I AM TOUGH RUCKING FOR AMERICA'S FALLEN MILITARY & FIRST RESPONDERS
This April, I will be joining Tough Ruck Nation to complete a marathon with a weighted rucksack (backpack). Tough Ruck 26.2 Boston is an elite group of 1000 who ruck to HONOR AMERICA'S FALLEN MILITARY & FIRST RESPONDERS. We humbly carry the names of the Fallen on our rucks as they will NEVER BEEN FORGOTTEN. We will also be raising critical funds for our Warriors. This is where we need your help! The basic ideal that drives our efforts is simple: as much as our Warriors have sacrificed, they and their families deserve the best care and support available in their hour of need. Your tax deductible donation literally provides a lifeline to a Warrior.
On April 15, 2013, Tough Ruckers were at the finish line of the Boston Marathon and joined the first responders to help those that were injured by the horrific blasts. They truly exemplify the best of what our Nation is. Today the Tough Ruck takes place the weekend before Boston Marathon Monday. Tough Ruck is the only ruck march partnered with the Boston Marathon and finishers are awarded the official Boston Marathon Medals and receive recognition from the Boston Athletic Association. Military Friends Foundation is the official charity of Tough Ruck Nation.
On January 16, 2019, the world lost one of it’s best. Shannon Kent was killed my a suicide bomber in Manbij, Syria on that sad day. I remember receiving the news. I had just returned from a training run and I was walking up the stairs at work when I read a text on my family text chain…Shannon Smith was killed… My heart sunk. How could it be true? One of my oldest friends, someone who was so selfless and caring, a devoted mother, a trusted confidant, a friend to all.
Besides being a caring, fun loving, loyal friend, Shannon was one of the most driven people I have known. She was a great athlete and a genuine badass. She would not be told she couldn’t do something. I grew up working at the town pharmacy with her. When the manager “Smiley” would have some heavy lifting to do or snow shoveling, he would say “Give it to the boy”. Shannon would jump right up and say, I can do it! And she could. She could do anything. I last spoke with her a few months before she was killed. She was planning to come last minute to Philly to run a Half Marathon while pushing her two children in a double stroller without any training. She was coming off an injury, but none of that would deter her. I told her that there were a couple shorter options if she didn’t want to do the entire half marathon, but she would not even consider it. Due to logistics, she wasn’t able to make that race and was shipping out on her deployment days later. I invited her to run the NYC Marathon with me for the following November. She told me that she would if she is not deployed. She was trying to get into an officer program which would have her around for a while and allow her to do it. I told her that I was doing a charity fundraiser to get in, but she could probably get in based off of her military service. Her response was “I’m sure I probably could, but I like the charity idea anyway. St. Jude’s all the way!” Shannon was never one to take the easy way out. As I said, she was just as driven and ready to take on any challenge as she was selfless.
When she was killed there was no doubt in my mind that I had to run for St. Jude. With her by my side spiritually, I was able to raise more than double the required amount to cover what she would have raised as well as myself.
Then I signed up for the Tough Ruck in 2020. Due to COVID restrictions it became virtual, so I had to complete it at home. This year, I have again committed to completing the Tough Ruck and this time in person as I would have liked to have done the first time. Tough Ruck Nation is a group of military, first responders, and civilians whose sole purpose is to ruck in honor and in memory of our fallen service members, police, firefighters, and EMTs, while raising funds to support our warriors and families of the fallen. We will march with our rucks and carry the names of the fallen comrades with us.
I remember Shannon every day and strive to live in a way that will honor her and others who have sacrificed so that we can live in peace and security. I know that Shannon wouldn’t want this to be all about her but would want to honor the others who were there with her, even before herself. I will also honor Special Forces Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jonathan R. Farmer, former Navy SEAL Scott A. Wirtz, and Ghadir Taher, an American working as a civil interpreter.
I will also ruck in honor of Shannon's brother Michael Smith. Sadly, in April 2024, Mike passed after serving twenty years in the Marine Corps, retiring as a Master Sergeant. Mike was an explosives ordinance disposal technician attached to MARSOC with seven combat deployments, earning a bronze star for valor and a purple heart.
