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2018 Mud Run

When: May 19th 2018

Where: 1215 Valley Ridge Road Gaston, SC 29053

The Thang:

It is that time of year again. Time for another CSAUP, the Mud Run. Last year F3 was around 300 of the total runners on the course, with IYAFYL coming in 2nd place (thus making them last by their own motto). This year we will expect more from them and more of you! We need all Hartsville Pax to sign up, take the challenge head on. There are 146 Pax on Convergence lets shoot for getting 80 of you  to sign up! You can Ruck, Run, Walk or Bear crawl through this obstacle course of rope swings, over/unders, that crazy pyramid log challenge. Typically this event is run in teams of four, if you do not have a team sign up anyway and we will place you on a team. This is a test of all the great things F3 can do in a mans life. Grab your teammates and get signed up by following the link here: http://f3summerville.com/mud-run-f3-nation/

We need to turn out in force. If you are not inspired by the fun of the run, be inspired by the food and annual beer boat which will be the cause for a continuation of the Bowtie-Lil Sweet "trip to the woods." I look forward to seeing all of you at this great event.

 

Cost: $60

Benefits: Unlimited!

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Knowing God’s Will

YHC shared a sermon from 2014 just before leaving for Spain about knowing God’s will. The text is below. Enjoy.

On Graduation Day in May 1992, Gene Cloutier and I cobbled together some groceries out of our college apartment pantry, loaded our laundry bags with whatever clothes we wanted, jumped in his Chevy Corsica and headed to the Hess gas station in downtown Clemson, because they had the cheapest gas. After we filled up at 89 cents per gallon, Gene looked at me, and I looked at him. Finally, he said, “Which way do you want to go?” To which I replied, “I don’t know. Which way do you want to go?”

 

You see we were embarking on a trip around the United States. Both of us had jobs lined up for August, so we had the entire summer to explore our great country. And that’s about the extent of our planning for the trip. We had an endless set of possible directions and destinations. So endless, in fact, that we couldn’t decide which way to go. Have you ever been paralyzed by possibility? How do you know which way to go in life? Or to put it in more Christian terms--How do we know God’s will for our lives?

 

For Gene and me, we opened the map, the paper kind. This was before Google Maps and GPS. The one piece of technology we did have was my dad’s Motorola bag phone. That was high tech back in the day. Remember, this is 1992, which is before the internet. So we looked at the map and decided to go somewhat in a northerly direction and head toward St. Louis. That started a journey of 10,000 miles and over 20 states.

 

A lot of people try to divine God’s will the same way. They open the Bible and start looking at the first thing they see. I call it the “dart method”. The results could be disastrous. Let’s look at some potential Bible verses:

 

  1. Then he went away and hanged himself. (Matt 27:5)
  2. Go and do likewise (Lk 10:37)
  3. So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” (Jn 13:27)

 

I was speaking to one of my mentors the other day, and he told me that we get hung up on thinking God’s will for our lives is this little narrow path, and we have to go find it. He said it is more like a wide plane, with a vast array of options. Only when we look back on the path that we chose, can we see that God had already ordained it for us from before the beginning of time. Looking back we can see the little path, but looking forward we have limitless possibilities. That’s where we can often get that Possibility Paralysis. Gene and I had absolute freedom to go in any direction we wanted, or no direction at all.

 

Knowing God’s will has been a burning question since the beginning of time. I do not have any illusions about my ability to answer that for you today, but I think Scripture can be our guide. Let’s look at some examples of people in the Bible.

 

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1)

If God came up to you today, and you knew it was God. I don’t know how you would know. Maybe He would be wearing a name tag and look like Morgan Freeman. If God showed up today and told you to “start walking toward the land that I will show you...” how many of you would do it? Of course all of us say yes, but really I don’t think most of us would budge until we had some more details. Not Abraham. He took off walking and brought others with him.

 

“Hey Lot, let’s go for a walk.”

 

“Okay Uncle Abe. Where we going?”

 

“I dunno. Let’s just start walking and find out. Better bring a change of clothes.”

 

“Uhhh. Okay.”

 

Abraham heard from God. Lot just heard from his uncle. How many of you would sign up for that? Your crazy old uncle comes to town and says he wants you to go on a walk with him and to pack your bags.

 

Was it God’s will for Lot to go? Absolutely. Did Lot have any idea where he was going or why or what would happen when he got there? Nope. But he went. God said go.

 

So Abram went. (Genesis 12:4)

 

Abraham was faced with a Go/No Go Decision. Military guys have these at the beginning of the mission. NASA has a point at which they say, “We are a Go for launch.” Airplanes have a point on the runway where, if they don’t takeoff, they will crash. It is the Go/No Go line. Abraham faced a Go/No Go Decision, and he chose to Go.

