Original subtitles

I've failed a million times in my life.

I've made a million and one bad decisions at goruck.

And if you don't take those failures and learn something from them

and apply them to your life...

Then this was for nothing.

I want to meet the kind of person that passes this event.

I want to see that, feel it, smell it,

look at the person in the eyes when they pass...

But more important than that is that everyone who shows up...

I want them to learn something that makes them a better person.

I was thinking of a little small snapshot.

You know, it'd be interesting to see that 'cause I've been working with video.

Wrinkles. Wrinkles. Got wrinkles already?

Got wrinkles all over the place, everywhere.

I think the humidity will take care of this. - Wrinkles.

I think the... Once we step outside.

Who's taking...

What? Here, take this through...

Joe, I want to purchase the 34.

All right, let's be... I'm getting the work done.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Hey, this is a taste of what an operator selection is.

- It's compressed. - It's compressed, condensed timeline

but the most poetic thing about this is it's not that we get to scream and yell

and you get to see the dark side of us as a cadre, not there to encourage you

but we enjoy watching them ride this mental rollercoaster, "il can't do this.

I got this. I got this. Ll can't do this."

It's this wave that they ride throughout the whole event

that's really... that's really the awesome part from a cadre standpoint

to get to watch.

And then when they hit that bottom

that's when they are weak... - And you watch them wrestle. Yeah.

Theyre at their weakest.

It's usually after you've given them the stronger minds,

you've given them a little bit of time to think,

you watch them start to descend and then you just

pick up or prey upon their weakness and then they're sitting by the fire.

- Yeah. - You know. Last year, you know, Alex...

Alex stavdal was there and five minutes later he's like, "man, I'm fine.

I don't know why I quit.”

He's coming back. He might pass. We'll see. You know.

- Like watch him... - There's no take-backs.

- Yeah. - Someone says, "I'm done, I quit.

That's it, you know," that's it, there're no take-backs.

And that's sort of the...

That's why we're happy to have goruck selection exist,

not because we want to roll out here and just yell and scream, right.

I mean you can describe someone's actions in you...

- Monster. - There he comes, stealing the show again.

You can describe someone's actions in with as much color and detail

as god gave you the gift of saying it

however he did, right, you know, death, destruction, carnage,

but the person is never that, right.

These people show up for this. I don't want to show up for this. Do you?

Do you? Nobody does. Nobody wants to show.

Blayne saw the poi. "He goes, no, no thanks, I'm good.”

I mean, he looked at and he goes, "nobody is going to pass this.

It's not humanly possible.”

And then he took a step back, right,

he says, "of course, someone's gonna pass it.

Well, not, of course, but probably.

And, of course, it's humanly possible."

And so this question about who is...

This question about who is physically ready out of the people that show up,

this is a 48-hour endurance event.

That's it, right, 48 hours.

So, my take is that if you pass the pt test,

you are physically capable of completing this event.

I agree. Period. The end.

We call it selection really just to pay homage to our roots.

You know we're not trying to replicate special forces selection

but we are trying to pay tribute to it.

And so we want to give these people the chance to get a taste of what that's like.

I trained really hard

but I didn't expect the... the mental beat down.

I'd like to say that I could pass selection

but I don't think I can look all of you right in the eye

and say that for sure 'cause it is a test like I've never seen.

So when we're talking about condense and special ops selection

and how you look at the goruck selection, all the components are there.

And how we line those up and play those out becomes very interesting.

I'hink we're gonna make it this year? Yes.

How? Okay. How many?

This is the math part, right. So 75 sign up, 50 show up,

45 pass the pt test.

The welcome party claims anywhere between 30 and 40

and then at the 24-hour Mark you're somehow down to three Max.

When it boils down to it,

selection is ultimately a 24-hour endurance event with an extra 24 hours.

Head to the back, take all instructions and follow on, cadre.

Go ahead and clear it.

Grab all your gear, head to the back, take all instructions to follow on, cadre.

Hurry up. Move.

Hurry up. Let's go.

Take all food and water out of your rucksack.

You'll hang it by the top with the carrying handle when I tell you to do so.

Take two steps back.

Turn now to right.

Strike one.

Point zero, four-five.

Insufficient amount of weight. Fix it.

Take it off.

Class of 015.

Class of 015, insufficient amount of weight.

One-five, take all your gear and move to the back

and take on following instructions to follow on, cadre.

Alright. Any other medications? Any injuries or illnesses?

And we tell you to take an ors packet through... - Right and clear.

Move to the back. Take all instructions to follow on, cadre.

Yes. Take it off.

In special forces, we join that community

because I think a lot of us wanted to be part of a high-performing team,

something elite, there's something to more than it's just about us.

In order to have high-performing teams,

they have to be made up of high-performing individuals

who are selfless and committed to the cause.

The selection takes you back to being an individual.

It makes you look deep inside yourself.

That's what it boils down to.

You're trying to sort out those people and determine

who has the gut to pull it out.

Everybody out there says it's a bridge too far.

If you never served, you can never understand it.

That's a coward's approach.

People need to say this is how you can better understand it.

You have 15 seconds, pack it up.

Hurry up.

Pick it up and dump it out.

Too slow packing up again.

Pack it up! Too slow! Pack it up! Too slow!

I mean, my mom cried right in front of me

when I told her that I was enlisting,

that I'd already enlisted, in fact.

And she's crying in our kitchen, saying no.

She didn't understand anything about the army.

And... and yet, you know, because I took a step forward

and said, I'm gonna do this, you know, she became knowledgeable about service

more so than she was before.

And so there's a lot of Americans out there

who want a little slice of knowledge about what it means and what it takes.

What kind of a human does this to themselves?

Five-one, everyone knows that number now.

Five-0one.

We'll hear that number until we don't.

That's how this works.

The numbers we know are the numbers that go away, the fastest.

You just sort of say this isn't for me.

Five-0one...

Missing hats.

Plastic bags. Who's this for?

Whose bags are these?

Here 5053.

Who brought clearly identifiable great value

plastic bags here?

Get up here five-two.

Why weren't you sure?

I don't know, cadre. It took a second.

