We knew that GORUCK was going to be going big on the Star Course series this year but who would have thought it would be this big. Over 300 total events were added to the calendar making (for 2020) the Star Course bigger than the traditional Light/Tough/Heavy events.
What Makes These Events Special?
I think the Star Course 5k/10k/15k series is special for (at least) four reasons but would love to hear some additional reasons in the comments.
To start off the events are running the Sunday after traditional Tough/Light weekends. This means that it’s possible to make an epic GORUCK weekend by doing a Tough/Light/Star Course, Tough/Star Course, or Light/Star Course.
Second, you can get friends involved in rucking who might not think they can tackle the Tough or Light events. What better way to see if someone likes rucking than to invite them out to a 5k or 10k ruck? They’ll get to complete a GORUCK event, earn a patch, and meet a ton of people in the community.
Third, if you are reading this and aren’t sure if a GORUCK event is ‘right for you’ then a 5k is an easy way to figure that out.
Fourth is easy… the price. The 5k starts at $15, the 10k starts at $25, and the 15k starts at $35. At those prices it’s almost difficult to not take part in one.
Running The Event Numbers
This data was pulled the morning of 8/28/2019. In terms of total events we’re looking at:
- Star Course 5k: 131
- Star Course 10k: 131
- Star Course 15k: 130
In terms of which cities received the majority of the new Star Course events we’ve got:
- Washington, District of Columbia: 23
- Boston, Massachusetts: 15
- New York, New York: 15
- Atlanta, Georgia: 12
Finally, in terms of which states received the most love:
- Texas: 34
- California: 30
- Florida: 27
- North Carolina: 21
Even though Washington DC is hosting the most events in a single city it’s cool to see Texas come out ahead with most overall events in a state. If anyone is interested in more event data let me know and I can probably put something together.
Overall Thoughts
The Star Course Sprint Series feels like what the Scavenger events was meant to be all along. A ruck with friends that can be as competitive as you want it to be. I’m sure there will be some people out there trying to win the “sprint” series and others just there to have some fun. I know my kids can handle a 5k in a stroller so it might even be a good time to bring them for one of it.
Thoughts on the new series? I’d love to hear them in the comments!
I do think this is cool as someone who remembers the Kill that 5K series they did a while back. Good to see it rebooted in a new way! It’d be awesome if a special TLS patch could be earned, since there are so few HTLs out there now. Maybe it could only be achieveable if you do the TL and the 15K Star couse on same weekend. A little more motivation for fhe GRT overachiever! Lol! Pitch it to them Brian!
Agreed! I’ve actually got an email out to GORUCK at the moment to see if it’s possible to complete multiple of the Sprint Series events in a weekend… get the 15k done quick and finish the 5k before the cutoff can you get both patches? We’ll see!
Did you hear back on this
They said yes, it’s possible if you can get it all done in the time frame :)