2019 Rockcastle Run N Gun 5k & 10k: March 16-17, Park City, KY

[Matt in TN]

Someone pointed out I forgot to include details in the Course of Fire about the obstacle at Stage 3. I've fixed that and uploaded updated COFs to the Practiscore site, so feel free to visit and download the latest copy. But if you just want to see that obstacle, here it is:

 

Stage 3 Obstacle: Drop your rifle (and pack if wearing one), and navigate the stepped balance beam down the hill to the cave entrance. If at any point you touch the ground, climb back to the top of the hill and start over.

[Matt in TN]

Today's prize table goodness comes courtesy of Nosler. They sent over $600 worth of reloading components, including 500 70gr RDF bullets, 500 85gr RDF bullets, and 500 pieces of .223 brass.

I've used their Custom Competition bullets for years in my FAL and AR-10 with great success, but have yet to try the new RDF bullets. Nosler makes good stuff!

https://www.nosler.com/rdf-bullet

[Matt in TN]

Reminder: If you want a t-shirt, you MUST have your order in by 5pm this Friday, March 1st. T-shirts are only being sold online and shipped to you directly. There will be NO t-shirts for sale at the event.

Direct link to buy the shirt is here:

https://www.shredderlife.com/shop/2019-rockcastle-run-n-gun/

[Matt in TN]

Today's prize pack comes from Vortex Optics. They generously sent FOUR Crossfire Red Dots for a total value of almost $900.00!

Be sure to thank them, and post up here if you run a Vortex product to tell everyone what you use and why you like it!

http://www.vortexoptics.com/product/crossfire-red-dots-2-moa

[Matt in TN]

Reminder: tomorrow at midnight is the last day to withdraw and receive a 50% refund. ANY WITHDRAWLS AFTER SATURDAY MARCH 2ND AT MIDNIGHT WILL RECEIVE NO REFUND.

 

Still please do withdraw through Practiscore after that if you can't make it though. We have a ton of people on the waitlist who would love to have your spot if you can't be there!

[Matt in TN]

I just found out our own Lacey Caroline is not only working her butt off all weekend to RO for you and running her own 10k race - but is bringing her guitar as well. Maybe if you guys are extra nice she will treat you to a mini-concert one night.

At the very least - like her FB page and check out her webpage. Even better, buy some stuff from her website!

https://www.facebook.com/LaceyCarolineOfficial/?__tn__=%2CdK-R-R&eid=ARDDsx--hJeOzYdC5uACHkISYfeZ9toZYOKdM2aqPQMxz0yXgAfwLF2lhP3V8GGcAU0W4bZln-uyTMmr&fref=mentions

https://www.laceycaroline.com/home

 

Edited March 1, 2019 by Matt in TN

[Matt in TN]

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 your 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 a bunch of 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.

Edited March 5, 2019 by Matt in TN

[Matt in TN]

Samson Manufacturing donates so much to prize tables across the shooting sports, sometimes I wonder how they stay in business!  This match is no exception, with two SXS-LW handguards coming from them.

After seeing how well they did for Bryan Ray and Brian Vaught, I bought one for my daughter's M4gery a couple years ago.   It went from a 1.5 MOA rifle to a sub-MOA rifle, all while getting lighter and cooler-looking to boot! 

Who else is running Samson gear, and what do you like about it?

https://www.samson-mfg.com/

Edited March 7, 2019 by Matt in TN

[Matt in TN]

Today's final prize pack comes from Magpul Industries Corp. - who sent almost $1,100.00 worth of 30 rd .223 mags, 25 rd .308 mags, and 21 rd Glock 9mm magazines.  I use Magpul exclusively in my AR10 and Glock, and as expected they are flawless!

This gives us a grand total of $5,600.00 in prizes for the match - which will be given away in a completely random draw method during the awards ceremony.  The prize really is the match itself, but everyone has an equal chance of taking home some great gear provided by our generous sponsors.  BE SURE to thank them and help promote their products in return - or they most definitely will not see the benefit of continuing to do this in the future.

[Matt in TN]

I just sent an email to all paid competitors with the final match details. Check your spam folders if you don't see it, and if you still can't find it let me know and I'll see what happened. Here's the most important part:

Registration is between 6:30am and 7:30am on the morning of the match. You will sign a waiver and randomly draw your start time. If you do not get registered before 7:30am, you will not be allowed to shoot. Be there.