Was it because they were great value bags

that are gonna fucking break and fall apart in two fucking seconds anyway?

Shitty fucking value.

Poor decision.

- Stuff them in your ruck. - Roger.

Hurry up.

You know, they start off administrative... Administrative stressful, right?

Pack your ruck, unpack your ruck, pack, unpack it again, pack it.

And just watching people sweating,

drenched in sweat just packing and unpacking their ruck,

you know, it's like basic training day one, right,

where the people are just yelling into the face.

It's done for a purpose. It's done to create stress and to see what you're gonna do.

You go get that boot.

Get in there, hurry up one-five, get in there.

Hurry up, one-five. Hurry up.

Hurry up one-five.

Get your, let's go.

- Get it, get it, get it. - Let's go, one-five. Hurry up.

One-five, stop real quick. Stop. Stop.

Look behind you.

Yes, cadre.

What do you see?

A lot of folks that are done and I'm not.

Go ahead.

There are times throughout selection or any selection,

it's the same in the military,

where there's a very clear and defined standard like, let's say the pt test.

We're looking for perfect pushups.

We're looking for perfect sit-ups.

It's completely objective and we should expect that of them

because they're coming in fresh, they had plenty of time to prepare

and those standards are well published ahead of time.

You understand that as a candidate

going through that you have to do 50 pushups,

do 55, do 60.

That's where you're trying to find that person who has gotten rid of their ego,

they're... they're in the zone and they understand that it's more about

an awareness and an understanding of standards

and then take those standards to the next level

because that's the guy you want to your right and your left

when you're in a situation and you need help.

Fall in on your gear, priorities of work.

Fall in on your gear, priorities of work.

All the army physical fitness test is just a baseline standard

for us to be able to, um, judge the participants

on whether or not they're physically ready.

They have to pass the pi test in order for the event to actually begin.

The standards are very simple. You have to do 55 pushups in 2 minutes,

65 sit-ups in 2 minutes and you have to run 5 miles in 40 minutes or less.

What follows is a 12-mile ruck.

That 12-mile ruck they have to do in three and a half hours.

That will be the end of the physical testing portion of goruck selection.

This is the only known that these participants have about the event before they come.

S50, their level of preparation

really shows during the pt test.

And it doesn't matter if they have 54 pushups, that's the standard.

We had a number of people actually have 54 pushups and they went home. So...

That's all it really is, is just a standard for us to make sure that they're ready for it.

Yeah, you're asking the wrong guy for that

because none of us, obviously, showed up to special forces assessment selection

or Navy seal bud/s or anything like that

physically unprepared or else we wouldn't be standing in front of you right now.

So I don't know what's in the head of those people who don't come physically prepared.

It doesn't make a lot of sense.

Our community, the special forces community,

when they look at goruck, when they look at us and when they look at this particular event,

we want them to feel good about it, to be proud of it

and to feel that we're representing the community

and we're representing special forces as well.

We've put ourselves in a bit of a tough spot because we can't half-ass it.

We can't fail to meet high standards if we're gonna call it selection

but we're okay with that because we're also committed to doing right by it.

I don't really like goruck selection

but it's also the only event we have

where I consistently tear up at the end.

To watch the human spirit

go on this amazing journey

of successes and failures and ultimately, triumph

is...

A certain way to conjure up those memories

of what the special forces assessment and selection course was for me.

I know all the steps, I know all the things you have to do,

not to gut it out but six months ago, a year ago,

the commitment, the sacrifice, the dedication that you had to make as an individual.

To put yourself in that moment,

that specific moment where you're at your absolute lowest,

you're digging really deeply to figure out what's my why?

Why are you still here filling water up? Hurry up.

Fill up water, fast. Move out, fast.

Pack your shit up, fast.

Grab your fucking shit and go.

Whose shit is this?

Pick it up.

Hey, move out. - Zero-four-six, get the fuck out of here. Move.

Double-time, go. Go.

Come on three-five.

We are one minute into the welcome party.

Only about 40 hours of goruck selection remain.

And, uh, it looks really painful already.

You had. You don't have it. You don't have it in you.

You have quitter all over your face.

Why are you wasting your time? Why are you wasting our cadre time? Let's go.

Squat.

Just take a step out.

Not with your ruck in the water, you.

Lunge towards the shore.

Hey, we didn't say just drop and fall. We said lunge.

You got four-six? Let's go.

We want you to lunge your way to the back...

- Get back. Get back over here. - Get your damn ruck up!

Move!

Okay.

Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, two, one, get up!

Get down! Get down! Crawl on your belly.

Your legs don't work, you can crawl.

When I signed in, everybody gave me a med sheet

and if you look at the bottom of the med sheet, it says, "what is your stress level at right now?"

And everybody was either moderate or severe.

And we hadn't even started yet.

So with us just ensuing a little bit of chaos,

just prodding and poking a little bit,

we're building... we're kicking that little internal gremlin

that's inside of them and just letting them spin wild.

All right. Go over to that truck.

Get your ruck off. Cadre one-two, is he done?

- One-two is out. - Zero-one-two.

Up!

Three of your buddies realized that they're not gonna make it all night

and stop the pain while they could.

We're already down four from like 30 minutes ago.

Not only do you have to be able to do the shift physically,

you gotta be able to master the chaos as well and endure the unknown.

We get to see them at their weakest and at their strongest points

and it's a roller coaster all night just watching these guys

up and down, up and down, fight that demon.

They kick one demon in the face, another one pops up and it's all night.

The physical is just the physical.

You'll see 90 percent of these guys are in their heads most of the night.

If you get up close and look in their eyes, you'll see it.

This is the performance you've got and it's not good enough.

You're not meeting the standard. You're dead last at everything.

You're not moving. And it is only a matter of time.

The welcome party, you know, it's the first day of basic training

where the people are just on you.

You think you're trying your hardest. Cadre know you're not.

They're pushing you further, they're yelling at you,

there's mass confusion, it's dark and you've got mud in the crack of your ass.

It's just bad.

Trample the weak, hurdle the dead. Let's go.

Dominate the man in front of you.

Relax. Relax.

