GORUCK Interview with Eliot Ness

SGPT: Tell us about yourself?

EN: 31, Male, US Navy Reservist and a Deputy US Marshal. I live in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

SGPT: Did you have an athletic background growing up?

EN: I was a competitive swimmer for 20 years and also cross trained with Thai boxing and American Boxing.

SGPT: How did you train for GoRuck?

EN: I didn’t train specifically for it. I am training to cross rate for SWCC operator and so I just did my regular workouts and added two rucks a week with a 60lb pack.

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SGPT: Tell us a little about the event?

EN: It was great!!! My cadre was a former Ranger and Green Beret w/ 24 yrs of spec ops experience and he was legit! He wasn’t about smoking our group but about teaching us how to be a team which I appreciated. Anyone can smoke a group of people. It was a full team event, no way to be an individual in the challenge at all. We ran/walked/crawled across most of Fort Lauderdale and it went beyond the usual Challenge time frame. There is no prescribed end time and they definitely don’t tell you when it’ll end.

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SGPT: What was hardest part of the event?

EN: For me, it was working in a team setting with the group we had. The current and former military guys worked well and made it feel natural. Those that didn’t have our backgrounds had a harder time locking it down as a team.

SGPT: What is one thing you wish you would have done to get ready for GoRuck?

EN: Done more awkward rucking evolutions….i.e rucking without straps, carrying the pack at odd angles and different ways as well as doing more calisthenics with the pack on.

SGPT: Any tips for up and coming athletes that want to do GoRuck?

EN: I’ve not done one but am going to go for it. My advice would be make the training mostly ruck intensive and follow a more Grinder-ish, Military spec ops type of training designed around your ruck. Also, use the gear you intend to use when you do your event to see where things chafe, burn and twist. You don’t want to find that out the day of and change it up to see what works best. If you use a GORUCK pack, learn to pack it efficiently, waterproofing and modify it with carabiners to attach a waist belt.

SGPT: What kind of boots did you wear? Did you use double socks or Bodyglide?

EN: I used my Brooks running shoes, (which was a mistake) I tore them up. I used double socks, first layer was running ankle socks and second layer was Merino wool socks and I packed two sets of those and another shirt. We got wet and sandy so it was nice to have something to change into after that was done. I used both Bodyglide Anti-Chafe Balm and Boudreaux’s butt paste (for obvious reasons).

SGPT: Thanks for the interview, Eliot.

EN: My pleasure.

About GORUCK:
go·ruck [verb go + verb ruck] noun ruck is short for rucksack (aka backpack), it’s also a verb: to ruck is to move with a rucksack, and implies action, energy, and purpose. We build the best gear right here in the USA, we lead team-building endurance events based on our experiences in Special Forces, and we love to ruck.