2026 — My Third Year, RUCK4HIT's Eleventh, and Twenty Years Without Kurt
Every year I lace up and pack up for the RUCK4HIT, it means something different. This year, 2026, carries a weight I can’t ignore. It marks 20 years without Kurt. Two decades since the man I loved came home from war without the support, resources, and community that might have helped him stay.
When I think about that, about how much Heroes in Transition does now, I can’t help but feel the gap and anger of what wasn’t there then. Kurt was robbed of the help he needed when he returned. And the truth is, so was I.
As an Iraq War veteran, I didn’t understand what I was carrying. I didn’t know what post traumatic stress looked like. I didn’t have a name for complicated grief. I just knew I was trying to survive and trying to raise our beautiful daughter Elsa. It would take almost ten years after coming home before I finally understood what was happening inside me.
As reservists, we didn’t have a community waiting for us. We didn’t return to a unit that stayed together. Everyone scattered back to different corners of the country, and we were supposed to just pick up life again like nothing had changed. But everything had.
That’s why I run.
That’s why I RUCK.
And that’s why I work for Heroes in Transition now.
I’m part of this organization because I believe no veteran, no service member, and no family should ever feel as alone, unsupported, or unseen as Kurt did — or as I did. HIT builds the kind of community I wish we had. It offers the programs, the connection, and the lifelines that didn’t exist for us back then.
Being part of this mission isn’t just work for me. It’s healing. It’s honoring. It’s carrying forward what I didn’t know I needed, so someone else doesn’t have to wait ten years to understand their pain, or worse lose someone they love to it.
This is my third RUCK. The Ruck's 11th year. And a milestone year that reminds me exactly why this matters so much.
If you choose to support my miles this year, know that you’re supporting real lives, real families, and real healing. The kind healing Kurt deserved and the kind HIT delivers every single day.
Thank you for being part of this with me.