Rucksacks on your back. Rucksacks on your back.

- Rucksacks on your back. - On your back!

But, yet, you're still looking around, you still have a place to find comfort

pecause that candidate over there is getting a lot of attention.

Win or quit? Take your pick.

Either dig deep or stand up.

That's your two options right now.

Let's just stand up, come on. Let's go.

I'll get your ruck for you, let's go to the truck. Come on, let's go.

I'll get your ruck for you, let's go to the truck. Come on.

- You're done, right? - Not yet.

You're done? Then start fucking performing.

Start winning.

Does this feel like winning to you?

Who do you usually play against where this feels like winning?

Don't disrespect everyone else that's here working.

Don't disrespect what this is about

because you want to lay in the mud and pretend like you're not quitting.

You're either quitting or you're working. That's it.

Just drop the log if you're done, man. It's not that big of a deal.

Just drop it.

It's one thing if your mind's telling you yes

but your body's telling you something totally different, you better listen to your body.

What's interesting is that some of these folks, some of them have nothing in the tank

until they are right at the brink and then suddenly they've got a reserve

but we want them to perform the standard as prescribed all the time,

and not just kind of fake the funk and see if they can sneak their way through

pecause that is not what this is about.

Give me this hand. Move it over the log. Hold it there.

What the fuck is wrong with you?

This event is about fucking winning.

Right now, you're getting special attention because you are fucking losing.

You are failing to meet the standard. That is losing.

He's quitting, man. He's quitting.

He is quitting. Three-two is quitting.

Mount it. I don't give two shits about your cramps. Hurry up.

When you see somebody put every ounce of themself into it and it's just not gonna be enough

and when you see that realization wash over their face, it's tough to watch.

Like all you want to do is support them, but you've got to support the standard as well.

40 more hours of two standard training.

That's the clock that ticks.

Grab the log with your hands flipping it over there.

Straight over.

None of that sideways bullshit like the last one.

End over end.

Hurry up, this is real.

Aw, fuck.

Look at me.

Look at me.

Open your eyes.

That's the third time you've fallen.

You're at risk of safety to yourself and to others.

You're two performance failures away from being out of here.

And before you hurt yourself or anybody else, I'm gonna let them drop you.

Do you understand?

Take your ruck off.

Roll it, roll it.

Rob, are you okay, man?

My body broke down.

I let you go as long as I could, man.

I know you were trying, all right.

No shame in that, all right?

I don't want you to hurt yourself or anybody else.

Hey, Rob.

Let's get you on your feet, brother. Awesome job, man.

You got some fire in there. Come on.

You guys are no fucking joke, man.

Come on, brother, let's go. Let's get you up. Come on. Get up.

- Can I go in there? - Yeah, you can go.

It's not rhetorical, I'm asking, keep moving.

How come everybody else can do it but you can't?

Three-two.

You know that number. =yeah, I should.

Why should you... - How come everybody can do this but you can't?

You shouldn't even have that patch.

Three-two, six-four, we know these numbers.

Can you hear me?

All right, why can't you do this but everybody else can?

Huh?

What do you mean you don't know? That's not an answer.

I want a real answer.

Why can't you do this but everybody else can?

Keep going.

Why can't you do this but everybody else can?

On your feet, on your feet. On your feet, on your feet. Stand up. Stand up.

Come on, come on, just stand up. Stand up, stand up.

Okay, give me your hand.

No, no, put on the ground, put on the ground. Hey, what's your name?

Lance. Hey.

=hi. - Garrett.

Hey, seriously... =no...

No qualms, man.

Wow.

Hey, you're a strong motherfucker, all right? You're strong.

- Hey, there's no... this is all just... - No, next year. Next year.

All right. Go home, rebuild, no failure, you're only learning.

Well, your body just gave up a little bit on you, you know.

Don't... you better hold your head high, all right?

Absolutely. - Nice to meet you, bro.

Get up there.

All right, go faster, faster.

Get up!

Sprint! Let's go!

Guess what I want you to do?

I want you to put your rucksack on your back.

I tell you to move out, you're gonna sprint.

I tell you to stop, you're gonna drop and do a pushup.

- You understand me? - Yeah.

Go.

Down.

Up. Sprint.

Down.

Up.

Sprint.

Down.

Shoulder to shoulder.

Stop losing your life-saving equipment called your shoes, two-eight.

Shoulder to shoulder.

Friday morning, we got sunrise, we got four left

and the sun's usually a big, big boost to morale.

Um, that's gonna be somewhat counterbalanced here

by the fact they're getting ready to have cadre shift change.

And that's not gonna go well for them. Um...

Those of you who've been through some of these courses

in the military know how this works. Um...

You've some low moments, 3,4 in the morning

when it's really darkest and, uh,

once that sun starts to come up, we start to see, you know, we call solar-powered rangers.

They'll feed off that. And that'll be good for them.

But cadre shift change is never good.

Pays to be a fucking winner.

- Understood? - Yes, cadre. -Yes, cadre.

Down and back, go.

Not on your knees.

Just came on shift around 7 o'clock. Uh, we had four.

We had a competition to see who could finish first.

We got four sandbags, three of them are 80 pounds, one of them 60 pounds.

We did a duck walk competition to see who could get in first.

That person will get the 60-pound sandbag.

Stop feeling sorry for yourself and get down.

Next time you stand up, you stand up and hand me your patch and walk off.

Do the exercises we told you to. Get down.

Once we start the next event, you're gonna wish you were duck walking.

We made it about halfway through the duck walk competition

and zero-six-zero stood up and gave us his voluntary withdrawal.

Six-zero is out.

So we're down to three.

And, uh, it gets us in this case it didn't pay to be a winner,

everybody's got an 80-pound sandbag we're filling right now.

Resistance is futile.

Don't try with the passive resistance. We've all seen that trick.

We all know how it works.

Let's go!

Look at that machine.

We're playing a little bit of mind games with them.

They think that this is about distance down and back, but this evolution is about time.

Clock's not going to save you, six-eight.

You're married to that sandbag until you can complete the standard.

Move the sandbag.

