Deep Deeping in the Deepest of Deeps at the Deep

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I enjoy Q’ing during a CSAUP, it makes me try and push the PAX as hard as the CSAUP would be, but I have to cram it into an hour 🙂

After a disclaimer, I let the PAX know that I had ZERO idea what we would be doing. That brought some groans from Nemo and Wolverine who know me well hehehe

So we started with a mosey that ended up being a warm up run around the whole lot using just about every part of the body already. The real warm up was

SSH x 23 IC
Imperial Low Squat Walker x 13 IC
Then we did something that I think would be a good rinse and repeat as you increase the reps

10 Mountain Climbers
10 Merkins
10 Peter Parkers
Right arm high
10 Nolan Ryans, end in reverse plank
10 crab cakes
10 dips
Left arm high
10 Nolan Ryans, end in regular plank

we moseyed over and found a nice wall to sit on by the right side of the school
arms up for a count
toes up for a count
Balls to the Wall for 10 shoulder taps

sit on the wall while waiting for every PAX to do 5 burpees

Balls to the Wall for 5 push ups

We then ran down the sidewalk in front of the school and did 5 dips on every bench
Ran back and did 5 derkins on the benches

This landed us in front of a side door to the school so we lunged to the door and back

We then got to mosey over to the football field across the street for some “I’m Up, he sees me, I’m down” over 100 yards
2 Kraken Burpees then repeat back down the field

Ran back to the playground for one of my favorite Doras – Ski abs, dips, pull ups. We did one round of this because of time.

Then we did 2 minutes AMRAP of something new I am calling the beached whale ( verbal diarrhea run required to learn )

I have been waiting for months to do this next item, but it got pushed back because of the hurricane and I have had to watch it several times in the car rider line at school and long for this day.

The giant hill on the backside of the football field is super intimidating. So we bear crawled down and back up!!!

Moseyed back to CoT for 5 8-count bodybuilders OYO

CoT Annoucements
we couldn’t really think of anything so READ YOUR NEWSLETTER
Prayers for the Ragnar PAX continuing to run through the day and Wolverine’s family member finishing chemo and waiting for next steps

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Run, run, run. Do some things. And then run some more. Grass is wet.

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The Thang:

 

Mosey up Munn Street to the other side of the school.

A few warm up exercises in the parking lot.

Partner up for accountability and run the LARGE half circle stopping three times to do 10 burpees, 20 merkins, 40 lbcs at each stop.

The complaining..errr…mumblechatter started.

Nice soft grass was found on the lacrosse field along with 2 tires.  Two groups lined up.  One line ran carrying the smaller tire while the other line rolled the tractor tire the length of the field.  The remaining Pax did a series of exercises until their turn.

Complaining.

A nice lil mosey o a wall for some sits and BTTW.

Another run and then 150 calf raises (50 regular/50 toes in/50 toes out)

Lots of complaining.

Ran back to COT for a quick round of Mary.

The End.

My message was short but hopefully is remembered when life happens – there is opportunity in change.  Look for the good side and embrace what that can mean for you.

As always an honor to lead the men of The Fort, esp on the day we honored Dark Visor who passed away yesterday in Alpharetta at a workout.

Until next time….

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Pre-Blast: The Fort Region 2018 Christmas Party

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  • QIC: Anchorman, Cake Boss, Old Bay, Royale, Gecko
  • When: 12/01/2018
  • Posted In: Pre-Blast, The Fort

2ND F….. AKA FELLOWSHIP TO CELEBRATE THE YEAR AND BLESSINGS.
The Thang:

Meet up at Regal Manor Clubhouse for a diet beatdown at 6:30 pm

Warmup with some meetin’ and greetin’.

Mosey to the buffet line for catered fine foods (menu in works). Partner carry plate to table and fellowship.

3 hrs of Live Music  delivering the hits. Mumble chatter welcome.

Moleskin:

F3 is awesome and it makes us all better. We have such and awesome community of PAX and so many new men, that we need to come together and celebrate. 2nd ‘F’ is Fellowship. That means hanging together, enjoying conversation and having a good time. Make every effort to be part of events like this. Because #ISI.