[Matt in TN]

While we're waiting on picture processing, I figured I'd start sharing data:

We had 167 total competitors over the weekend: 87 for the 5k and 80 for the 10k. 61 of those were Military (31 5k and 30 10k), and 8 were ladies (3 5k and 5 10k).

90% of the 5k people ran Race Class and 10% ran Combat Class, while 85% of the 10k runners went Race Class and 15% went Combat Class.

We had people from 20 different states represented. The below map shows which states - the bigger the dot, the more people came from that state.

Edited March 20, 2019 by Matt in TN

[Matt in TN]

More data:  Only 61% of 5k competitors and 66% of 10k competitors provided age data during registration, so this data is a little incomplete.  And I struggle a little with how best to show this while both keeping it anonymous and making it so you can see how you fared within your own age group.  Here's my best efforts - let me know if you have any better ideas!

Edited March 21, 2019 by Matt in TN

[Matt in TN]

19 hardy souls decided to run BOTH the 5k and 10k - so just for fun I combine their overall scores to see how they all stacked up against each other in the "15k Challenge". Five of these folks (highlighted below) deserve special recognition because they did this as ROs - that means they run their 10k, have 15 minutes to reload and regear, and then immediately run their 5k. And then go out and work their stage for the rest of the day & weekend.

Impressive stuff! Here are the results -

[Matt in TN]

The photos my wife took are now up at https://www.flickr.com/photos/163548466@N06/albums/72157707498359015/with/32500620447/

As always, feel free to use these however you like, but PLEASE CREDIT LISA STENNETT AS THE PHOTOGRAPHER if you do. Especially if they get used for any commercial function.

There were a few other photographers out on the course, and I hope to have links to their photos here soon. Taking, editing, and posting this many pictures is LOT of work - so please show your appreciation to all of them!

[Matt in TN]

And the last piece of data: the equipment summary. I did collect rifle manufacturer data, but the list was just too long to put into a simple pie chart - it seems like there was pretty much one of everything!

[Matt in TN]

More pics:  these come from Megan Dudley, wife of match winner Logan Dudley.  As before, feel free to use them but please credit Megan when you do.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mmdudley/albums?fbclid=IwAR2AcPrcJGKhyhdql8aOiL7_UQSb79GI79K2nu_oYKF0po0AvKo6W5ENbeA

[Matt in TN]

Here's the official compilation video of the 2019 Rockcastle Run N Gun 5k & 10k. Share it with your friends and family to give them a 4 1/2 minute glimpse at the awesomeness you accomplished last weekend, to try to talk someone new into trying it next year, or to give our sponsors some well-deserved love.

Big thanks to Rockcastle Shooting Center, Nosler, Tactical Tailor, Magpul Industries Corp., Samson Manufacturing, Dillon Precision Products, Inc, Vortex Optics, and Hornady.

Photos by Lisa Stennett and Megan Dudley. Music by Steve Vai.
 

 

Edited March 24, 2019 by Matt in TN

[Matt in TN]

This will be my last post on this match and I'll let it die a good death:

One of my measurements to see if the match had an appropriate difficulty level is what I call the "DNF Rate" - in other words, how many people could not finish each stage in the required 3 minute par time. If everyone finishes every stage, the match is probably too easy. A 50% DNF rate for a single stage is not a deal-breaker, but a 70% DNF rate means the stage is too hard. And if we have MANY stages with a high DNF rate, that means the overall difficulty level is too high.

The graphs below look at this in two different ways. The top graph shows me how many people DNF'd each stage (for example, 38% of the 5k competitors could not complete The Rifleman stage). The bottom graph shows me how many people had multiple DNF's (for example, 22% of the 10k competitors finished the match with only one DNF).

I am happy to report NOT ONE SINGLE COMPETITOR DNF'd every single stage of their match. Sometimes that happens, and it's never fun.

So overall, I think this was about the right difficulty - or maybe a smidge on the "too easy" side. I was a little surprised that The Rifleman is still the most DNF'd stage we have - that tells me I need to leave it in there awhile yet.  :-)