And since the candidates didn't evenly fill their bags,

we're gonna evenly distribute the load.

So you'll see us rotate after a certain distance is met

or a certain time has passed, one of each candidate rotate.

And he was just chucking the shit out of it.

Now you could turn around and watch him struggle with this next stride he is about to do

and you'll see that not all the sandbags are equal.

So we're trying to equal the pain train across the board.

I mean, I know an sf selection in a 48-hour period,

1 got to eat probably five to six times

and I got maybe two hours of sleep a day or three or four.

What this is, is...

I mean, it's almost like the never-ending firefight.

You can't sleep, you can't eat.

Just when you think it got to its worst point, it gets worse.

This isn't break time, six-eight.

Not like a outside the military kind of endurance athlete kind of guy

but I can't think of anything that has this much time,

and this much physical, um, mental stress.

I can't think of anything to tell you the truth.

Eight, seven, six, five, four,

three, two, one, performance failure.

1 got 99 problems and you being smoked ain't one.

Get on the fucking sandbag do the standard.

Fucking execute it.

- Is that it? - I can't pick it up.

You re out. I'm out.

This isn't sign-ons.

Trainer, you out?

Oh, man.

I can't pick it up.

I know.

This is my second attempt and I've done other events

but selection, to go full out,

god bless these guys.

I mean, mentally, yeah, but I'm just completely smoked

where I couldn't move the sandbag anymore.

S50, whatever the next evolution is,

seeing how there'll probably be another one before the, uh, 24-hour Mark,

even if I made it through this, I don't know.

I mean, once you pass the welcome party, you just keep moving.

I can't move anymore.

And now there were two.

Pick it up. Move it. Move the weight.

First one back to start point gets a big old fat break.

Pays to be a winner.

As I finished the tough one, I was like, what's the next challenge?

Then it was the spartan race. And then, what's the next challenge?

Then I read about the goruck challenge

as it was called back then back in 2013.

And I did my first one in San Diego, July, class 690.

It was an amazing life-changing experience and I got hooked on it ever since.

I said face him, two-eight.

This isn't do whatever the fuck you want. Face him.

Look him in the eye.

Only one of you is gonna be here.

Selection is an anti-goruck event

because goruck is supposed to be team building

and selection is a different beast.

- He's right, you're wrong. - 90.

.- Up.

Just lock them out.

- Up! - Ninety.

Oh wait, see, he's not wrong. You're wrong again.

Can't do it. Can't even lock your arms out.

So much for how far you can push your body, three-five.

So much for how perfect you are, three-five.

You know, you have to make some sort of plan to start,

so it's like, okay, make it to the first sunrise at Friday, right,

and then there's so few people like you can manage it from there.

I said, well, here it is sunlight, right, and I was happy in my head

but at the same time it was like, uh-oh, this is as far as I planned.

Mark klemm was just physically dominating.

He picked the perfect point to take off.

What's the probability you think that you finish goruck selection?

A 100%.

I finished selection the day I signed up for it.

You're that cocky about this.

I'm not, I trained my balls off.

Not cocky at all.

It was very much like dominating. It pays to be a winner.

They say that over and over

and it sounds maybe silly but it pays to be a winner.

Just my own doubts combined with the cadre there,

I mean they're amazing at fishing and they dig and dig until they find the right spot

and then, right, they just harp on that.

It's just like, okay, I'm not gonna make it, right, that's it.

Garrett picked me up.

Jason took my ruck and it's just like, man, that was a terrible idea.

You come out of that fog and immediately know you made a mistake,

had plenty more energy and it was just a... It was just a bad choice in that moment.

Put your rucksack on your back.

- Put it on your back now! Hurry up! - Hurry up!

What are you doing? Put your rucksack on your back.

Turn around three-five.

The sandbag toss. Proceed towards the water. Go.

Viking loves this one. Look at that one.

Look at that fucking... He's a warrior right now.

That's it, I'll just Chuck it.

You think you're gonna pass this event?

There's a good chance

but...

It all depends on what happens in the next 24 hours

because I know it's gonna get hard.

He is fucking eating your... he is eating your manna and getting stronger.

The shark smells your blood in the water.

He is getting fucking stronger by the second. - Right shoulder.

Yeah, of course, it's gonna depend on what happens in the next 24 hours...

But what's gonna go on inside your head when it gets a lot worse?

Uh...

I'm not sure.

It's a... there's a...

A lot of pain...

But, uh...

I just need to push forward.

Man, he's already into the next evolution, you haven't even got to the water yet.

Six-two is a fucking warrior and you're sitting here sipping water like a fucking Sally.

I let's go, iwo-eight.

It's very apparent who was bearing their burden of the weight.

Very apparent now. Just had to divvy things up.

It's only 40 pounds, we've been pretty fucking generous, I think.

Right shoulder.

Pretty fair, guys.

Let you take a fucking break when you met the standard earlier.

Pays to be a winner.

Pays to meet the standard.

Six-two's doing really well, we're not focused on him at all right now.

We're basically saying, "hey, you're doing really well," we'll build his ego up,

you know, because we're looking to create a distance between two-eight and six-two,

that's the... that's the methodology.

So the creation of distance,

it's the same reason why a lion picks on the slow zebra, why pick on the fast one.

The fast one will become slow eventually.

And so, right now six-two is crushing it.

We'll just shatter him with praise because we want, praise of sorts

because we want that to get into two-eight's head.

It's pretty much that simple.

Why is this so much easier for him than for you?

He must've prepared it.

Did he train harder?

Did he do better or he's just tougher?

It's 'cause he's a winner and he had 420 calories.

Or is it because he's a fucking winner?

So let's talk about your evolution from last year to this year.

Are you in a much different space? What happened?

Uh, it was just total failure, so I just... there was no way I was gonna let that happen again.

So, uh, I pushed out over the past year.

Uh, I started training even earlier.

I got strong over the winter then tried to lean out a bit to get faster.

I went even further with the same thing I did last year

but started even further back

with, uh, no coffee, no caffeine, no booze, no happiness.

Six-two, go sit, go, go sit down and drink water.

Rucksack down.