 

Abraham made a choice out of faith in the One who gave the command. He obeyed. But what if he had chosen otherwise? Remember, we stand on a vast plane of possibilities. He could have stayed put, or walked in the opposite direction or walked further than God wanted. We can go our own way, and we can get ahead of God’s timing. That’s where the sovereignty of God comes in. God will achieve His divine purposes with us or in spite of us. Either way God’s will is accomplished.

 

  • Abraham
    • Go
      • Obedience
    • Don’t Go
      • Running ahead of God
      • Making your own way
    • God’s will is accomplished
      • With us
      • In spite of us

 

Let’s look at Jonah. Not such a great example for us. God gave him a clear message to go to Nineveh and proclaim God’s impending judgment on them. Jonah hated the Ninevites. He would have been fine delivering a message of judgment and condemnation. The problem Jonah had was he knew God was going to offer them grace as well. He knew God’s will was for all of us to experience His grace and forgiveness. He knew the Ninevites were going to “get off the hook”.

 

When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened. But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord, take away my life,for it is better for me to die than to live.” (Jonah 3:10 to 4:3)

 

 

So Jonah made a Go/No Go Decision. He No Goed. Jonah went in the exact opposite direction. He knew God’s will and decided to do something else. That’s why I love the story of Jonah. It reinforces the fact that we really don’t stray from God’s will, even when we stray from God’s will. Remember we are standing on a vast plane of possibilities with lots of potential options. It is only looking back that we see how God is ordering our steps.

 

So Jonah tried to make his own way. He resisted what he knew to be the right thing to do. That’s where the sovereignty of God comes in. God will achieve His divine purposes with us or in spite of us. Either way God’s will is accomplished.

 

  • Jonah
    • Go
      • Obedience
    • Don’t Go
      • Running ahead of God
      • Making your own way
    • God’s will is accomplished
      • With us
      • In spite of us

 

How about the Apostles? What decisions did they face? Matthew 28:19 is their Go/No Go.

 

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:19,20)

 

They had a clear directive from God. Get busy and tell everybody about Me. They could have obeyed. They could have gone where they did not belong. Or they could stay put and do nothing. They chose the latter. God had to send in the Jewish leaders and the Romans to bring in persecution to get them off their duffs and into action.

 

Remember we are standing on a vast plane of possibilities with lots of potential options. It is only looking back that we see how God is ordering our steps. That’s where the sovereignty of God comes in. God will achieve His divine purposes with us or in spite of us. Either way God’s will is accomplished.

 

  • Apostles
    • Go
      • Obedience
    • Don’t Go
      • Running ahead of God
      • Making your own way
    • God’s will is accomplished
      • With us
      • In spite of us

 

What about you? What is God telling you to do? How will you respond?

 

This is not intended to be a carte blanche to do whatever you want. It is, however, meant to be a release from paralysis. We get stuck in our everyday-ness. We need to be freed from the idea that whatever we are doing right now must remain the same for all eternity. Sometimes we need to GO!

 

The other side of the equation is that we often GO without really going. Half-hearted obedience is no obedience at all. So what are we to do?

 

“In the absence of further commands...ATTACK!!”

 

God has given us our marching orders. He told us to GO and make disciples. He told us to GO to the ends of the earth. He told us to get busy building his kingdom. So how are we doing? Too often we resemble the remnant that returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel . They started out to rebuild the city and the temple but gradually their ardor faded and they ended up just building their own houses with the construction materials that were slotted for the temple.

 

In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest:

2 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’”

3 Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”

5 Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”

7 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 8 Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. 9 “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. 10 Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. 11 I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.”

12 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord.

13 Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am with you,” declares the Lord. (Haggai 1:1-13)

 

The idea is that we get a direction from the Lord and start off real excited about it. At some point, though, about the time the blisters start showing up, we begin to question what God really meant. Maybe He just wanted to us to do a little remodel on our own houses. After all we live in them and spend more time in them. It is very easy to redirect God’s will into our own.

 

That was Paul’s struggle in Romans 7.

 

So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:21-25)

 

How does that look in our lives? We initially come to church to serve others, but we leave saying that we are not being fed. We faithfully attend Bible studies but never share what we learn. We drink from the fountain of life and never offer a thirsty person a cup.

 

Peter in Galatians is an example of good intentions gone astray. He was more than willing to accept the Greek believers as full-fledged members of the Body of Christ, until the Judaizers showed up and wanted to impose other standards upon them as requirements for salvation.

