Matt in TN

Some stats: We ended up with 144 total competitors. 26 of those were 5SFG (3 ran on both days), 2 were Gold Star Fathers, and 5 were women (1 ran on both days). 3 were kids, and the youngest who ran and shot was 11. Here's the breakdown to show how many people failed to finish each stage (top bar graph), how many people failed at multiple stages (bottom bar graph), and how each day's weight classes filled out. I'm happy to report only one person failed every stage they attempted to shoot. And they kept going and never quit! Conditions played a HUGE factor, so I wanted to document those too: And this was totally informal and NOT part of the official match, but we had 11 people who ran both the 5k on Saturday and the 10k on Sunday. Many of them asked me, just for fun, to combine their scores to see how they stacked up against each other.

OK - someone paying more attention than me pointed out that the scores are correct on Practiscore if you dig deep enough. Go here for the 5k Results: https://www.practiscore.com/results/html/be846e41-3467-4776-b9e3-b5aeb3a8cbe2 And here for the 10k results: https://www.practiscore.com/results/html/b14bb2f6-743e-4a7d-8553-7092f148ab6b I'll continue to work on making it easier to find - sorry for the delay and confusion. And then we have two more follow-up items: 1. Please send any photos or videos you're willing to share to legionrungun@gmail.com 2. There were several lost and found items (including a prize table item) left over after everyone had left. Please email the address above if you've lost anything and they'll dig through the pile to see if it's there. Or we may find it still on the course next year (it happens every match!). More to come...

Just wanted to let everyone know that the match shirt is still available online at https://www.shredderlife.com/shop/ until 9/14 for anybody that wasn't able to get the size they wanted. Thanks to everyone involved for coming out and supporting the SFA Chapter 38 and the Legion! DOL!

A word of warning: this is not your typical match, in which I design stages so most people succeed. To give you a taste of 5th Group life, the shooting stages are pretty complex. The shooting itself is fairly simple - IF you were fresh (not exhausted) and had all the time in the world. But you don't. And you won't be. It will be a rare person that finishes the entire match without failing at SOMETHING. I'm guessing there will be a few who fail to complete EVERY shooting stage. When that happens, keep in mind 5th Group is not successful because they never fail. They are successful because they KEEP GOING despite failing over and over again, and being faced with situations MUCH more dire than simply failing a stage at a match. Then pick yourself up, gather your gear, and trudge forward to the next challenge. I promise you, you will NOT be the only one to fail. Embrace it. Learn from it. And keep going.

And I am also excited to announce our own Todd Banus has contributed a certificate for a free entry into his HeartBreak RnG coming up in February!

I am pleased to announce Heckler & Koch has donated an Exemplar knife and a whole box of hats to support the match - thanks HK!

I sent an email to all competitors this morning through Practiscore with all the final details I think you need to know before the match. Let me know if you didn't get it or if you have any other questions. And I screwed up some details using copy/paste between the two matches, so just for clarity's sake: the 5k is on Saturday, September 8th, and the 10k is on Sunday, September 9th. Sorry for the confusion!

You got this, Ryan!

So we’re a little over a week from match day. I’m guessing several of you are second-guessing yourselves right now. Maybe you didn’t get in as much training as you’d hoped. Maybe you trained you’re a$$ off and didn’t see the results you wanted to. Maybe you’ve seen all of these crazy hints and promises about what’s to come, and are intimidated as hell about trying to do all of this while 30-ish bada$$ Special Forces soldiers and even more Run N Gun regulars stand by and watch you. Don’t be. If you signed up and just SHOW UP to start this race, you’re already better than 90% of the shooters out there who stayed home on the couch on match day. If you FINISH, no matter how long it takes you, you’ve won. Trust me – you’ll feel it just as soon as you cross that finish line – and for many days (months?) thereafter. At some point in the course, you will ask yourself: “Why on earth am I here? I’m not ready for this. I don’t belong here.” The dirty little secret I can promise you: EVERYONE asks themselves that at some point. You DO belong here. The satisfaction and self-image you will get from just finishing this course will stay with you forever, and is something no one can ever take away from you. Many people have found matches like these to be a turning point in their lives, and in a year or two you may not even recognize the person you have become. Just remember - for every person you see pass you, there is someone behind you wishing they could keep up with you. Look behind you every so often just to acknowledge how far you’ve come. And before ANYONE judges anyone else as being "too slow, too fat, or too lazy" - bite your tongue and listen to their story first. Across the country at matches like these we've had people recovering from recent strokes, heart attacks, cancer, pregnancy, amputations, and any other issue you can think of; just because "F#$K CANCER", that's why! Give them an encouraging word when you pass them - it really makes a difference. Even better - if you pass someone really struggling on the course: finish your race, set down your gear, and run back out to find that person. You can run beside them and offer them all the words of support and encouragement that you can think of - you just can't physically help them in any way. Let's do this.