Rucksack up.

Rucksack up all the way.

Pays to be a winner, iwo-eight.

I'd work out 12... 12 to 13 times a week.

1 carry a 60-pound ruck, uh, I work in the city and I go client to client to client.

So I carry a 60-pound ruck every day.

Uh, it's...

It... it adds up just... just going to the subway, going to work,

coming back from the subway, coming back from work,

uh, I usually put in about 2.8 miles just there,

uh, and that's not if I,

you know, travel around to a bunch of client sites throughout the day that mileage goes up.

Look what it looks like, stand up, two-eight, look what it looks like to win.

That's what it looks like. That's what the standard looks like.

That's what happens when you meet the standard.

This is what happens when you don't. Rucksack above your head.

What's the probability that you pass goruck selection this year?

100%.

In three words or less, what's going on in your mind right now?

Now, we're gonna ask that same question to two-eight. We're gonna see what he says.

Everybody has a physical point where they're gonna just fall out

but it's well past what your mind thinks you can do,

as long as you let your mind believe you can do more.

Where you at, two-eight, let's go!

Right now, at this point, we're just keeping them moving

because what we know is coming up in the next hour after this is gonna be extremely physical.

So right now we're just keeping them engaged without smoking them.

They still got a very wet full rucksack on their back.

Theyre, un...

Let's see, two, three, they are 22 hours, 21 hours into this.

21 and a half.

So...

Going without sleep for 24 hours,

because I'm sure they were up for a few hours before this thing started

and no food, nothing's easy at this point.

Are you gonna fall down?

In three words or less, tell me what's going through your head right now?

"I'm depleted, cadre.” that's three words, good.

Go to your happy place there, gilmore.

All right, Jason, we got an update on state of affairs for you.

Good.

So as they were coming back and forth,

we asked six-two in three words or less

what's going through your mind right now and he said, "winning."

And when the two-eight got down here, I asked him the same question,

and he said, "I am depleted, cadre."

What? He said that? =that's what he said.

So you're gonna be... you're gonna be at one here real soon.

Yeah.

I mean, his only hope is that he gets to the 24-hour Mark,

that's his only hope.

What happens in 24 hours?

They get a break, they get a food item,

get a maybe 45 minutes to sit down and refit their... their stuff.

Yeah. Priorities... Priorities of work.

That can go... hat break can go one of two ways though.

Yeah.

You know, nobody wants to restart the cold engine.

You know, nobody wants to do that.

Especially, when the engine is switching off.

Yeah.

Two-eight's got his head down every time it comes around that corner. He just got lapped.

Did he? - The only thing he could tell me was he was depleted.

Yeah, that's bad.

Did you lap him, six-two?

Yes, cadre.

You fucking lapped him, look at you.

Ahem. What's your warrior animal, what's your warrior spirit?

If you had to pick one right now, tell me, hurry up.

Then fucking go breathe fire all over him and destroy him.

You got lapped, sucker.

You got lapped.

Turn around, go get a brick, come back.

Yes, cadre.

Make it so. Hurry up.

Six-two, do you care about anything we throw at you at this point?

1 didn't think so.

I mean, they're in terms of their training, in terms of their preparation,

in terms of all the stuff they've done and prepared for this, they're identical,

their bodies could be performing at the same level right now, it's just...

The mind controls the body.

We try to tell them otherwise, we do tell them otherwise but the mind controls the body.

Two-eight looks terrible.

Get the brick and keep moving.

Two-eight, in three words or less, how you feeling right now?

Not very good.

He knows what the definition of winning is, he knows how to count,

one, two, three, three words or less he says...

Can be creative in the middle of all this.

Yeah. Not very good he says.

- It's a terrible answer. - Yeah.

But it meets the... the mathematical requirements, you know.

The answer meets the look on his face.

Keep moving, iwo-eight.

You can do whatever you want when you're not in front of me.

Hint. Here he comes. The machine.

Drink water.

What's motivating you right now?

Winning.

What do you want to win?

Zero-two-eight, in three words or less, how are you feeling?

Is this ever gonna change, do you think? Stop.

Is this gonna change? Or are you gonna always feel sorry for yourself?

Is that your motivation right now?

So you failed to properly train without...

You failed to properly train for 24 hours without consuming calories.

Your body doesn't recognize what this feels like

and so it's starting to eat itself away and it's starting to crash.

I mean, we still have hours and hours and hours to go

until your 24-hour Mark.

You've been given every opportunity to win.

Six-two's gotten plenty of food because he's been winning.

Do you have... Do you have what it takes?

But you don't?

Every time I see your shoulders roll forward

and this weakness inside of you, I want to smoke you till you quit.

That's... that's the kind of... That's what you are doing to us.

So you need to fix yourself, you need to stop worrying about, I need food.

Bullshit you need food.

Bullshit.

Pick it up, start fucking winning or quit, that's what kind of event this is.

You're... youre kissing your cousin right now. Win or quit.

Meet the standard or quit, that's the deal.

- Is that clear? - Yes, cadre.

Do you want to quit at this time?

I do not, cadre.

Then continue and start to win.

He needs a victory. That's what he needs.

The problem is that there's nobody to motivate him to win right now except for himself.

Something's gonna have to change, his luck's gonna have to change.

He's gonna have to change his demeanor, his confidence level. He's gonna have to dig deep.

Every sfas selection has that component to it, that individual component,

where you're pushed so far mentally that all you have to do is say, fuck it.

And when you say fuck it, you put one foot in front of the other, and follow instructions.

07, 88, 89, 90.

Leg straight out, six-two, back to 70.

We want people that show up ready, we want them to pass.

It is, they got to pass on their own.

Straight out, two-eight. Six-two, doing the fucking standard.

04, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69.

There is a standard but, you know, once the goruck selection starts,

the welcome party begins, the standard is whoever's winning.

So, you know, the cat's out of the bag, that's the standard.

Two-eight, you're in the lead right now.

- 97... - 73.

- 98, 99... - 74.

- 300. - 75.

You know there's always a split sort of,

is it better to have somebody behind you

who is doing poorly so you look good by comparison.