 

When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. (Galatians 2:11-13)

 

It is so easy to retreat from the battlefield. It is so easy to redirect our focus on ourselves and away from God. Truthfully my default position is “Me”. Eliminating “Me” is vital to maintaining focus on “Him”. In order to move forward, we have to get rid of the back door. We can’t GO forward and look backward at the same time.

 

Hernan Cortes is credited with defeating the mighty Aztec empire, whose capital was present day Mexico City. Cortes is no hero of the Christian faith, but he did know some things about human nature. One of his smartest moves as a commander came at the beginning of his campaign. After his men got off the boats and unloaded all the cargo, Cortes had all his whole army assemble on the beach, facing the boats. Then he gave a signal, and the boats began to burn up. The message was clear. If we go home, it will be in their boats. He got rid of the back door. The Aztecs, who had reigned supreme for centuries fell within two years.

 

Maybe it’s time for us to burn some boats. What are you holding onto that is keeping you from moving forward in your faith? What stronghold does the enemy have in your life that continues to be an abiding weakness, a default position? Where are you stuck in NO GO?

 

I can think of a few in my life. Maybe they will strike a chord in yours. Each of you has a notepad in hand, and I invite you to write down those things that come to mind. At the end of the service, we will be doing some boat burning of our own, so please open up your heart to hear from the Lord:

 

Sin

 

If you closely examined your life, I am sure you would find some areas of sinfulness that keep creeping up and pulling you down. When you are tired, alone, depressed, bored, lazy, whatever the trigger might be, you seem to always fall into this particular sin pattern. You are not alone.

 

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:9,10)

 

Perhaps it is time to burn that boat.

 

Relationships

 

When I first became a Christ-follower, I had to abandon all my friendships. I knew that I was not strong enough to resist the temptations of my former life. It was painful, and I knew that many of those friends would be hurt by my stand.

 

Are you involved in toxic relationships? Do you hold onto people that poison your relationship with Christ and other believers? Are you the toxic person? I have Good News for you. Jesus Christ wants to redeem your life. He is the God of “Do Over”.

 

Perhaps it is time to burn that boat.

 

Habits

 

What is your normal day like? Your routine? How many of your habits are building up the kingdom and other people, and how many are just tearing you and others down? When you get upset, do you reach for Christ or ice cream? Is that TV show you are hooked on really filling you with the Gospel? Do you find yourself checking updates on Facebook rather than making a date to spend with Christ?

 

Perhaps it is time to burn that boat. And don’t forget to write the things down that God is bringing to your mind. I really need your participation.

 

Stuff

 

I don’t consider myself a hoarder. I tend to not buy things, and I like to think that I can get rid of things pretty easily. That lie dissolved before my eyes as Susan and I starting preparing to leave for Spain. I knew we had a lot of stuff, but I really didn’t know how much until now. There was not a square inch of unused space in our home. The tragedy is that now that all of it is gone, I don’t miss any of it, so why did we get it in the first place? Sometimes I think we are stymied by the sheer weight of all we have. Our possessions begin to possess us. We are literally dragged down into a NO GO position by them.

 

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” (Luke 18:22-25)

 

What are you holding onto? What is holding you back? You know you need to GO but you can’t with all this stuff.

 

Perhaps it is time to burn that boat.

 

Church

 

Church is a place of growth and nurture. It is an opportunity to serve. Sometimes, however, it becomes a hindrance to those things. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the institution that we forget the whole reason we come. We go through the motions, because it is the right thing to do. We continue in some ministry because nobody else will. And we expect to get the “Good Christian” merit badge for our efforts.

 

“But I did obey the Lord,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”

But Samuel replied:

“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.” (1 Samuel 15:20-23)

Rebellion and arrogance are not two words we like to associate with ourselves. When we practice half-hearted devotion to God’s commands and serve with wrong motives, that is exactly what we are--arrogant rebels.

 

Perhaps it is time to burn that boat.

 

I told you that these were what the Lord was working on in me, so you might have some other ones to write down.

Unforgiveness

Hurts

Bad parents

School bullies

Wealth

Poverty

So let’s get real with each other. All of us have something that is holding us back. All of us have situations where we fail repeatedly. All of us need to burn the boats. Up front here, we have a fireplace that needs your cargo of sin. We are going to burn it up outside.

