Very few athletes have what it takes to finish GORUCK Selection. The event is designed to expose weakness, test mental toughness, and push competitors far beyond their perceived limits.
In this interview, Eric Kling shares the lessons he learned while becoming a GORUCK Selection finisher, including how he prepared physically and mentally, what kept him moving when others quit, and the mindset required to succeed in one of the toughest endurance challenges in the world. If you’re training for a GORUCK event, military selection, or simply looking to build greater resilience, you’ll find plenty of hard-earned wisdom in Eric’s story.
SGPT: Tell us about yourself?
EK: I am married to a wonderful woman and we have a house (and barn) full of furry and fluffy family members. I am a firefighter working for a metro Atlanta city. I have been in the Fire Service for about nine years and before this I was a career bartender with 23 years in the service industry. After many years I finally made the decision to serve my country and enlisted in the Air National Guard two days before my 40th birthday.
SGPT: Did you have an athletic background growing up?
EK: No! I wasn’t athletic at all, in fact I was a chorus nerd in high school! My Senior year I ran cross country and wrestled, but I was also in three chorus classes, one of them being seventh period which caused me to be late to wrestling practice. You can imagine what its like competing against guys that have been running and wrestling for four, five, even seven years, and you are still learning the basics. While my performance was unremarkable, I learned that wrestlers have an insane drive and work ethic like no other.
SGPT: How did you get interested in GORUCK Selection?
EK: At that point in GORUCK History the only event that existed was the GORUCK Challenge. The Heavy didn’t exist yet, neither did the LIght. Some people on the GRT Facebook page thought they were cool because they had done back to back Challenges. Egos led to trash talking and after enough bragadociousness (sp?) Jason, Dan, Lou and some of the other OG Cadre decided to offer those people a chance to back up their words. I was NOT one of those people, but I do like to say yes to dumb ideas and so I signed up.
SGPT: How did you train for this event?
EK: I spent five months training and did not feel like I was ready! I was a trainer at Rush Mixed Martial Arts at the time so was able to be in the gym every day. Even so, I knew that I was going to have to improve my training. Everything I was doing increased in length, intensity, weight, etc. I joined Macon Love Rugby to get extra cardio but had such a good time that I ended up playing rugby for a while afterwards. Obviously rucking in crucial so I did that, a lot. We have a good mountain bike trail here and I was there weekly. No music, podcasts, headphones or anything like that. I knew that I wouldn’t have any music to keep me motivated during Selection and so I needed to be used to only the thoughts in my head. Weekly yoga was added to the routine, as was running, though in hindsight I should havre done both of those more often.
Now this part might sound funny, but before GORUCK Selection when my friends and I were getting into the OCR scene, I would grow out my beard for the Tough Mudders and Spartan Races. I knew that Selection was going to be the hardest event I had attempted thus far and as such I would need the biggest beard I had ever had. Every morning I would wake up, look in the mirror, see that beard, and know what I was training for that day. At the end of that day the same thing: tomorrow you have one purpose and that is to train for Selection. The mental aspect was absolutely as important as the physical.
SGPT: Tell us about the event? Where was it and how did you survive to be the last man standing?
EK: JAX Beach in January. I have no idea how I was the only person to make it to the end as I KNEW at the beginning there were other people there that would make it. It started off strong with pushups in the waves. But not normal pushups, they had us in a line with our feet on the next person’s shoulders while holding the plank position. And it only got better from there with all the tricks and games the cadre like to play.
SGPT: What boots/trail running shoes did you use for training and for the event?
EK: I had Nike SFB Trainers that I used during training and during some of the Challenges. During the event I wore my Merrell Moabs with improved insoles.
SGPT: What is one tip that you would give to a candidate who is training for GORUCK Selection?
EK: While this might be cliche by this point I’d have to repeat what Cadre Dan told me: just don’t fucking quit. Left foot, right foot, and keep going. I think that the hours and miles spent training should give the person time to think about what their motivation is and why they are doing Selection. Part of the incentive for me to not quit was the social pressure from our gym. Our guys hadn’t lost a fight and I couldn’t think of way to justify telling them that I didn’t make it be cause I was cold. Or tired. Or whatever. How could I expect them to respect me when I got home if I didn’t return with a W??
SGPT: What good book or podcast are you reading/listening to now?
EK: Unbiased Politics is great and it’s name accurate. She gives a great breakdown of the topics without trying to influence what you think. Sources & Methods form NPR always gives great insight into current politics though deeper than was any other media goes. The Nature of Wellness podcast was another good one, though they haven’t released any new episodes recently. I have torn through the Jack Carr books as voraciously as I did all the Dan Brown books. For nonfiction Outlive by Peter Attia has been a great book that everyone should read.
SGPT: Thanks for the interview Eric. We greatly appreciate your time and being an inspiration to others to do hard things.
EK: Thanks for the opportunity!! Selection was one hell of an adventure and it, along with GORUCK, changed my life for the better!! Even though GORUCK has changed their events since the beginning, I still recommend that people sign up and train for one! While completely different, The Strenuous Life is another group that keeps you engaged year-round with weekly challenges that are widely varied and out of your comfort zone.
About the Author:
Brad McLeod is the founder of SEALgrinderPT.com, a former U.S. Navy SEAL, endurance athlete, and coach dedicated to helping athletes develop mental toughness and physical resilience. Through SEALgrinderPT, he has conducted hundreds of interviews with military veterans, endurance racers, mountain climbers, GORUCK competitors, and elite performers to uncover the lessons that lead to success under pressure. Brad helps athletes improve strength, conditioning, and overall performance. His mission is to share practical training advice, inspiring stories, and proven strategies that help ordinary people accomplish extraordinary goals.
RELATED ARTICLES:
SGPT Interviews GORUCK Selection Finisher Stony Smith
SGPT interviews GORUCK Selection graduate Paige Bowie
Tom Rowland GORUCK Selection AAR
SGPT Interviews GORUCK Selection Finisher John Maris