Apex community member Michael Kearney is the spiritual leader of GORUCK Apex. Kearney said he was looking for a different kind of physical activity. He hates running but loves to be outside and active, especially with a group of like-minded people. Kearney searched and found nothing compelling in Apex. It’s here where he was inspired to take matters into his own hands.
In early summer of 2021, Kearney announced the first GORUCK Apex loop. One person showed up. A week later, there were three. Then there were four. Then 10. Now, it’s about six to 12 people each week. Kearney is looking to grow the group every week and would love to see 20-30 people on a consistent basis.
“If you are someone who likes to strap 40 pounds on your back at 5 a.m., you and I will get along pretty well,” Kearney shared.
GORUCK Apex likes to support local Apex businesses like Wake Zone and the myriad local breweries around town, often making them the launching pad or the final destination. In terms of marketing, they have a social media presence, but Kearney noted their marketing strategy is really about word of mouth.
“We want it to be organic. We aren’t looking for a group of 100,” Kearney said.
The path they walk, or rucking loop, is typically in the three- to six-mile range. There are typically two groups, one that leaves around 5 a.m. and another that departs around the time the first group returns.
“We like to make it interesting, traveling on greenways, using Google Earth and tapping into our knowledge of the area to inform the path we take,” Kearney noted.
To get started, you can use a backpack and fill it with weight (e.g., books, bricks, weights). But, if you are hooked, rucksacks are the safer way to go. They are made for this exercise, so the weight won’t shift or fall out or through the pack.
GORUCK is a company that provides all of the essentials of rucking, and it sponsors and supports rucking clubs all over the country. By Kearney’s estimation, there are over 300 rucking clubs nationwide. GORUCK Apex is now an official member.
Rucking has been around a long time. From the earliest days of humankind, with cavemen likely our earliest ruckers to its most recognizable source today, the military, which leverages rucking during basic training and beyond.
According to the GORUCK website, rucking is to walk with a weighted rucksack (i.e., backpack). Rucking requires strength, endurance, and it builds character. If you want to burn up to three times as many calories as walking, you should ruck instead.
Hiking is rucking in the mountains and urban hiking is simply called rucking. Ruck workouts can be done at any weight. The weight adds resistance training to your back and shoulders, your glutes and legs with every step, resulting in strength gains without the bulk.
Rucking is the foundation of Special Forces training. Green Berets are well versed in carrying heavy rucks through cities, mountains, jungles and deserts.
Kearney doesn’t have military experience but both his father (Air Force) and grandfather (Army Air Corps) served. In addition, Kearney’s father was a police officer. Kearney shared that he has a lot of friends in the New York metropolitan area who are either members of the fire department or the police force. GORUCK Apex is a little bit about saluting men and women in uniform.
When in doubt, start with 20 pounds. The target pace is around 20 minutes per mile. You control the pace, the weight and the distance so you ultimately control the level of difficulty. Rucking is scalable and it improves your posture. If you are like so many others, you stare down at a screen all day. When you put a weight in a backpack, that weight helps to pull your shoulders forward and makes you stand upright. Good posture is foundational to good movement. Rucking helps you do both. If not yet convinced, did you know that running is two to three times harder on your knees than rucking? Avoiding the damage running does to your knees is one of the main reasons people get into rucking.
Another reason people like to ruck is pride. Kearney noted that ruckers feel pride in every step they take. They carry a flag everywhere they ruck and take a photo every time to capture the moment and record the event and to share and to celebrate.
GORUCK Apex is for people who hate running and weightlifting but want some kind of physical outlet in their lives. GORUCK Apex is about getting good people together and meeting at a local coffee house or brewery, sometimes at the crack of dawn and sometimes earlier. GORUCK Apex is about being local, being physical and making a presence in the town. GORUCK Apex is about community.
For Michael Kearney and, no doubt, other members of GORUCK Apex, rucking is worth the weight.