Details:

Place: Regal Manor Clubhouse 549 Starlight Drive Fort Mill, SC 29715
Date: Saturday December 1st
Time: 6:30pm-10:30pm
Cost: $30/person——->$35 after 11/24
Includes: Facility, Tables/Chairs, Food, Music
Menu:
Smoked Beef Tenderloin
Mashed Potato Bar
Spring mix salad
Green Beans
Rolls
Sweet Tea
Fruit Infused Water

BYOB – No bar this year…responsible for own drinks

  • CONTEST FOR PRIZES!!!!
    1. Ugly Sweater Contest – voted by all in attendance awarded after dinner
    2. Dessert Contest – Voted by ballot and awarded after dinner (cookies, cakes, pies)

Dress: Nice Casual or crush velvet red suit

Instructions – RSVP is required, so please follow these steps:

  1. Sign up using this form.
  2. Pay ($60/couple or $30/person) via this PayPal page.
  3. Bring to the party the following school supplies as a donation to Foundation of Fort Mill Schools for local families in need. Program called “Classroom Ready”
    1. Graph paper
    2. Composition Notebooks
    3. Back Packs: Eastport at Walmart is $15-$18
    4. Plastic Folders with pockets and brads
    5. Binders: 2 inch or 1.5 inch
    6. Expo Dry-Erase Markers
    7. Other items like ear buds and calculators (graphic, scientific or basic) are always requested by students, too, but we do not have enough of these to include them in our backpacks.

Questions? Contact Cake Boss or Anchorman

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13

Conveyor Belt of Pain

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10 HIMs arrived to  see silhouettes of YHC’s untold horror in the backdrop of gloom at The Hive. After disclaiming that YHC is terrible at counting before 0800 the regular disclaimer was administered.

Things started out normal with some SSH to get the blood moving.  It’s really a great way to make the PAX feel like a regular workout is on the horizon.  Then we moved into a wide leg stance (sorta sumo) and dropped our six’s close to the pavement to get the hips opened up. Moving from one leg to the other, we stretched out the hamstrings and other muscles some people tend to forget exist. From there, we inched our feet out as close to a full split** as each man could handle, put our fingertips on the ground, and did fingertip pushups.
**except Band Camp, who surprised everyone in a full split without making a face

From there we went to the Conveyor Belt across the parking lot.  Each station had two parking slots between them and each exercise was given a brief demo before we dropped our bells at various stations and jumped on board.  The slots were:

  1. KB Swings (40 and a 30 were available)
  2. Box jumps (30x24x20)
  3. 3/4″x72″ Iron Staff – wrist rotations (I looked this up, pronation and supination of the wrists)
    1. Holding the staff straight forward, rotate to the left and right
    2. The work experienced with these is in hand placement, speed of rotation, and stopping momentum
  4. 10lb Training  Mace – barbarian swings
    1. Swing the mace to align it with the chest at shoulder height to the left and right, when the arm close to the ball crosses the body, it’s on the bottom.  When it’s on its own side, the top
  5. 3/4″x72″ Iron Staff – tip ups
    1. Hold the staff vertically with forearm horizontal
    2. let the staff fall down to horizontal, using only forearms, pull it back to vertical (mostly the first two fingers)
    3. Alternatively, with arm hanging, adjust the staff so that the long end is behind you and use only forearm muscles to bring it back to vertical (mostly the last two fingers)
  6. Tricep Extensions with that 40 pounder
  7. BB bag – ~14lbs of steel BBs in a 9×9 canvas bag
    1. hold the bag with one arm at eye level as far away as you can from your body, gripping it by its side with fingertips (so you’re looking at a square), the opposite hand is at your side.
    2. Let go of the bag and as you pull that hand down to rest, the other snaps up to grab the falling bag, again, with fingertips, raising it back into position.  There should be some hang time.
    3. Alternate hands, trying to keep the bag floating in the air with a bit of hang time
  8. Curls – 25lb bell
  9. Squats
  10. “Pick your own Mary” with a 25lb bell (YHC didn’t have enough slots for everyone, so this one came from the aether)
  11. Same as above, but disappears after a few seconds, explanation below

Timing:
There is always a traveling PAX. The PAX starting at station 11 did a small amount of Mary, then high-tailed it for station 1, taking over that station (at this time station 11 disappeared). The displaced PAX from 1 then bear crawled over two parking spaces to 2, relieving that PAX of that station, who would bear crawl to 3.  This continued until station 10 ran back to station one.