Reminder: you will need eye and ear protection in order to shoot. Yes, running with eyes and ears on sucks. Either figure out how to do it, or take the extra time to take them off and put them back on again before shooting. But if you show up to a shooting stage without eye and ear protection, you will not be allowed to shoot and receive a ZERO score for that stage. Also - has everybody figured out by now that Kentucky has hills? Here's the elevation map for the new 10k course. It royally kicked my a$$ on Friday during a weight vest recon run. And a public service announcement: running it in pants sucked. But running it in shorts would have sucked even more. You do what you want to, but I would STRONGLY suggest long pants, and treating all of your clothing with permethrin. I forgot to treat my socks and ended up with this on both ankles: #fugginchiggers

Reminder: This Saturday, August 25th is the cutoff to withdraw and get a 50% refund. Any withdrawals after that for any reason will get ZERO refund as per the cancellation policy. The Special Forces Association, Chapter 38 thanks you for your donation! The best way to withdraw is through Practiscore - that time stamps and sends me an email so I can keep track of the requests and get the refunds processed.

Reminder: you will need a light of some kind to navigate and shoot in the cave (Stage 3). If you show up without a light you will not be allowed to shoot and will be given a zero for the stage. Weaponlights are fine to shoot with, but you'll also need a separate light to navigate parts of the cave before the shooting starts. I don't care if you carry a giant spotlight with a 12V truck battery, but you must carry it for the entire course! If you've never been to the cave before, here's a preview video from March 2017 that will give you a better idea what to expect. The details will be different, but this is the same cave we'll be using. https://youtu.be/hq52C43sXD4

Everyone knows how to shoot from a horse, right? If you don't know the story of 5th Special Forces Group's Horse Soldiers, you should. Read the book Horse Soldiers: the Extraordinary Story of a Band of US Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan (https://www.amazon.com/Horse-Soldiers-Extraordinary-Victory-Afghanistan/dp/1416580522) And watch the documentary Legion of Brothers (https://www.amazon.com/Legion-Brothers-Jason-Amerine/dp/B06Y4Q213B) to learn more about these amazing men. Pro tip: the pic above is NOT the way to shoot from a horse. It's just me goofing off and testing the patience of my mighty steed.

Just a reminder: August 9th (Thursday) is 30 days before match day. The refund policy is non-negotiable: Full refunds will be given if you withdraw more than 30 days before the match. Half your fee will be refunded if you withdraw between 14-29 days before the match. NO REFUND will be given if you withdraw less than 14 days before the match.

Round Count: It's complicated. First of all - the Group guys in general hate the idea of shooting anything with a pre-prescribed number of shots. If they see a threat, they engage the threat until it is no longer threatening. Or as Matt Sipe says: "shoot it until it changes shape or catches fire." Since we haven't figured out a way to do that at a match, they went back over various encounters they've had and tried to guess at an average number of times they shot something with various weapons. That's how we came up with 3 shots to neutralize a paper rifle target and 5 shots to neutralize a paper pistol target. Oh yeah - and D-zone hits don't count. Second - you will have some options on what you shoot and how. I'll let Tier 1 guys figure out their own game plans based on the target counts, but in general pistol targets must be hit with pistol rounds and rifle targets must be hit with rifle rounds. Steel and clay pistol targets CAN be engaged with shotgun birdshot ONLY if you are shooting Tier 1 and decide to carry a shotgun. Shotguns are not allowed on paper targets - mostly because I don't want to paste that many holes! And finally - one stage has 9 total paper targets that can be engaged with either pistol or rifle, or any combination of the two. Just know you have to get 5 hits if you use pistol or 3 hits if you use rifle. And if you're smart (or lucky), you may not have to engage all the targets. You'll see... So all that to say: here's the required hit count on various targets. The totals at the bottom assume you have to engage every target just to be safe. I'd recommend carrying AT LEAST double that amount of ammo - but that's totally up to you. Group guys definitely change their equipment to match the mission - you should do the same.