 

God wants to free you up from your self-imposed possibility paralysis. Ships were not made for the harbor. They were made for the open seas. They were made to GO. So where are you headed? We are going to Spain. And that’s all I know at this point. Everybody wants to know what we are going to do when we get there. I have no idea. How long are we going to stay? I have no idea. What will we do when we come back? I have no idea. All I know is that God wants us to GO. And that’s where the sovereignty of God comes in. God will achieve His divine purposes with us or in spite of us. Either way God’s will is accomplished. As we go, we are burning up some boats of our own, lightening the load and moving ahead. What about you?

As we go into communion, take your boats outside first to be burned up, then join us at the table for communion.

 

  • What about us?
    • Go
      • Obedience
    • Don’t Go
      • Running ahead of God
      • Making our own way
    • God’s will is accomplished
      • With us
      • In spite of us
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GoRuck Navigator Core AAR Part 1-Good Lovin’

Three intrepid pax took off on Friday afternoon, March 31, 2017, for a little adventure in the woods. Linus, Audit and YHC struck out toward Asheville looking for something more challenging than the normal suck that we all embrace on a daily basis. GoRuck Navigator Core was calling, and we were picking up the phone.

GoRuck has a series of what they call "Gentlemen's Courses", which means no logs, burpees or Welcome Parties are involved. The Navigator series includes Core, Z, Legacy and Jedburgh. Core is all about orienteering, as explained below and in Part II. The Z is wilderness survival. Legacy puts both together and Jedburgh simulates a real WW2 mission behind German lines.

Our destination was Camp Bud Schiele, a Boy Scout camp, near Forest City, NC. Audit scored us a free room at the Holiday Inn for Friday night, so we all headed up together. It is always better to clown car to events, whenever possible. We all got to know each other better, which is a big part of why we do these CSAUP's.

After picking up a little last minute gear in Spartanburg, SC we hunted up some grub. YHC prefers local restaurants to chains, so we settled on City Range Steakhouse Grill. Winner, winner, steak dinner. That was some good eats. Being real men, Linus and YHC took down a nice lager. Being Audit, he ordered a cucumbertini, but not just any cucumbertini. It had to have a sugared rim and muddled cucumber. Laura, our waitress, innocently asked if a lady was joining us, due to Audit's drink order. A bunch of food and several drinks later, we headed out to the general vicinity of the hotel in Forest City, NC. Linus, being a beer snob, wanted to check out The Twisted Pear brew pub. Since it was already 10pm, it was closed. Sissies. We circled around and found a cool looking place around the corner. Linus was getting agitated at YHC and Audit, because we kept giving him conflicting directions. We had 3 cell phones barking out directions as well. Good times. This was an eerie premonition of what was to follow the next day.

Being faster and a natural leader, YHC strode into the bar first to survey the establishment. YHC knew immediately we were headed for trouble when he spied a barfly out of the corner of his eye. We sat at the opposite corner away from the bar-shark, but she sidled over and took a spot close to us. This was going to be an interesting evening. There was not enough beer in that whole town to make this woman look like something any man might want to pursue. She didn't get hit with the ugly stick. She climbed up in the tree and fell on every branch on the way down. I must say, however, that she has good taste in men. The fact that we were the only ones left in the bar that she had never hit on had nothing to do with it. We are just that good looking. After an appropriate span of about 15 seconds, bar-hag set her sights in on Linus, all the while drooling over her next blood-meal. YHC was already cultivating a brilliant plan to subvert her efforts at sinking her gnarly hooks into one of my fellow pax. I told her Linus was from Sweden and didn't understand much English. Audit and YHC would speak to him in "Swedish" and he would reply in Afrikaans, which he apparently learned while on Safari in South Africa. Linus is Strider's nephew after all. Well that primed her pump. Evidently Vicky, the bar-demonette, had never encountered anybody from outside the state, much less the country. She did slow down her speech and talked louder in the hopes that Linus would understand her oh so subtle overtures. Audit sulked and sipped his beer, reminiscing about his cucumbertini from earlier in the night.

Quote of the Day from Vickie: YOU ARE SOOOO PRETTY! I LOVE YOUR HAIR.

We had to drag Linus away from Vickie's siren song. He was truly smitten, but we knew we had work to do tomorrow. Maybe next time Linus...

We got back to the hotel and poured ourselves into bed. Linus, still feeling amorous after his close encounter of the Ugly Kind, offered to sleep with Audit, which makes sense, due to Audit's drink choice. Evidently Audit snores like a freight train. YHC, being married, is oblivious to such noises. Linus, being single, is still affected by it.

