{"id":4844,"date":"2023-04-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-11T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=4844"},"modified":"2023-04-13T00:13:22","modified_gmt":"2023-04-13T00:13:22","slug":"florida-guardsmen-conquer-norwegian-ruck-march","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=4844","title":{"rendered":"Florida Guardsmen Conquer Norwegian Ruck March"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>

\n
\n
\n U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Christopher Cowgill, a 290th Alpha Flight noncommissioned officer in charge, after completed the Norwegian Ruck March held at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, March 31, 2023. Cowgill was one of five 290th JCSS Airmen who participated in the march. (Courtesy photo)
\n (Photo Credit: Tech Sgt. Chelsea Smith)<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n VIEW ORIGINAL<\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

JACKSONVILLE AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Fla. – In a test of physical and mental endurance, five Airmen from the 290th Joint Communications Support Squadron completed the Norwegian Ruck March at MacDill Air Force Base March 31.<\/p>\n

March participants had to carry at least 25 pounds of weight 18.6 miles within time limits based on gender and age. Fewer than 100 of the 157 participants crossed the finish line in time.<\/p>\n

Participants from the 290th JCSS included Capt. Kendra Lee, Master Sgt. Christopher Cowgill, Senior Airmen Matthew Spissak, Thomas Parker and Austin Nadeau \u2014 a group aspiring to attend the U.S. Army\u2019s physically rigorous Airborne School soon. Spissak runs 3 to 4 miles several times a week to prepare for Airborne school and said he entered the march as a litmus test for his current physical capacity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most challenging aspect was trying to keep the pace and do the math while you\u2019re rucking,\u201d said Spissak, a radio frequency transmission systems specialist. \u201cI kept trying to figure out how much I needed to run, how much I could walk, and if I needed to stop, how much that (was) going to set me back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The event pushes participants\u2019 physical and mental limits by requiring them to complete a duty day immediately following the march.<\/p>\n

\u201cI struggled another eight hours after the event and then went home and fell asleep on the couch,\u201d said Cowgill, a 290th Alpha Flight noncommissioned officer in charge.<\/p>\n

Cowgill contends the duty requirement after the ruck march made this event the most grueling he\u2019s endured despite regularly training in CrossFit and competing in long-distance races.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started hurting at about the 12-mile mark, and it got real around the 17-mile mark,\u201d said Cowgill. \u201cWhen I got to a breaking point where I felt like I wanted to quit, I just told myself, \u2018You\u2019re closer to the end than you are the beginning. It\u2019s going to be more effort to quit than to finish out the event, so just keep pushing yourself another step, another mile.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The race began at midnight, challenging all participants to finish before daybreak. That meant participants, categorized by age and gender, had 4 1\/2 to 6 hours to claim victory.<\/p>\n

Cowgill and his wingmen finished under their prescribed times.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was proud of the fact that I didn\u2019t quit,\u201d he said. \u201cI was proud of the fact that as a 45-year-old man, I\u2019m able to do this. The military has given me a no-quit mentality, and I\u2019m able to live up to that. That brings me a sense of pride.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Norwegian Ruck March is sponsored by the Norwegian Embassy Office of the Defense Attach\u00e9 in Washington.<\/p>\n

The first march was held in 1915 as a test of marching endurance for Norwegian soldiers. The strategic goal was to swiftly move larger units of troops over a great distance and in a manner that enabled them to be combat-ready after a rucksack march. Today\u2019s goal is to revive interest in marching over extended distances among military and civilian personnel.<\/p>\n

Spissak and Cowgill labeled the experience intense and hesitated when asked if they\u2019d participate again.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as I crossed that line, I could 100 percent tell you that it was a definite no,\u201d said Cowgill. \u201cBut with how quickly I was able to recover from it and the experience I had, I no longer say it\u2019s an unequivocal no.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spissak took a moment to arrive at that conclusion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last few miles will make or break someone, but we\u2019ll see [if I participate] next year,\u201c he said. \u201cI\u2019ll be more prepared next time and figure out a better way to pack my rucksack. But yeah, I\u2019d do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more National Guard news<\/a><\/p>\n

National Guard Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n

National Guard Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Christopher Cowgill, a 290th Alpha Flight noncommissioned officer in charge, after completed the Norwegian Ruck March held at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, March 31, 2023. Cowgill was one of five 290th JCSS Airmen who participated in the march. (Courtesy photo) (Photo Credit: Tech Sgt. Chelsea Smith) VIEW ORIGINAL JACKSONVILLE […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4846,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4844"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4847,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4844\/revisions\/4847"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}