After a full circle of fun, everyone took a nice, restful run across the parking lot, and picked up where they left off.

This went on with everyone working together in harmony until there was about 2 minutes left in the workout and we were one station short of a full circuit.

Everyone circled up by the gear, YHC ran to grab a phone (pulling something in my calf halfway there…) and ended with COT.

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Reunion Tour @ The Tomahawk

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If we go back to Summer 2017… I was EH’d to The Tomahawk by Dark Helmet and Bird Cage. It happened while helping Sharknado move in just down the street. My interest was peaked, so I gave it a try. It was awesome, but it was PAINFUL. CSPAN brought it heavy and it was in that moment I knew F3 was legit. What had me most aghast was the fact that guys two decades older than I were lapping me in a work out that I deemed “up my alley.” On top of that, these men had a bond I haven’t had since moving to the area, and they do their best to follow God. I wanted to be hooked, but work was just too much at the time to HC to F3. Also… Skate or Die was there too.

Fast forward to Summer 2018, I changed positions in my company and was excited to join my now brothers in the gloom. Been posting a bunch, and am super happy to be a part of this high impact community. Polaroid offered me the opportunity to lead at my original AO, and I couldn’t turn it down. Additionally… what other AO has loud music every week?! 

I was just finishing prep of the AO when J Cruise pulled up in his vintage Land Cruiser. I’m sure that thing looks awfully nice in the sunlight. Kielbasa and Skate or Die right behind him. The clock struck 5:15, and I said the disclaimer. We took a short mosey while Pin Up and Small World rolled in. Then we circled up.

COP

Tappy Taps x 10 (These may be a regularly occurring thing… be warned.)

Plank

Shoulder Taps x 10

Parker Peters x 10

SSH x 25

Al Gore Night Clubs x 20

Groucho Walks x 10

Heart rates were up, so we headed toward the main entrance to partake of the Octagon! I had nine workouts, eight surrounding one. The plan was to start at random locations, and once you complete your station you rotate counterclockwise. After each outer workout you would cycle to the middle for something that my shoulders are now feeling much more than I did this morning… figure 8’s with the kettlebell between your legs. Woof.

Figure 8 x 30

Solo Tesh x 3 Each Arm (this, too, should also be a thing)

Figure 8 x 30

Goblet Squats x 30

Figure 8 x 30

Skull Crushers x 20

Figure 8 x 30

Lunge Walks x 15 each leg, holding weight in one arm out and back

Figure 8 x 30

Bent Over Rows x 15 each arm

Figure 8 x 30

KB Swing x 20

Figure 8 x 30

Curls x 20

Figure 8 x 30

Calf Raises x 50

Figure 8 x 30

Repeat as Time Permits

We made it about 1.4 times around.

Mosey to wall

People’s Chair w/ Pass the Dutchie – down and back four times x 2 with the heaviest weight of the day. 

Mary

Crunchy Frog x 11

Flutter w/Weight x 20

Hello Dolly’s w/Weight x 20

LBC’s x 30

Plank until time was up

I asked the men what they liked most about F3 while we planked, and got some good answers.

Accountability

Accountability

Misery

Its the closest thing to my military experience

The leadership cultivation and how it drives men ahead

Honestly, (aside from the military experience) I aligned with each answer. This community and these HIM continue to inspire me. 

Headed back to COT. Counted off six PAX for an Eminem and Toby MAC filled morning of fun. Thanks to Small World for bringing the tunes.

Announcements – 

Fast5 coming October 27. Plenty of chatter on Twitter regarding the details. 

Ragnar this weekend! 

Prayers and Praises –

Pray for our brothers on IR

Pray for F3Alpha for their loss of Darth Visor yesterday morning

EDIT: Pray for Sharknado’s family – his M’s father was Darth Visor

Both of these losses were sudden and unexpected, so keep that in your mind as you go throughout your day/week. We are but a breath. 

Pray for Fort Mill and the school district as the Zoning decision is made. Pray for cool heads on all sides and the best decision to be made.

Thank you Polaroid for the opportunity to lead. It was fun running Q at the AO where I first posted. Looking forward to next time. 