I've had a few RO cancellations recently, so I need to find two more volunteers. You'll run/work Friday, and then work all day Saturday and Sunday. I can promise you that you'll work your butt off all three days, and have both frustrations and plenty of last-minute changes to deal with along the way But you'll also have one of the most rewarding experiences of your life - working with these guys really is a treasure. And you'll get a comped run slot, half-price hotel room, and lunch provided and delivered Saturday and Sunday. Preference given to anyone who has RO'd a RNG before. This is going to be a pretty complex match and I need experienced people who can move quickly for three days straight. If you haven't ROd a RNG before but would still like to help don't be shy - just let me know who you are and how you're qualified and we'll go from there. Email me at mstennett-at-twlakes-dot-net if you're interested.

I am amazed at people's kindness: Robert Hundley had to cancel, and instead of getting a $100 refund for the 10k he donated his slot to the next shooter on the waitlist "because this is for such a good cause". I've contacted that shooter and let him know - not only did he just get in, but he got in for free! I also told him he'd better bring plenty of cash for the side matches and other fund-raising goings-on to make up for his good fortune. And since I was in the registration data anyway, I had to pull some stats. We have 21 5th Group guys currently signed up out of 158 total competitors. And here's the other data summarized:

I am thrilled to award this donated slot to Spc Randall, CTRP “Shadow” 1-33CAV, 3BCT “Rakkasans “, 101ABN. He's going to go Tier One and run the event at his full Mortar fighting load weight. The perfect candidate!

Attn: any Active Duty personnel: Christopher Gillis of Southern Custom Guns signed up for the 10k and has a conflict. Instead of withdrawing and getting a full refund, he'd like to donate his spot to an Active Duty military person. Any branch is fine - the first one to contact me at mstennett@twlakes.net by timestamp gets it. And this is the honor system - if you claim to be AD military and you're not, it's between you and all of the SF personnel onsite who will likely want to talk with you about it. https://www.facebook.com/S.G.G.LLC/?hc_ref=ARQ8V_In7ErFHemaIYIoZ-w6MKnmOxXs_uedZUqdXVXRe_6Q8OkIJmF7gQBMKU5Q6Yw

More match DOPE! Ever shoot a clay that was launched by falling steel? With your pistol? Be prepared if you're running the 10k. #runwiththelegion #strengthandhonor #deoppressoliber Big thanks to WSRC Pistol and Multigun Competitions, @sig_glockincolt and @bilodeau13 for setting this up to show our shooters how it's done and that it's doable. @tacticalsht will be at the match representing our amazing sponsor pool. Better go train! See here to find out how to do it: https://youtu.be/DPf_tJn-E1g If you practice this, be sure you have a big enough backstop. Do NOT launch pistol rounds into the air willy-nilly. Also - shotshells in your pistol (or a shotgun) is ONLY allowed for Tier 1. 45 lbs just started looking better...

MTSC in Manchester has 3-gun this Sunday - come on out and join us!

Only a Green Beret can call out Lanny Oakley, JP Enterprises, Bryan Ray's "lacking pistol skills" and Chris Hemsworth! The Rockcastle Gun Show on ESPN Radio dedicated an entire hour yesterday to allow three active duty 5th Special Forces Group Green Berets to talk about the 2018 Legion 9/11 Memorial Run N Gun, presented by Alan's Arsenal and the Special Forces Association, Chapter 38. If you're coming to this match, you NEED to download and listen to this broadcast to hear what you have coming. And if you're not coming to this match, you need to listen anyway and find out why you need to come out to Rockcastle on Sept 7 - 9 to support the SFA, shoot some awesome side matches, and rub elbows with some very impressive people. http://rockcastlegunshow.libsyn.com/podcast/rockcastle-gun-show-81

I'm honored to announce Spike's Tactical has jumped on board again this year as a Stage Sponsor. And nothing is for sure until match day, but it sure sounds like we'll have a 37mm Havoc with chalk rounds to incorporate into the match. https://www.spikestactical.com/ SF makes the call in the end, but let's just pretend for a moment you had a grenade launcher you could use in a match. How would you do it???

I am thrilled to announce Alan's Arsenal LLC has just very generously joined on as the Title Sponsor! Please join me in welcoming them and thanking them for their support of the match and the Special Forces Association, Chapter 38. And be sure to check out their website and buy lots of cool gear from them to help pay them back - this is a VERY significant donation! http://alansarsenal.3dcartstores.com/

I am pleased to announce High Speed Gear has joined on as a sponsor - donating a Sure-Grip belt, riggers belt, triple double-decker taco shingle, and slick plate carrier to be raffled off to benefit SFA, Chapter 38. HSGI's Sure-Grip belt is the one I use, and is the only one I've found that holds up well to the heavy weight of all the .308 and .45ACP I carry. They make good stuff! https://www.highspeedgear.com/