Lift your rucks up and hold them over your head.  Let’s take a moment to understand what we are here for today.

Yesterday I attended the celebration of life for York County Sheriff’s Duty Mike Doty.  I heard story after story about a man who took his work, family and friends with an equal level of seriousness.  This seriousness was driven by a passion to help people.  Whether it was a complete stranger, a family member, or a friend he was there without question and, as was pointed out, without a complaint.

One story told by his pastor was how he liked to look good.  I can tell you first hand, this is true, as I remember the day I met him in what I think was the winter of 2007.

My brother in law joined the Fort Mill Police Department in 2007 and two of the first friends he made were twin brother Chris and Mike Doty.  They were both intentional about welcoming him into the police family.  I quickly learned just how blurry the lines become between the PD, Sheriff’s Office, and the Highway Patrol.  This was primarily from what I witnessed in the actions of Mike and Chris Doty.  I hung out a fair amount with Chris, but did not have the opportunity to get to know Mike largely due to the shift he worked.  However, I remember the day I met Mike when he showed up to a small party I was attending with my brother in law and Chris.  Mike was on duty so he was in uniform and it being the winter he had on a beanie.  I specifically remember him being happy with his beanie because as he said it, “it matched the color of the uniform.”  I didn’t know why I remembered that tiny detail until yesterday.

This tiny detail is an example of how Mike approached everything.  Most of us would have simply grabbed a black beanie and been happy with warm ears, but not Mike.  He took things that extra mile.  This clearly carried forward into the impact he had on our community.  His intense passion for stopping underage drinking and drug abuse was a topic I heard more than once yesterday and have read about in news reports.  One specific example shared was a story shared by York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson about Mike’s focus on the opioid crisis we have today.  Again, not doing anything halfway, Mike initiated the York County Narcan program which trains officers to recognize opioid overdoses and take measures to reverse the effects.

I shared these thoughts with the PAX at the beginning of the workout all the while holding our rucks over our heads.  The focus for day is Mike Doty and like Mike we would not do anything halfway.  We would do reps based on numbers in Mike’s life and we would do them with an attention to detail and in good form.

With the rucks still over our head we would start where Mike’s life began.  Mike and Chris Doty were born on February 2, 1980. 

Birth 2/2/1980

• 2 Overhead Squats
• 2 Ruck Thrusters
• 19 Merkins
• 80 Single Count Flutter Kicks 

12 Years of Service & 37 Years of Life

Next we focused on the years in Mike’s life that were the source of the stories and the man Mike was.  Mike lived a full, impactful 37 years and gave 12 years of service to the Sheriff’s Office.  To honor these years, we covered the entire parking lot in front of Harris Teeter with a fast paced burn for 30 minutes.  For the run, we carried our rucks either with straps on our chest, by the handles, or if you are Rad, over your head since we were apparently lacking in shoulder work.

• 12 Man Makers
• Run 100 Yards (Carry Ruck)
• 37 Ruck Swings
• Run 100 Yards (Carry Ruck)
• 12 Squats
• Run 100 Yards (Carry Ruck)
• 37 Bent Over Rows
• Run 100 Yards (Carry Ruck)
• 12 Merkins
• Run 100 Yards (Carry Ruck)
• 37 Ruck Curls

Speed Ruck back to the start and complete the series a second time.

At this point we were all completely smoked, but not done.  We then turned to the day that the people of York County will not forget.  The day that as tragic, anger and sadness inducing as it was, also brought a ton of beauty to our region.  Detective Mike Doty’s passing was the birth of a showing of support for our first responders that many of us have not seen in some time.  It comes in the wake of a treatment towards our officers that simply does not line up with the appreciation those that put their lives on the line deserve.

End of Watch 1/17/2018

• 1 Bear Crawl (100yds)
• 17 Merkins
• 20 Overhead Presses
• 18 Squats

Lastly we concluded by recognizing Detective Mike Doty’s badge number. I really wish we had a full hour, because to do this justice we needed to do 809 reps of something.  However, given we only had three minutes left we did the following.

Badge number 809

• 80 Flutter Kicks with the ruck over head
• 9 LBCs with the ruck over head

Thank you to the PAX who posted today for giving it everything you had!  We all went into this knowing that a 45 minute workout would never live up the level of respect we have or the tribute that we would truly love to pay; which is why everyone was crawling toward the end.  It was HARD but it should be when you attempt to honor a man like Detective Mike Doty.

We will continue to lift up the Doty family in our prayers.  We also continue to pray for the quick recovery of Sergeant Randy Clinton, Sergeant Buddy Brown, and Officer Kyle Cummings.  May the Lord watch over our first responders and keep them safe as they do daily for us.  Thank you to all of you for what you do daily and know that the men of F3 Back the Blue!