Punch List out.

 

IMG_7683

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A Darth Visor Backblast

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I came across this backblast while trying to find something to say about Darth Visor’s passing.  After reading it, I figured what better way to learn a small something about the man he was, than to “participate” in his VQ.

Other than not having an outhouse or a baseball field (we used road by the playground and the track), I kept the Weinke as close to the original as I could.  It was surprisingly easy to tie the IR race.

After finishing, I let the PAX know who was responsible for the Q, and had some time left for ab lab.

COT

We finished up with some good discussion and prayers for Darth Visor and his family.

Thanks Bones for the opportuNITY.

The original backblast:

Virgin Q – Darth Visor – It’s about time Back Blast – 6.23.15

  • When: 06/23/15Where:

    The Pax: Hickory Stick, Trojan, Light Bulb, Sketch, Green Bean(@F3ATL), Gear(@F3theFort), Boomer, Foghorn, Def Con 2, Nacho Libre

    QIC: Darth Visor

11 PAX joined the party at THE RUBICON for a VIRGIN Q by Wardaddy in charge. Great to have @greenbean from F3Atlanta and @Gears from The Fort join in the GLOOM.

What had happened was…

7:00 sharp we mosey to the slice of heaven between the diamonds for a little warm up

Starting Position…Move….In Cadence….Exercise

SSH

Squats “really missed GRITS” was going to have him demonstrate proper technique

EW

Cotton Pickers

Feeling loose – we mosey

The Thang

1-2-3 ‘s lovely learn’t this’n up thar in fort mill region.

Partner Up and head for the outhouse…partner sprint around outhouse while other partner commenced to exercising!

100- step ups

200- dips

300 – LBCs’

Whew 10 count needed.

Let’s mosey to the ole ball field for a slight twist on our old favorite IR. PAX you got’s to sprint….not jog when its your turn. So we turned up the heat with a little team race – IR around the ballpark. Losers get to enjoy OYO 15 Burpees.

Trojan takes early lead for left side, then Boomer hits high gear to pad the lead, Hickory Stick notches one for the right side, and someone hit the speed switch for Light Bulb and it looks like left side is going to “run away” with it BUT amazing speed from Nacho Libre, Sketchy, and Gears even things up by the time we pass home plate.

Strong Showing by both teams BUT WE TIE AND EVERYONES a LOSER.

15 burpees for all and all for the PAX

Outfield Fence for little Wall Squat to catch our breath.

Let’s Mosey to THE HILL

Merkin Ladder 10 down run up hill 9 at top back down 8 back to top 7…all the way to 1 MERKIN.

COT and BOM

Much to be thankful for…GBABY arrives for WD,  remembering Foghorns wife – expecting, Mufasa’s back.

Moleskin

There was some more Beatdown but who can really remember it was soooo long ago.

Pleasure to have led you men, inspiring, fun, makes me feel good at 6:15 AM on beautiful 2sday AM

Sorry CRACK, MUFASA, Grits, Peanut, Stang, and other faithful had to miss…we’ll get you next time.

NEXT DARTH VISOR Q coming soon to the Gloom near you F3Alpha.

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Triangle of Doom or some other ominous name that is not the same name as another AO (Bermuda)

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Cool 67 degrees at the Colosseum.  YHC (again) came in on two wheels.  Luckily there were some hearty PAX ready to get to work.  A Pre Blast Tweet went out to let folks know to expect running.  Twitterless Green Wave groaned when he arrived.

COP

SSH, Squat, Moroccan Night Club, Merkin, Plank O Rama

The Thang

Partner up for accountability and encouragement.  3 stations as far away from each other as possible.- run (not mosey) to each station for exercises.  rinse/repeat alternating laps.  Get as many laps as you can in 40 minutes.

A lap: 30 Lunge, 25 LBC, 15 Merkins

B lap: 30 Mountain Climbers, 7 three merkin burpee, 25 squats.

 

7-8 laps was the number.  guessing 3-4 miles and 4x the reps of above exercises.  Love Handles got the VT today- lead lap all day while proclaiming he was going to spill merlot (Mexican). Update- he didn’t.  LH also hit the 1000 burpee challenge with 1075 total.  Look out men- this man is coming for you.  Plus he’s a #HateHate so you know he’s got years ahead of him to dole out pain.  Time to put him on a Q roster.

