Over the course of 13 years in the Fort there have been many Completely Stupid and Utterly Pointless (CSAUP) activities including the Tortoise and Hare, the Sweati Barry, D2D, Hog and Coyote, Palmetto 200 and the Jaeger just to name a few. All of which serve to challenge your pain threshold while also building trust and teamwork amongst men. As stated in Q Source, “completing it together tells the participants something about themselves and each other–that they are men upon whom others may safely rely.”

But the Grandaddy of all CSAUPs that the Fort has participated in is the Blue Ridge Relay. BRR is a 208 mile relay of 36 legs that begins at Grayson Highlands State, VA and finishes in Asheville, NC. Ask anyone who has participated in the past and they will almost always list this as one of the best and most challenging events that have completed. Below are a few additional details:

* Race starts on a Friday morning, September 11th (starting times are staggered and vary from 7am-11am) and ends on Saturday afternoon, September 12th.
* Race is split into 36 predetermined legs of varying distances (2 to 10 miles) and difficulty levels (Easy to Mountain Goat Hard).
* Teams can be a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 12 people. Price for teams of 7-12 runners is $1498.60 and for teams of 4-6 runners is $757
* For a 12-person team, the average total distance is 16.6 miles spread over 3 legs (it’s like running three 10Ks in a day). You can do the math for the average mileage for the other teams sizes. Average is just average though – some legs are longer and some are shorter.
* Teams travel along the race course in vans, picking up and dropping off runners at the beginning and end of each leg. You get to know, and smell, your van-mates very well.

How I participate?

To enhance the fellowship, bring along some newer guys and bond through the training, this year we will be doing a “blind draw” for teams to participate. You are asked to HC and submit your information using this form BRR the Fort. We will accept submissions through 2/1/26. Below are the additional timelines:

* February – Captains are chosen based on the number of HCs received; Payment will be expected based on # of runners and price
* March – training begins
* March – August – training continues with special events including Trout to Trout, mountain runs and trips to Crowders Mountain (more details to follow)
* July 11th – Blind Draw for teams; location TBD
* July 27th – Estimated pace submitted to BRR
* September 11-12 – race occurs

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me via Slack.

This will be one of the best and most challenging events you will do in 2026 so I challenge to you sign up. Lets go!