But then also you're competing with them

and if the next evolution is something that they're good at and you're bad at,

well, guess what, heh, now you're the one behind the eight ball

and that might last for one or two or three hours

and you might not be able to recover from that.

Look who the smart guy is how?

Pays to be a winner.

Peanut butter and fucking jelly, my favorite.

For me, it was just get past the pt test, get past the welcome party,

uh, and then get to the 24-hour Mark and then, boom, go time, that was the game plan.

This one looks good.

I need water.

A little bit of fungus. Get up.

How are your feet?

They feel good, cadre.

Six-two, go and take the shoes off.

They, they actually, uh...

Six-two, take off your shoes.

They say the hardest part of actual special forces selection

is lacing up your boots for the second... for the next day, after maybe an hour of asleep.

That's the same thing, you know... the same thing here, the hardest part is

after that nice little break that you get, lacing those boots up and going for round two.

It's big, uh... It's a big mind game.

Six-two, how you doing right now?

- I'm doing well, cadre. - One to ten?

Nine.

What's your biggest issue then?

No issue, cadre.

Just, obviously, not as fresh 24 hours in as zero hours in

but I feel good.

How are you feeling mentally? Ten.

How you feeling physically? =nine.

All right, anything else you got to say?

I have nothing, cadre.

All right.

All right, two-eight, quick check-in.

How you doing, 1 to 10, mentally and physically?

Uh, physically, 6; Mentally, 8.

What's going on in your head?

Uh...

Body is... body is tired.

I mean it's going at it for 24 hours, it's... it's expected so.

It's... it's gonna be difficult because...

Yeah, the chest muscles are sore, uh,

quads... calves are a little tight so it's just, you know.

Okay, continue to priorities of work.

We asked six-two how he's doing. He's like, mentally, I'm 10. Physically, I'm a 9. Right.

Doesn't want to say anything, doesn't want to give me anything, right,

which is exactly the right answer, you know, I'm good.

Like, fucking lie, that's what you do, you fucking lie.

I'm good, right, I'm great.

But you have to believe that lie.

You do. You have to believe the lie. - That's exactly right.

For two-eight, he still remains, you know, how are you doing?

My body, 24 hours later,

I'm very sore, you know, my chest hurts, stuff like that

and he still gotta find that... that fighter.

Okay.

- He's gotta find it. - His voice.

Sounds like he's got a lot of self-doubt.

24 hours is not... This is not close to done.

- I mean, the good news is... - It's halfway done.

The good news is, is that there's only two people

that have a chance of passing goruck selection, they're both right over there

and they're doing well, one's doing a little better but they're doing well.

They both have it in them, they can do it, it's just gonna be up to them.

So root for them and we'll keep it coming.

At 24-hour Mark the cadre demeanor changes to just, hey, here's the standard, do it.

The standard is still upheld

but not to the point like it was when we first began because that's impossible.

Get up! Get up! Get up!

There's obviously, a point of physical exhaustion that you just can't get through,

whether it be dehydration or altitude sickness or whatever it is

but where people stop point is,

is probably two or three times short of where they can go.

Let's go, two-eight.

You reach a point of collapse

that if you're dehydrated or you're hurt in some way,

that's going to be a stopping point, that's going to be a mid drop or whatever

but if you're just at that point that you feel bad,

your mind can do things and it's amazing to push yourself through that

and I think all of the candidates have learned,

some more than others, what they can and can't do.

- Get your elbows off your knees. - Get off the ledge.

Get off the ledge.

On your feet, two-eight.

Get on your gear.

Yes, cadre. - Move with a sense of purpose.

Yeah, this is very military but there's success in failure

so all those people that showed up here

and didn't make it still are probably better people at the end of the day,

they have higher standards of themselves

and they'll expect more of themselves in the future going forward.

One and two...

Move.

Look straight ahead. Only failure's on the ground.

Roster two-zero-eight, do you wish to continue?

Yes, cadre.

- Are you done? - Are you done?

You done?

Get the rucksack, get the sandbag up.

Cadre mocha and cadre Garrett are ramping up the intensity a lot.

It's, uh... it's very hot. Lot of mosquitoes, you know.

It's all that great Florida stuff.

Continue to move. Does not feel sorry for yourself or have self-pity.

Everyone's gonna have a different why.

Ultimately you have to do it for the right reason. It has to be an honest reason.

Toss it forward. Toss your sandbag forward. Go get it.

Toss it, far, as far as you can.

Go get it.

I wanted to go through the experience of being like pushed to my limit

and learn like how to get past that so that I could teach that to others.

You know what he needs to do one more toss just 'cause he's last place.

When I had the thoughts of quitting like it didn't even come up at all.

You need a special invite? You need a special invite? You need some crayons?

- You need a blankie? - No, cadre.

Well, then get moving.

You read things that happened way more significant than just an endurance event.

You know, real life things where people have taken action

and you sort of wonder like, well, how would I do in that sort of situation

and this gives you a chance just to have an idea of like how deep can I dig

to just accomplish the task at hand

regardless of what might happen or how things might be.

Getting the engine started again after you've had a long rest,

I think that break is,

it's a blessing but it's also a curse in a lot of ways.

These guys had over an hour to kind of power down and get their shoes off

it's fair to say it's a blessing in the long run

and in the short run it's miserable.

I think that's a great way to describe it.

Without the rest, they might not have had a shot

and they needed the nutrition especially in the hydration, they needed the rest but

to go from 0 to 60 again is very, very difficult.

And it just doesn't feel very worth it after you've had to get back up and start again

so I think we're seeing that especially with two-eight right now.

He just is having a hard time getting back into the swing of things.

If he can get through the next, you know, 20 or 30 minutes

and kind of get back on the... On the horse,

he might get in the zone and keep going

but he's really struggling to kind of find the motivation coming off the break.

Okay, what you're gonna do is reverse lunges.

Understand me? You know, lunge, facing this way.

In that direction..

You're done?

Okay.

Six-two, move, you heard the exercise, didn't you?

Come here, Jonathan, come over here, man.

Here, bro. Sit down, sit down. Chill. Let me have your fucking rucksack.

