It’s rare that pedestrians are allowed to walk on the Bourne Bridge, but on an overcast Saturday in the middle of May 2016, over a dozen runners and a golden retriever named Tracy did just that.
A photo captured the iconic moment of the group, most clad in red and wearing weighted rucksacks, escorted by the state police as they made their way toward Bourne and eventually Falmouth. Two runners are carrying an American flag, one a Marine Corps flag, and three (including race co-founder Nicole Spencer) a banner emblazoned with the logo of Heroes In Transition (HIT).
It was near the end of what was the inaugural Ruck4HIT, a relay run that can be summed up in the following adjectives — crazy, intense, and inspiring.
There’s truly nothing like it and that first run — with 12 runners and 4 drivers making their way from Ground Zero in New York City to Cape Cod (275 miles) in 41 hours — set the bar for what this two-day event would become.
This weekend, the Ruck4HIT will celebrate its 10th anniversary when 20 teams set off from Cape Cod Fairgrounds in East Falmouth in the wee hours of the morning on Friday, April 25th to make their way to Provincetown, before coming back to the fairgrounds roughly 36 hours later on April 26th. By the time the run ends, each team will have passed through every town on Cape Cod, where the event has been held since 2017. Runners will log over 200 miles total to raise awareness to the sacrifices our service members, veterans, and their families make for our country. And it will raise funds for HIT, a Mashpee-based nonprofit that was founded to assist the very same people making those sacrifices.
What Makes the Ruck4HIT Stand Out
First, look for the 12- to 14-passenger white and black vans, many of which will be emblazoned with temporary chalk writing on their windows, featuring the clever names of the teams — Worst Pace Scenario; Ruckin’ Seagulls; Ruck It Up; and I Thought This Was a 5K, among others — as well as QR codes that make donations to the Ruck4HIT easy.
What truly makes the relay run unique are the rucksacks. Each runner wears a weighted rucksack, between 10- and 20-pounds, that serves as a symbol of the burdens our military, veterans, and their loved ones make in service to our country.
Running 25 to 30 miles over the course of 36 hours, on little sleep, is difficult. Now try that while wearing a weighted rucksack while seated in a relatively cramped van in between runs. They will run during the day and at night — look for the flashing blinking lights and orange safety vests – and along Route 28, Route 6A, the Cape Cod Rail Trail, and up hills, down hills, and on straightaways that seem like they will never end.
The motto of the Ruck4HIT is “4 Those Who Can’t,” and many participants come from all over the country – this year, some are traveling from as far away as Alaska, Hawaii, Minnesota, North Carolina, Virginia, New York, Connecticut, and New Hampshire – to ruck in honor of heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
At several runner exchanges along the race route there are signs recognizing fallen heroes from Cape Cod, including Marine Captain Eric A. Jones, who died at the age of 29 while flying a combat mission in Afghanistan in October 2009. His parents, Cyndy and the late Kenneth Jones, formed HIT in Eric’s memory. The Ruck4HIT serves as the largest fundraiser of the year for the Cape Cod nonprofit, allowing it to do meaningful work that changes people’s lives for the better.
Join in the Celebration
There are many ways you can support Ruck4HIT.
The easiest? A simple beep of your car horn or a friendly cheer for ruckers who will push themselves mentally, physically, and emotionally over the course of two days.
If you have time, stop at an exchange and talk to a volunteer. Talk to teams. Learn why they are doing it. Ask how they are doing. And if you can, consider a donation.
And make sure to stop by the Ruck4HIT celebration at Cape Cod Fairgrounds in East Falmouth on Saturday, April 26th from 10 am to 3 pm, and watch as teams cross the finish line, 36 hours after they started. The family-friendly event will have music by DJ Sister Spin, pony rides, an inflatable obstacle course, a Touch-A-Truck experience, cornhole, and lots of tasty food with eight different food trucks serving up everything from BBQ to tacos to seafood to pizza.
The post-race party will give you a glimpse into the time, effort, dedication and passion that goes into pulling off an event of this magnitude. And it will demonstrate what makes the Cape such a special place, a community coming together to give back and doing so in an extraordinary way.