Any mammoth participants on here?

[Alchwit]

I've been reading about the competition. Any participants on here that can shed some insight on how to prep for it?

 

[Kwait40]

I was able to compete in 2021 and 2022. Training for it depends on what you want to do while you're there. It's really not too hard to be ready for it if all you want to do is make time. I'm not sure if they changed the time requirements this year or not but the past two years it was 16 min per mile. Training once or twice a week at a 14 min pace with slightly more weight than you plan to have for the competition will get you there. Assuming you have a decent general fitness. The average ruck distance for 2022 competition was 2.7 miles but it was pretty variable with 4 of the 10 rucks being less than 1 mile and the last one being 7 miles.

If you want to be the first team in your squad to each stage, that will require a little more work. My teammate and I the first year decided that since we couldn't hit a target on the range, we would win the rucks (not that this will get you anything but self satisfaction). This requires getting out hard and keeping it for awhile.

I can post my entire training schedule if you're really interested but looking back at my training for 2022 I did 37 rucks over a 6 month period (I tried to train the most in Nov). So in each month I rucked once or twice a week with a 65 lb pack. My average distance was 3.1 miles at an 11:04 min/mile pace. I usually tried to "run" the first mile as fast as I could, trying to get keep my pace at 9 mins or below then slow it down and walk at a good pace for the remainder of the session. My partner and I would always jog the down hill portions which helps keep a good pace. I did intermingle about 25 treadmill sessions in there as well trying to keep up my general fitness from July through December. I would recommend putting on a few high mile days (6 miles or more) to get ready for that last ruck of the competition. My training allowed me to easily finish the competition.

One side note - My partner did train a lot starting in July and by the time October rolled around he was getting pretty burnt out and started to worry about injuries from training too much.

 

[6fatrat]

Never heard of it.

 

[sable tireur]

For those who prefer watching videos here is the 2022 version:



This is the U.S. Army discussion:

https://www.army.mil/article/253265/keeps_getting_better_sniper_challenge_returns_to_fort_gordon

It's a team event covering 3 days with miles of walking/running between shooting tasks.

Enjoy!

 

[BillLarson]

Now that looks like fun.....

 

[Alchwit]

I was able to compete in 2021 and 2022. Training for it depends on what you want to do while you're there. It's really not too hard to be ready for it if all you want to do is make time. I'm not sure if they changed the time requirements this year or not but the past two years it was 16 min per mile. Training once or twice a week at a 14 min pace with slightly more weight than you plan to have for the competition will get you there. Assuming you have a decent general fitness. The average ruck distance for 2022 competition was 2.7 miles but it was pretty variable with 4 of the 10 rucks being less than 1 mile and the last one being 7 miles.

If you want to be the first team in your squad to each stage, that will require a little more work. My teammate and I the first year decided that since we couldn't hit a target on the range, we would win the rucks (not that this will get you anything but self satisfaction). This requires getting out hard and keeping it for awhile.

I can post my entire training schedule if you're really interested but looking back at my training for 2022 I did 37 rucks over a 6 month period (I tried to train the most in Nov). So in each month I rucked once or twice a week with a 65 lb pack. My average distance was 3.1 miles at an 11:04 min/mile pace. I usually tried to "run" the first mile as fast as I could, trying to get keep my pace at 9 mins or below then slow it down and walk at a good pace for the remainder of the session. My partner and I would always jog the down hill portions which helps keep a good pace. I did intermingle about 25 treadmill sessions in there as well trying to keep up my general fitness from July through December. I would recommend putting on a few high mile days (6 miles or more) to get ready for that last ruck of the competition. My training allowed me to easily finish the competition.

One side note - My partner did train a lot starting in July and by the time October rolled around he was getting pretty burnt out and started to worry about injuries from training too much.

Thanks for the info! I did find some posts on Reddit and will start there. Will def reach out for your regiment when I'm ready to step it up a notch.

 

[Wildstreak]

I was able to compete in 2021 and 2022. Training for it depends on what you want to do while you're there. It's really not too hard to be ready for it if all you want to do is make time. I'm not sure if they changed the time requirements this year or not but the past two years it was 16 min per mile. Training once or twice a week at a 14 min pace with slightly more weight than you plan to have for the competition will get you there. Assuming you have a decent general fitness. The average ruck distance for 2022 competition was 2.7 miles but it was pretty variable with 4 of the 10 rucks being less than 1 mile and the last one being 7 miles.

If you want to be the first team in your squad to each stage, that will require a little more work. My teammate and I the first year decided that since we couldn't hit a target on the range, we would win the rucks (not that this will get you anything but self satisfaction). This requires getting out hard and keeping it for awhile.

I can post my entire training schedule if you're really interested but looking back at my training for 2022 I did 37 rucks over a 6 month period (I tried to train the most in Nov). So in each month I rucked once or twice a week with a 65 lb pack. My average distance was 3.1 miles at an 11:04 min/mile pace. I usually tried to "run" the first mile as fast as I could, trying to get keep my pace at 9 mins or below then slow it down and walk at a good pace for the remainder of the session. My partner and I would always jog the down hill portions which helps keep a good pace. I did intermingle about 25 treadmill sessions in there as well trying to keep up my general fitness from July through December. I would recommend putting on a few high mile days (6 miles or more) to get ready for that last ruck of the competition. My training allowed me to easily finish the competition.

One side note - My partner did train a lot starting in July and by the time October rolled around he was getting pretty burnt out and started to worry about injuries from training too much.

I've done Ironman twice and ran several full marathons. That's pretty dang impressive if you're running a mile under 9 minutes and averaging 11:04 with a 65 pound pack. Nice.