Cadre was just going too fast and I just couldn't move.

I don't know if I just need to improve cardio or what but it was just...

Well, the heat, man.

We were trying to keep you guys cool, obviously, you know, in the water all the time

but the heat's gonna do that, it's gonna elevate your heart rate for sure.

Anytime you get dehydrated and that heat stuff, you're gonna be fucked, so...

You're a bay area boy, aren't you?

Yeah. So there was no...

I mean, it got hot there for a week or two, didn't it like 100...

A one weekend, that was it so.

I tried to do the sauna thing but it's just...

Here, put this behind.

It's not like this is a sauna, it's not like this.

Yeah.

Oh, man, it was... it was awesome and an inspirational for real.

- I'Hank you. - No, thanks again.

- Good job, man. - Thanks.

You did a good job, man.

Heart rate.

I don't like this event at all, I really don't.

I feel like it brings out

the worst in humanity but at the same time,

when that worst is... is... is... brought in, the best kind of rises to the surface

so, you know, if it's a black class that's not a good weekend at all.

If we have at least one finisher, it makes it all worth it.

Let's just hope medically he can survive.

One of the things that I've learned early on as a young special forces soldier

was my team sergeant, my first team sergeant, sat me down and talked to me and said,

"okay, what I need you to do

and what every professional warrior can do is tell me what he can't do."

And I just completed the qualification course and I was like,

what do you mean what I can't do, I can do anything.

And he said, "listen to what I'm going to say to you,

you have to know yourself as an individual,

you have to bring that to the team,

and as an individual we need to know what you can't do for two reasons.

One, we won't give you a job to do that will get you or other members on this team killed.

And number two, it tells me what you need to be trained in

so I can schedule you for future trainings."

Hurry up, front mount it.

Let's go.

"Before you can be a member of a team or a member, a good member of a community,

you have to know what's inside you, you have to know what you can and can't do

and openly share that with others,

then you can move on beyond that."

All the way, keep going. Bend knee down.

Close it.

Figure how to put that on.

Do you have any numbness and tingling in your hand?

Uh...

I don't know if I'd say numbness but...

Cap refill is good. Can you do this for me?

Don't rest your arm, just hold it up and we'll do that.

Can you touch my hand?

Stand up and let your arms hang down your side.

Is your knee okay?

I saw you walk, limp up. Is your knee okay? Do you want me to look at your knee?

No, I think my knee is fine. You think or...

This is not think time.

I didn't, uh... I didn't twist or anything like that, no.

All right, you'll be fine.

I have let's say like a calf cramp.

Maybe not perfect but good.

Okay.

Six inches, I assigned six inches.

- Six inches. - I six inches.

You're not six inches, yet, six-two. It's is gonna be a long night.

Six-two, let's go, six-two.

Let's go. Pull them up, six-two.

Hold it for ten seconds out of that water, I'll let you go on your feet.

Ten, no. You got to start it over again.

I think it's important to communicate that our cadre

are all former special operators of some kind and they've been through selections

but more important than being through selections, they have been through world experiences.

Just give me the pouch, whatever you want to do.

They've been in foreign countries

at the worst possible time in those same kind of similar moments

to your worst nightmare at the... you know, the worst point during selection.

You give me that sandbag running lights,

I'll give your selection badge right now.

- Holy shit, six-two. - I so close, yet, so far.

Do you have it in you?

I think the cadre's role in there

is it's almost an art form of taking that experience,

that personal experience that we have

and translating that to somebody in the civilian community that just wants to be better.

Let's go, six-two.

Let's go.

It becomes an art of how do I manage the standard

and how do I get the most out of each individual

where they walk away with a learned experience that's positive for them.

Keep moving forward. All right, take that patch of your rucksack. Do you understand me?

- Yes, cadre. - All right, let's go, come on.

That ain't one.

You're at zero is what you're at.

Let's go.

- Can you touch the bottom? - No, cadre.

Do you know what depth of water you're in right now?

I don't.

Approximately 12 feet of water right now.

Get up higher, if it touches I will add water to it. Do you understand me?

- Yes, cadre. - Get it above your head.

Higher.

Don't let it touch. You say you're comfortable out here, you said this portion was easy.

Cody, what's them seal say?

Cadre, Cody.

What's them seal say, what's that seal saying you guys have about...

That's it. That's what I was searching for. Keep it up above your head.

- This shit's easy now, right? - No, cadre.

1 think you're playing with my emotion, six-two.

Two, one, two, three, three, one, two, four...

If it tips over, you start all over again, you understand that, right?

Sorry, cadre?

If it tips over you're gonna start over from zero, you understand?

I understand. Continue.

One, two, three, five.

One, two, three, six.

One, two, three, seven. One...

That's just the alligator eating that bird, don't worry about that.

Eight. One, two...

How's your calf?

I can still feel it but it's working right now. I know when I get out of.

That's if you ever get out. Keep it higher.

Geez, my mom just joined this.

Hi, mom, what are you doing? My mom is watching this.

Hey, six-two, question of the hour. Why are you here?

Why are you filling this hole in with your life?

Why do you want to finish?

What is it about you that makes you want to be here

doing this ridiculous stuff?

A lot of the comments in the thread here over the last few minutes

about why is he doing this. I'm gonna level with you, I don't know why.

Well, what other hard stuff,

I mean, you like to walk to work whoop-de-fucking-doo so do I.

You like to... what else?

Uh...

Okay, whoop-de-doo, what else?

We did it primarily because I wanted to know what was on the other side.

I wasn't doing it to prove myself,

I was doing it because I wanted to be part of the community.

So in this scenario...

You probably wanted to prove yourself a little bit too.

Right, maybe a little bit.

You know, I mean, it's the same gene.

Some of you were saying it's for pride, some were saying it's to prove yourself,

to yourself, to others, whatever. Doesn't matter.

That's the thing, everyone that finishes goruck selection or any event like this,

they've got something, some reason deep inside why they're doing it.

If they didn't, they couldn't push through this. They just couldn't.

Here's a good question. How far does he have to roll this twig?

Well, he has to flip this twig until I get tired, that's how far.

