Back in April, a team of nine of our Security Forces Defenders got together to hike the Race to Robie Creek Half Marathon here in Boise, Idaho. I hiked it last year with a fellow cop as a ruck, and this year I motivated (read: suckered) eight more to join me for the fun.
One of our Master Sergeants designed and ordered team shirts for us (thank you!). They were awesome! We all decided to go with wearing either our duty flak vest or a ruck for this event. Our rucks last year were pretty darn heavy so we didn't want to set ourselves up for that kind of pain again this year--we wanted to have FUN! I also didn't want to put any any crazy time or pressure expectations on us--we just wanted to get together for a hike and enjoy some time outside of work together.
The weather was almost perfect that day. It was sunny and warm at the start, and we knew we'd be gaining over 2000 feet of elevation so we were prepped for cooler, possibly rainy temps at the top (spoiler alert: it hailed and was crazy).
I saw one of my gung-ho running friends at the start. She and I have been running races together for years. She's fast as lighting these days--I can't keep up with her anymore!
At high noon, we started off up the hill. The first 8.5 miles of the course is solid uphill, and I have to be honest... if you're just hiking it and not carrying a 40-lb ruck like we did last year AND if you're not running it, it's really not so bad. After having a terrible experience running it several years ago and then gutting it out on the ruck last year, the standard weighted hike really was quite enjoyable. Our guys all did great and we mostly just kept a quick walking/hiking pace for the duration of the uphill portion.
We all stayed together the whole time. Team RWB Boise loaned us their flag, and we switched off who carried it each mile. I felt like that really brought us together and made it feel like a team effort.
These two girls below, V & L. They were CHAMPIONS. They set our pace the entire time and had they not been slowed down by the rest of us, they'd have dominated Robie with or without their vests on. What MOTIVATORS!
I literally love my job SO MUCH and to have the opportunity to combine my love of running and hiking together with my Security Forces colleagues was absolutely such a fun way to spend the day.
In the picture below, we're about to crest the top of the 8.5-mile uphill, the Temptation Station, and begin our descent downwards. I'm so proud of this group of people!
Coming over the top of the hill and heading down into the descent, we traveled up the foothills into the mountains and forest. It was like the weather totally changed on the backside. There was snow on the ground, it got cold, and we knew a storm was starting to roll in.
The downhill portion, as we all agreed, was much harder than the uphill. It's pretty steep, so walking is almost uncomfortable on your hips and knees--it's like you HAVE to jog. We all took an easy shuffle/jog to get down the hill in an attempt to beat 4 hours on the clock. Last year, my colleague and I finished in 4 hours, 40 minutes. I thought it would be pretty darn cool to come in under 4 hours!
As we crossed the line together, whooping with joy that it was over and a huge sense of pride for accomplishing the ruck together, we didn't even care about the time--we were just happy to be done! We ended up finishing the race in 4:06. Absolutely killer!
It was a lot of fun and it was something totally out of the comfort zone of most of the guys who did it. We feel like it brought us together, was something pretty badass that we could all say we did, and it was a heck-of-a-fun way to spend our Saturday afternoon.
The after party was great. We sipped on some cold brews and ate some food before getting absolutely hailed and stormed out. We all sheltered under a picnic area with about 60 other runners and attempted to wait the storm out. 45-long minutes later, it abated and by then we were freezing cold and wet! It wasn't the most fun way to end the day, but we laughed about it the entire bus ride home.
I'm very grateful for this team of guys & gals who gutted it out with me on the Robie Creek hill. They're a big bunch of warriors, and it was so cool to be able to capture this experience with all nine of us there, pushing out those 13 miles with Old Glory together. I'm looking forward to hopefully doubling our numbers and coming back again to hike it all over again next year!
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