We met a few of the other Nav pax at the hotel breakfast, then went to Waffle House to get some good greasy food. It must be said that YHC was having some serious gastro-intestinal issues, starting at about Columbia and not finishing until we were leaving the hotel. I hate it for anybody that had to be around me. YHC could barely handle his own officious aromas, so you know it was bad. It stunk like Baby Beasley after eating Markette pink hotdogs and Dinty Moore chili. YHC was a little nervous the weekend orienteering trip was going to turn into a Groundblind trip of the runs. Evidently things settled down after the last explosion just prior to leaving the hotel lobby. No doubt the cleaning ladies quit their job under protest due to unsafe work conditions.

We arrived at the Boy Scout camp on two wheels, as we were a little behind schedule. (See paragraph above). Upon arriving we saw a tent city wrapping around a little cabin. None of us had a clue what to expect, so we all brought the kitchen sink in rucks. I borrowed a 70 liter ruck and had that sucker filled to the brim, fully expecting to carry it through the woods and over mountains the rest of the weekend. As it turns out, we could leave our stuff in the car and just grab what we needed as we needed it. Good thing I brought along my trusty GR1. YHC quickly unpacked a few essentials for the Nav and got in the group around Cadres Mickey and Chris Way, ready for some Good Livin'.

Part 2 is coming soon.

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Team Upward Palmetto200

Van 1
Scout-Driver
Audit, Poodle, LubeJob, BlowFish, Rerun, ShortCircuit
Van 2
PowderBoy-Driver
Dumper, Stallion, WaterBug, BodyBag, PaperBoy, Spackler

The night before a big event always lends itself to little sleep. WaterBug proved this by going to sleep at midnight only to be back up at 0130 ready to hit the road. The team met at the WARZONE at 0400, loaded up the supplies, and hit the road. We were prepared with 3 dozen bananas, tons of peanut butter, and multiple cases of water. Everyone was nervously chatting and joking until about Camden on the Interstate. They might have kept on, but I fell asleep thanks to the smooth driving skills of PowderBoy and the hypnotizing rattle of the doors on the van. The next thing I know is that we are at the start. Both vans unload with the majority making a B-line to the Latrine as PaperBoy calls it. Now we weren't first in line obviously by the passing of striking paper going on under the dividers, but it all worked out.

After a few minutes WaterBug gathers us up for a team pep talk which must have worked for Rerun. Rerun was our first man out at 0630. Now I know VAN 2 had talked about kills, but not real sure Van 1 did. At the starter's command Rerun was off in the lead. Granted there were 20+ other people with him that he could of smoked, but just felt like leading all the way.
Van 2 tells 1 that we will see them at the exchange, and head off to kill banana fosters pancakes, blueberry pancakes, and a couple of dozen eggs, and plenty of pork. We then head off on the route. We meet up at the end of Leg 2 to see how things are going. LubeJob blows in after 10.5 miles at a sub-8 minute pace. That's when it starts to set in that these boys aren't here just for the trophy. These boys came to play!

Fast-forward up to Leg 7 starting zone Van 2 is ready to get this party started. After Dumper(YHC) made the van pull over because after all those pancakes my ass was starving. Surely it had nothing to do with all that sugar in the pancakes. Poodle, who hasn't ran consistently for months shows why it's good to be young by smoking his 6.25 leg. Side note from Audit- Scout pulls up beside Poodle in the van and cheers him on by saying "come on man only 2 miles left". Actually he still had 4 miles to go. Poodle's reaction when he finishes huffing and puffing "2 miles my ass".

Van 2 is on the course with the speed goat ringer brought down from Travelers Rest, SC "Spackler" and he's been eating some secret concoction of brownies, cookies, and other stuff. All runners are on course at well below their listed race pace. Our fearless leader starts wondering if we could possibly get held up for being too fast on the course.

Leg 11 was handed over to The Italian Stallion who took off like a rocket. We check on him 2 miles into the run and he's got it on cruise control, but is slightly miffed due to the head wind he was catching. YHC tells him "you're doing great Rocky. The wind is about to change when you take the next left." It changed alright, directly into his face.

On to Leg 12.(BenchWarmer's favorite) YHC had been ready to go since about 0400. It's now 5pm. That's a long day to wait for a run. We're used to doing it in the dark. What YHC had expected was many people on the road to dial in and chase down. What YHC had not expected was only seeing 3 other runners for 7+ miles. I came out the blocks fast, and got 1 kill with in the first half mile. Set sights on #2 who is about 50 yards ahead of me. I chased that dude for 7 damn miles, and never caught him. Also, who knew that the entire leg was uphill the entire distance.(Just ask BA, he will verify that) I was going to speak to him after the exchange in Santee State Park but I couldn't catch him them either. He wasn't built like a runner, but buddy he could motor. Van 1 back on the course. They made mention of how nice the hotel rooms were, and how showers felt good.