Six-two, 1 to 10, how are you feeling right now, physically?

- Physically, five or six. - Five or six.

You've gotten better?

- Yes? - Probably five.

All right. What do you think your chances are

of successfully completing goruck selection?

Hundred percent.

All right, good. Charlie Mike, continue the mission.

See, all right, so this is gonna be the sign off.

There's just some preparation for the long walk that's got to go on

which is just starting here in not too long.

He's doing really well, man. We're really proud of him.

Keep moving forward, cadre.

The long walk is the last evolution for goruck selection.

It is, uh, exactly what it sounds like, a very long walk.

It's an undisclosed distance, undisclosed time to the candidate.

If he doesn't complete it, he doesn't complete it.

That's really it. It's not too tough to explain.

J my mind needs to lie I

j in those fields so open wide j

j look up and take me j

j to the big, big sky j

it's, hey, go down this road and don't stop.

The standard is forward progression.

And by this time we've got, well, in this class we had one person left

but if you had three or four left, they're gonna get separated,

they're not gonna keep the same pace

and now the only thing you have out there besides a dark road or beach,

is what's going on inside your head.

And all the pain is amplified and the tiredness is amplified,

in fact, you're falling asleep walking on your feet.

J where my love is bound to go j

j when I see her will I know j

ji know I'll know jl

It again brings back that mental toughness,

like how too far can you dig inside your mind to go,

it's gotta be around the corner, I can go another foot,

I can put my foot in front of the other one more time.

All right, goruck candidate zero-six-two is still moving south down the beach.

He is now just over eight hours into the long walk.

So try to imagine that he's absolutely was crushed for,

you know, 36 hours or so, maybe more,

then he puts his rucksack back on and he's been walking now for over eight hours.

At this point, I would be very surprised if he can't complete the walk

or just endure what's left for him down there at the finish line.

So I think we're gonna see a selection finisher this year.

This guy's been rock solid pretty much the whole way.

He's gonna make it. So we'll get you updated here in just a second.

Now we're gonna try to get you live footage really from here to the rest of the way out.

So if you're into watching the dude walk down the beach,

you know, for a few hours, this is the place to do it today.

The beauty of it is as you come in at the eight, the nine hour of walking

and there's all these cadre again.

And all those senses come back.

The ocean's in your face. The cadre are yelling again.

They're asking you to do things that in your mind are now impossible.

And you think, I'm done, it's here.

Once you reach that dark point and I have been there, all of our cadre have been there.

I don't want to be here, I'm cold, I'm wet, I'm miserable,

every step feels like torture.

I mean, why do we do this to ourselves?

The type of person that passes selection,

they want to uphold themselves to a standard.

They want to be the type of person that says,

I want the hardest job you can imagine, send me.

Do you wanna quit, six-two?

Hey, we can write your selection on a crown and a piece of paper. That's the new generation.

That's a rare individual that wants to do that.

And when you see that, when you look into someone's eyes after 47 hours

and you know that there's nothing you can do to break them

that is empowerment that is inspiration.

All the way up, six-two.

- Lift your knees up. - Let's go, six-two.

This is not mud.

Do the exercise as outlined by the to the standard of the cadre.

Not doing any exercises right now, six-two.

Lift your arms. Lift your arms.

As you go through selection,

you almost reach

a different plane of mental being.

And I think that plane what I would equate it to is an understanding of self

that while you are an individual,

you become a part of something greater.

Forward, forward. Keep moving.

- Forward. Forward. - Keep going, six-two.

Hurry up, six-two.

Hurry up, six-two.

- Switch hands. - Hurry up, six-two.

One hand with that fighter, six-two.

Don't let that bag drag, six-two.

Don't let that bag drag. Switch hands.

It's extremely refreshing to come here and just see no excuses,

there's finally something where there's a bar

and if you don't make it, nobody cares.

Six-two, see that's pretty pathetic right now.

- Get it up, get it up. - Come on, six-two.

Are you expecting, six-two?

Are you expecting us, six-two?

- Wwe are not stopping. - Hurry up!

- Swing it! - Hurry up!

. Get that fucking bag over your head, let's go.

Let's go, six-two!

- What is your problem, six-two? - Hurry up!

Get this, six-two, let's go!

Get it up there!

Hurry up, we got six bags on your back.

Hurry up, sixtwo.

You can die of hypothermia, come on.

Come on, six-two.

Holy shit, six-two. Wow.

You saved yourself some time. - Find the bottom of the squat, six-two.

, six-two.

- All right, six-two. - Complete the task, six-two.

You got to squat, six-two.

Squat, six-two. In the bottom of the squat, sixtwo.

Squat.

Find the bottom of the squat, six-two.

That's not the bottom. =lt's not the bottom.

Six-two, stand up.

Turn around.

Candidate.

Congratulations for passing the class, selection class 019.

Are you smiling, man?

I remember, when I... l was an eagle scout or I'm an eagle scout and

you know, I was in junior high, high school, and boy scouts and when you make eagle scout,

they put on a big court of honor, it's a big ceremony, right,

they bring local dignitaries and that sort of thing.

And I can't remember the gentleman unfortunately who said it

but as part of his speech he said, "this eagle scout medal, it's not a award,

it's not something that you... You put on your wall

to say, look what I did. It's just a burden.”

Congratulations for completing goruck selection 020.

So it's the same thing with this

where it's like you better hold yourself to that standard forever,

otherwise youre just spitting on everybody else who's there in that patch,

you know, and fought so hard to get there because people will look at all those

and... and that's how they judge it.

The most important part of this event is that it honors our roots in special forces.

It's really, really important that those who pass it,

and those who want to pass it know that there is a standard

and that that standard is based upon the selection courses that we've been through.

There's a reason why almost nobody passes those,

it's because it's really, really hard.

We're giving people a slice of what that looks like and feels like.

We're building a bridge between the military and the civilian worlds

by leveraging our background in special forces.

And when the human spirit is alive and well like we see it here,

it reminds me of the guys that I graduated the special forces qualification course with.

And if that's not honoring our roots in special forces, then I don't know what is.