Discussed word of the month: Encouragement, talked of look at your circle of influence (apropos as I just now listened to this weeks 43 feet podcast) and a great article from Benjamin Watson in All Pro Dad on “Making sure my kids know a father’s love”.  I tweeted out link.  Read it and go listen to the latest podcast.

Lots of men looking forward to Ragnar and Bourbon Chase.  If you have yet to do a CSAUP (completely stupid and utterly pointless), do this now.  runs, races, mud runs, ragnars, fast 5, Palmetto 200, etc.  I know of no other vehicle that brings together all 3Fs and truly lights the fire.

Jekyll

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The Fort 6 year Anniversary – Making Getting Better a Priority!

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September 29, 2012 the landscape of Fort Mill changed dramatically. Some men from north of the border grabbed the attention of a few men south of the boarder and said we may have something for you. Double D, Santini, Senator Tressel, World Wide Leader, Red Banjo, Assassin, Peach and maybe others made the commitment to come to a “workout” on that Saturday morning. It was very skeptical, but I am sure each of them will say it changed their lives.

Here we are 6 years later, meeting in the same park with more than 200 regular participants (800+ over the years) at 37 workouts across The Fort/Lake Wylie area. Thank you to those that gave it away and thank you to those that said yes!! I think it is safe to say, IT’S MORE THAN A WORKOUT!!!

Today we recognize the 6 years with 6 Qs leading a beat down in 1st F style. On September 21st, Jekyll led us in our Invergence, which reminds us of the 3rdF and that there is something bigger than ourselves. Serving, Praying and Worshiping together happened then. On this day, we are getting better physically and having some fellowship with 70 of our PAX,

Format was a rapid fire approach where each Q has 10mins to lay it on the PAX. Old Bay would keep time and blow the air horn (maybe tweet the horn??), and then the next Q jumps in.

YHC asked for FNGS, (none) and explained the plan of attack, and then the Horn Sounded

The Thang:

  • Wegmans for COP
    • Mosey down path out to grass
    • Circle up and some traditional and not so traditional exercise moves.
    • We did notice another “Boot camp” group in the gloom. T-clapps to them, however also saw 2 holding clip boards…..not F3!!
    • Horm Blows
  • Funhouse on Q
    • Mosey to the hill for Jacobs ladder
      • Burpees
      • Squats
      • Some mary to fill time
      • Horn Blows
  • Jwow on Q
    • Mosey to top of hill for partner work
    • step ups/lunge walk up and down hill
    • squat jumps/lunge walk up and down hill
    • Plank hand slap with partner
    • Horn Blow
  • Twister on Q
    • Mosey to tree line
    • Army Crawl to tree /SSHs
    • Sprint to tree/Merkins
    • Army Crawl to Tree/SSHs
    • Sprint to tree/merkins
    • 2 rounds
    • Run Path until Horm
    • Horn Blows
  • FLUX on Q
    • Mosey back to hill
    • 6s – do following 6 times
      • bear crawl up hill
      • diamond merkins
      • bear crawl back down hill
      • Some filler in there of something aweful
      • Horn Blows
  • Assassin On Q
    • Mosey to play grownd
      • Dips
      • Derkins
      • Burpees
      • multiple rounds with running around the playground until…..
      • Horn Blows

The PAX was dripping wet from rolling in grass but also from the humid beat down that just occurred. Thanks to all the Qs for bringing it and having fun out there.

I brought up to the PAX “WHY”? Why F3 versus the many other options we have even outside of fitness and self help books. Why do we get up early and why do we do CSAUPS and why do we attend 3rdF and give away our time at various community organizations???

Pockets, Spud and Assassin all shared their Why. Thank you! I’m sure there were many more that would undoubtedly impactful.

I mentioned my why was straightforward for me. I want to continue to challenge myself physically, surround myself with like minded guys heading in the same direction and reach more guys for Sky Q and HIS purpose. I feel F3 has positively impacted my life in all 3 Fs and why would I not give it away??

See you in the GLOOM!