There is nothing like running 7+ miles, hoping in a van, and heading directly to a BBQ restaurant to eat. About now is when it sets in that YHC is number 1 out of the van next. Finally we make it to the hotel for R&R. IYAFYL also comes into effect when towels are at a limited supply. Showers are had and that bed was nice for an hour. I will say PaperBoy asked to crawl in bed with YHC but when I woke up he was gone. Something about snoring but I didn't hear a thing. Stallion claimed a sofa at some point, and bitched when we told him we needed to go.
At some point Stallion and BA got into some kind of personal battle about running Leg 23 and who would win. We had done the math and were expecting IYAFYL to be closing around that leg possibly even passing us. Rocky said he'd push Holt into the ditch before he got passed. Hahaha

Round 2 Van 2 (Van 1 heads back to the Hotel)

Stallion crawls in way back and falls immediately back to sleep.(6 miles running is not 10 miles of rucking)
YHC was pumped for this leg. It was dark, it was cold, and perfect for running. You know running is fun when you can see your breath, but after about a mile I thought it was getting foggy. It turns out there was a large forest fire going on and I was running right through the smoke. Nice. I pass off to WaterBug for his 9.75mi.

All things are clicking along smoothly. We run Legs 19, 20, 21, and start 22 before we have to wake Stallion up from his "3 kids under 4yrs old" coma which comes with plenty of gas. He's rested and excited. While getting ready he starts telling a story of some sort when we hear 83! Team 83!! 83!!! Then "Oh shit! From Stallion. It's BodyBag yelling after he's finished his leg looking for someone to pass off to. The volunteer lady told BodyBag "I guess you're getting a break since the other guy is not here."

At this point we see IYAFYL blue bowtie glowing in the dark. They had found a nice quiet area to park and sleep. That is until YHC rolls up and snatches the door open startling the crap out of LoveBug.

So about 2am-0200 PowderBoy texts Van 1 letting them know that we are way ahead of pace and to meet us at 4am-0400. Someone calls them around 0300 with no answer. HMMMM We finally hear from Audit. They are about to leave the hotel due to A. not setting an alarm or B. not hearing alarm. We have Spackler on the course with fire coming off his Hokas. The conversation immediately turns into "they'll never make it". A rash of texts and calls go out figuring which leg to meet at and whether they will make it. WaterBug man's up since just finishing a 10 mile leg and jumps out on Van 1's 2.4mi Leg. This being Leg 25. Somehow the info got crossed up and Van 1 went to exchange 23/24 at Wadboo boat landing and is waiting there. 1 more call goes out to get Van 1 to meet us at exchange 25/26.

Van 1 comes in with tires screeching and BlowFish flying out. He gets the band from WaterBug and takes off. Only to be called back because he has no vest on or head lamp. He gets set and promptly tears off down the road. On the wrong side with vans dodging him from behind.

Some routes were redistributed in order to get 3 Legs each, and we were off the elementary school so Stallion could get his damn chicken biscuit that he'd been asking for since Lexington, SC. We get to the staging area when Stallion realizes something is different with his shoes. Apparently after 6 hard hours of sleep and dressing in the dark he had put on 1 of his shoes and one of WaterBug's. He said that's the best his feet felt the entire trip.

Fast-forward to the last leg. I hand off to Spackler and he's gone. We jump in the van and haul it across the bridge to the finish. We are looking for Spackler while driving and never see him. We get to the finish, figure his time, and walk to the turn at the end. No Spackler. Then we start with the "He was ahead of that guy", "He left before that guy". Where did he go? Finally we see him coming. He's still digging hard. We all cross the finish line together and he says I got lost. He missed 1 turn coming out of Charleston. He realized this when he looked around for the bridge and it was behind him. He then proceeded to stand in the street stopping cars and asking for directions. Luckily avoiding being shot in the neighborhood he was in, he got directions and headed to the finish. Last leg 4.31 miles, Spackler's last leg 7 miles.

We made it! No major injuries if you don't count LubeJob twisting his ankle getting out of the van. Must have been on a beer run.

All Hartsville PAX are on hand minus 1! We are waiting on the last IYAFYL runner! The anticipation was great! The guys were all talking- "Where is he?" "How much longer?" Then his wife and children show up with signs. Then other PAX wives and children show up. No one wants to miss this! I'll go ahead and say that tears were flowing from grown ass men waiting on this finish.
BOWTIE rounds the corner heading to the finish with his kids falling right in with him, and his IYAFYL team right behind! It was a site to see for sure, and YHC was proud to be there.

