If you tuned in for our recent coverage of GORUCK Selection you may have caught a few glimpses of a particular CrossFit Games athlete that joined us for the weekend in Bellbrook. In watching the comments come through on Facebook Live, it seemed like a few people were really interested, a few wanted us to shut up and go back to the carnage, and many just weren’t sure what any of this had to do with GORUCK. That’s a totally fair question, so here’s some background and a little insight on what we’re up to here at HQ.

At GORUCK, our biggest and most important goal is to grow rucking. We believe that the world is better place when more people are finding friends, bearing weight, and covering some miles. So how do we do that? Well, a great place to start is by scouring the landscape and looking for our kind of people. People who appreciate sharing the laughs, the loads, and the occasional suffering that comes with our particular brand of good livin’.

One pretty obvious place to look is obstacle course racing. It makes sense that a bunch of people who love crawling in the mud and helping each other over obstacles would be interested in GORUCK. We have some roots in that community and have recently ramped up our relationship with our buddies (and fellow Floridians) over at Savage Race. A ton of GRTs are current or former OCR types and we love ‘em for it.

The other big pond for us to fish in is the functional fitness community. Over the years, we’ve worked with gyms and CrossFit boxes across the country and have found hundreds of kindred spirits. We’ve also found that combining rucking with these shorter but intense workouts can deliver some pretty serious fitness. We want more of these folks in the fold and we are always looking for ways to make that happen…and that is why we’ve enlisted the help of our friend Dan Bailey.

Most importantly, Dan is absolutely our kind of people. While his five Top-10 finishes at the CrossFit Games is impressive, his grit, guts, and heart is what we love about him most. The guy attacks training and competition at a level of intensity that is hard to describe. His ‘full-go’ style has earned him the respect and admiration of the entire functional fitness world. Combine that with the fact he’s been carrying his GR2 around the world for the past six years, and there is simply nobody better to represent GORUCK to this community than Dan.

If you’re worried about his indoctrination into the GORUCK culture, don’t worry, it’s well underway. Spending a few nights hanging out with GRTs and sleeping on the floor in Bellbrook was followed immediately by us crashing his place, rucking the local park, and dragging his gym out onto the lawn. We left him with a new Rucker, Ruck Plates, and a full set of Sandbags to make sure he’s ready for his first GORUCK Challenge…we’ll keep you posted on the date and location for that. In the meantime, check out the podcast below and look for Dan to share some cool workouts to help you get the most out of your gear and yourself.