Cake Boss

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5

A little movin’ & rollin’ with Florence

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I’ve been chompin’ at the bit to Q this new official Ruck AO, the Fire Ant, and this morning was the perfect time. Over the last few years, it’s developed a standard consistent with harder AO’s and I was not about to drop the ball today.

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to post up at my folk’s house in Wilmington, NC where they recently had Hurricane Florence followed by 1-2 tornadoes pass through. It’s always different seeing storm aftermath in person; the images, the smells, the sounds of cleanup and water pumps getting rid of standing water. I’m not quite sure how I was going to be impacted but I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. After all, neighbors are still unable to get in their houses. Perspective teaches me I need to keep my mouth shut and stay hydrated as I chip in to do a small part. After tree #4 came down and got hauled off, I had a revelation. What if I cut this next tree into the perfect lengths that would compliment my upcoming Fire Ant Q? Couple that with a previously-prepared Weinke and there you have it, we were set.

With a truck bed holding (8) 40-50lb logs, 18 of us converged on the Golden Corral/Fire Ant parking lot at HT. After Change Order laid down the disclaimer, us 12 Ruckers moved over for our warm-up jog around the lot.

After that, we kept the rucks on the ground and did our warm up:

Wind Mills

Moroccan Night Clubs

10 Forward & Reverse Arm Circles

Slow Squats

SSH

Grab a partner and meet at the rucks.

Catch me if you can with your partner and 3 Hand-Release Merkins. We went around the big loop once then a smaller loop after that for 2 loops total.

Head over to grab the logs. A brief explanation on where they came from and how they’d be used. We had to move both the rucks and the log and we’d work as a team to do it, looking to relieve the men with the logs.

Line up 2×2 with logs in the front. If you had a log, carry it overhead at the front and the rest of us would look to relive you en route. We made our way to the start of the Harris Teeter wall.

Lunge walk with a log press the length of the wall.

Bear crawl while rolling the log back to the starting position.

2×2 in formation with logs overhead to the 9-round parking lot & circle up.

If you have a log, hold it at 90 degrees and if you don’t hold your Ruck at 90 degrees. Each PAX does 3 curls going around the circle. If you’re not curling, you’re holding at 90.

On your back with legs straight and feet at 6″. Doing a log or ruck press for quite a few reps.

Get in 1 line, shoulder to shoulder. Seal team sit-ups with the rucks on front and keeping your head off the ground.

Same formation, flutter kicks with heads off the ground.

Back in 2×2 formation with logs overhead and offering relief, we made our way back to the original starting position. But before we finished, we got back in the seal-team line, on our backs and did bicycles with the rucks on front, both forward and reverse.

And so…that was it.

Announcements: Fire Ant AO moving to TCES in 3wks. Follow Spiderman for further details. Sign up for Paradise Reading Center: check with Copay and Deacon.

Prayers/Praises: Safety for all the PAX doing races (Bourbon Chase, CLT Marathon, Ragnar, Rucks), wedding anniversaries, Prayers for Half-Shell’s buddy who lost his son recently in a very sad event. We do not understand but we need to have faith in our Creator that he’ll somehow have something positive come from this. Prayers for his family and for all the scouts injured, those who witnessed and for their families.

Enjoy your day & make an impact.

Maximus.

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4

The Bacon is Back!

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  • QIC: Anchorman
  • When: 10/27/2018
  • Posted In: Pre-Blast

Are you man enough to run 1k?

The fastest CSAUP in all of F3 Nation returns for another trip around the track.  Fast 5!

You and 4 teammates run, ruck, walk (in Jedi’s case on his hands) a total of 5k.

The only requirement is that one Pax on your team must be EITHER over 200 lbs or a respectable (50 and over).

Also NEW this year since we are just before Halloween, if the team adds some costuming into their attire, they will get a time bonus.  What does that mean?  I have no idea.  This was Zima’s add on and you know how he is.   I just bring the bullhorn and bacon.

Families welcome to come watch.  It’s an hour or so from start to finish – inc a kids run around the track after so have them wear sneakers!

We are currently still securing a location – just know it will be at a track at one of the Fort Mill schools Saturday October 27 at 9am.  Sign up now!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSelRAT64BLadNwYSSl_3qqcDsfrHfYLXe6Zfm3y0ehYDSvCRg/viewform

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