Proud of all 28 men that participated. Next year should be a blast!

Notable quotes from trip---

"Next year let's have a 9 man team"
"Nobody told me there was a bridge!"
"Where's the latrine?"
"You think she needs help with that sunscreen?"
"You're lucky I'm not in the ditch, in the fetal position with my thumb in my mouth."
"Catch that guy!" "Shit I've been trying for 3 miles"
"There's a latrine."
"Where'd LubeJob and Blowfish go?"
"Hey LubeJob you got anymore of that special lube?"
"Where's Rocky, never mind he's sleep."
"Latrine is right behind us."
"That girl will make you think bad thoughts."
"I want that damn IOP Bridge leg again next year. I'm gonna smoke that bitch."
"Hey can you pass me my ruck?"

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LazyBoy/Repo II: Slingin’ in the Rain (@Revolution)

When YHC and his Co-Q Repo were discussing this impending beatdown they decided that even in the dark and the rain it was a "Suns Out Guns Out" kind of day, so this upper body monster commenced. YHC was actually on time for the workout, even posting a few minutes early to the shock and dismay of the Pax. Head even mentioned that when he pulled up and saw YHC's truck already parked that he assumed his own clock must have been wrong and he was in fact actually late. But alas that was not the case and the beatdown started promptly at 5:30 with a call to circle up by Co-Q Repo.

Warm Up:

  • 15 X SSH IC
  • 15 X Pennington's IC
  • 15 X Merkins OYO
  • 20 X Choppin' Wood IC

The Thang:

The Pax was informed to each grab a cinder block and partner up on the sidewalk. When they returned with said cinder blocks the workout was laid out. One partner would start on the sidewalk and the other at the flag. Blocks would be used at both ends. When traversing back and forth between the two stations two burpees would be hit when approaching the swing set both coming and going. On the sidewalk end 300 of each exercise were to be completed by each team. At the flag 20 reps of an exercise on the sheet, descending down the sheet each time were to be completed before going back to tag your partner out and send him to the flag. (This may sound incredibly familiar to anyone who was at the 11/19 Convergence. Admittedly your Co-Q's did ape this aspect from Goldi's workout that day in the parking lot. But in our defense it was a helluva workout that morning AND most of the Revolution guys weren't there so they would be none the wiser.)

The Sidewalk Set of Workouts (With Blocks):

  • Hartsville Hammers (300)
  • Chest Press (300)
  • Overhead Press (300)
  • Squats(300)
  • Curls (300)

The Flag Set of Workouts (With Blocks):

  • Incline Merkins (20)
  • Decline Merkins (20)
  • SSH (20) (Without Blocks Obviously)
  • Mountain Climbers(20) (Ditto)
  • Rows (20)

About two thirds of the way through the call was made to modify from swing set burpees in to lunges. This came after YHC busted his ass attempting a burpee for what felt like the millionth time in that damn mud, causing much derision from PowderBoy who was obviously not paying enough attention to his own workout since he had time for jokes. The highlights of this section included YHC threatening to hide behind his Co-Q's car and sucker punch him the next morning when he left for work after a spat over the ridiculous number of Hartsville Hammer's Repo had assigned even though he knew his Co-Q DESPISES ab work as well as Repo's absolute refusal to keep an accurate count on the team's number of reps leading to YHC doing about 30 extra curls thus rendering the aforementioned sucker punch an idle threat. The Pax was absolutely GASSED by the time each team had completed their 300 but everyone did indeed finish with a little help from their brothers picking up reps. Co-Q Repo called recover and we circled up for Name-arama and the devo which was to be delivered by YHC LazyBoy who is to be perfectly honest beginning to get a bit of a big head regarding his ability to inspire the Pax in this situation.

Devo:

"On the back of this F3 shirt right here it says: "Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying". That reminded me of one of my favorite quotes from one of my heroes; Coach Lou Holtz he said : "Life is really quite exciting. One day you’re drinking the wine, and the next day you’re picking more grapes. There are certain things in the world we all have in common such as time. Everybody has sixty seconds to a minute, sixty minutes to an hour, twenty-four hours to a day; the difference is what we do with that time and how we use it. As Reverend Harrington says, “if you’re killing time it’s not murder, but pure suicide." And that just led me down a Lou Holtz wormhole so here's a few of my favorite Dr. Lou quotes:

On the four cornerstones needed in life:

“You need something to do, someone to love, something to believe in and something to hope for.”

On happiness:

“If you want to be happy for a day, go out and play golf. If you want to be happy for a week, go on a cruise. If you want to be happy for a month, get a new car. If you want to be happy for a year, win the lottery.

