work. For 4 2x3 patches. But it was more than that. It was the personal interactions, meeting new people, sweating and working together. Dark comedy in the wee hours of the morning. Everyone moving forward together. Worth it. 

During the patching, I recieved something I wondered if I would ever get. A Cadre patch. Almost all of my events have been in Pittsburgh save for the 50mi Star Course in Cincinnati. I feel guilty traveling too far and leaving my wife with the kids. She reassures me that it's OK and that I deserve that time for myself, but I can't do it. Maybe when they're older. So, whoever comes to Pittsburgh, thats my Cadre.

It just so happens that between the LOTR events and these MOG Mile events, I earned a Cadre LDB 5 event patch. This one meant a little more to me. For those that don't know, LDB patch has a Centurion on it. I paraphrase his explaination, but signifies those Roman citizens that became leaders in the Roman army. It means that those who have done 5 or more events with him are expected to be leaders during events. Quite the field promotion. 

All in all, there were 28 of us who earned our first bolts that weekend. People from all over. Because of the decrease in Heavy events, there were less chances. I am grateful that GORUCK had an HTB weekend in Pittsburgh. I earned my bolts, got a Cadre patch, earned the three levels of SCRC patches and met some damn fine people over the course of 48 hours. 

I had my patches and now had to decide whether to try to drive home or find a place for the night. I had little sleep in the last two days, but the sun was still up a little and I had a boost from the completion of the events. I was feeling pretty good. I decided to head out.

That night, I made it home. It was only about and hour drive, but I had gotten 40 minutes of sleep in 48 hours. I was still buzzing. I made it home and lasted just long enough to get food and say goodnight to the kids before I crashed. Hard. Almost as soon as my head hit a pillow, I was out. 

The next couple days, I slept pretty well at night. I had dreams about rucking and talked in my sleep. I was sore, but it was more muscle exhaustion than DOMS. I took a week to recover, making sure I rehydrated and ate enough. I placed the patches on my patch board and went about cleaning clothes and gear. 

Memories fade, but they seem to be brought back, even if slightly, by looking at the patches. I look forward to making more memories and seeing people taking on new challenges. I hope my experience has given some encouragement to those on the fence about trying a longer event. Train hard and remember, it's not about you, it's about being a good teammate. Good luck.