“But if you want to he happy for a lifetime, make sure you add value to everyone you come in contact with.”

And to tie it up a little spiritually: 

"I can't, I just can't believe that God put us on this earth to be ordinary"

In the F3 book "Freed To Lead" they talk about being a "High Impact Man" which is defined as : " A man dedicated to forcible contact to strong effect. A Disrupter. That Somebody who makes things happen." I definitely thought those quotes speak to that idea. And I gotta be honest fellas that really speaks to me. It really appeals to me and when I look around this circle I damn sure think I see a bunch of guys who feel the same way. And I actually wanted to finish this one up with Coach Holtz's Team Prayer."

Team Prayer By Coach Lou Holtz:

This is the beginning of a new day. God has given me this day to use as I will. I can waste it or use it for good. But what I do today is important because I'm exchanging a day of my life for it.

When tomorrow comes this day will be gone forever, leaving in its place that which I have traded. I want it to be gain not loss, good not evil, success not failure.

I know I shall not regret the price I have paid for it because the future is just a whole string of now's! 

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14 for a LazyBoy/Repo Co-Q with a shoutout to Jimmy V (@Revolution)

(This was YHC’s V-Q and now V-BB so please bear with.)

Upon arriving the Pax was instructed to go get a cylinder and informed we would be toting them around with us all day. Then Repo made the call for the warm up and we all circled up.

Warm Up:

  • 15 X SSH IC
  • 25 X Pennington's IC
  • 25 X Reverse Pennington's IC
  • 15 X Merkins OYO
  • 5 X Burpees OYO

The Thang:

The aforementioned cylinders were now in play. 4 corners were set up each with a list 4 workouts on them. We started with 10 reps and went up by 10 each time a new corner was reached. Your cylinder was integral to the workouts and had to be carried with you from corner to corner. The corners were traversed by bear crawling to one and then broad jumping to the next one. You could get your cylinder there however you liked but the bear crawling and broad jumping was non-negotiable. CREATIVITY WAS ENCOURAGED. After every 3 broad jumps you hit a burpee and then back to broad jumping.

The First Set of Workous:

  • Merkins (10,20,30,40)
  • Overhead Press (10,20,30,40)
  • LBC's (10,20,30,40)
  • Curls (10,20,30,40)

After one round of this YHC was GASSED and had spent a large chunk of the time mumble-chattering/bitching through his OWN workout. This included lashing out at the Co-Q for printing higher than agreed upon reps and MAYBE even accusing one of the Pax of being a "snitch". We took a quick water break and then got back to it, trusty cylinders still in tow.

The Second Set of Workouts:

  • Hartsville Hammers (40,30,20,10)
  • Chest Press (40,30,20,10)
  • Flutters (40,30,20,10)
  • Squats(40,30,20,10)

After a full round back through the cones filled with more cylinder love and LOTS more mumble-chatter/Co-Q bickering. We still had a few minutes left and Radar suggested we take it to Mary, which your Co-Q's in their infinite wisdom had completely forgot was even a thing. The cylinders were FINALLY returned home and the Pax circled up.

Mary:

  • Box Cutters
  • "Georgia" Dry Docks (the same as Carolina Dry Docks except you don't talk during and you lose to Vanderbilt. S/O Powderboy)
  • Freddy Mercury's

After a rousing round of Mary that included YHC taking cadence calling command from his Co-Q mid-rep so we could move on before anyone got a hernia we circled up for the devo.

Devo:

"When me and Pat signed up to do this I told Pat I'd definitely take the devo and when I thought of the devo I thought to myself "What's the greatest speech ever given?" Then I thought " That's easy; 1993 Espy Awards : Jim Valvano" "Don't give up. Don't ever give up"  That's the most famous part of that speech. It's an amazing speech but there's another part of that speech that really spoke to me. Jimmy V was dying of cancer in fact he would only live less than two months after that night. He said and I'm just gonna quote this verbatim be cause Jimmy V was a lot better spoken than I am:

 

" People ask me all the time about how you go through your life and how’s your day, and nothing is changed for me. As Dick said, I’m a very emotional and passionate man. I can’t help it. That’s being the son of Rocco and Angelina Valvano. It comes with the territory. We hug, we kiss, we love.

When people say to me how do you get through life or each day, it’s the same thing. To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. Number three is you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special."

Now I don't think I wanna cry every single day, that's a little much. But he's talking about ENGAGING. He's talking about living the HELL outta every single day and that just really spoke to me"

After that we brought it in tight and finished up High School football-style with the Lord's prayer. It was a helluva afternoon and a great experience.

 

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