August 13th, 2018, I get a text from who I thought was a friend of mine who had talked to me briefly about F3; a group of guys who get together early in the morning and beat the hell out of each other. I didn’t know if this was a fight club kind of deal or some legit USMC boot camp style beat downs so I figured why not… I rogered up for it. So, on August 14th, 2018 at wayyyy too early for me at the time, I drive to my friend’s house on the other side of the neighborhood because he said I could ride with him. I wait outside for a little bit then get the feeling, it wasn’t him I had talked to, so I drove to Extended Stay and ran into Tackleberry where I asked him if this is F3. Later on, after digging through the lexicon, I found this was called “posting naked.” So, it turns out that the number that texted me was not that of my friend, and I never found out who it was, and I’ve never asked them.
So, I survived the BC and was dubbed Capt. Ron in tribute to my career in the Coast Guard. For the first few weeks, I treated it as just a good workout early in the morning, then I started to realize that this “workout group” was way more than that. I posted fairly regular for a few months to include one of Shaka’s Carolina Bay sprint-triathlon, lost some weight, made some friends and started running and biking a little bit more. Then for some reason, I went on a hiatus over the holidays. I still kept up on Slack, making excuses: work is too busy, the kids kept me up, I’m tired, it’s raining, the BC isn’t part of my fitness plan, all of which were a crock of shit and I was simply being LAZY. The whole time I was making these excuses, I felt like I was missing something, I would lift weights at work, I would ride my bike on the weekends, I would run a little bit through the neighborhood but it was all lacking something… I was missing a brotherhood.
Before I was stationed in Charleston, I went for a run with my former commanding officer, he was a real runner, I was not and am still not a runner. Towards the end of our latest run, feeling extremely defeated at about mile 3 of a 3.2-mile run, I told him I would sign up for the Cooper River Bridge Run since it happened to coincide with my 35th birthday. So, during my F3 hiatus amidst all these lazy excuses I remembered that I have to run the bridge soon. I managed to put the excuses away, and posted back at Extended Stay in mid-Feb 2019 and was asked where I had been for so long, so I made up some excuses, knowing that I was just being lazy. My return from the darkness happened to be a few days before one of Harbaugh’s surgeries which was on a Monday; it was asked that we post somewhere on the day of his surgery for him. I gladly complied and posted at Delta Echo. The energy that I got from both AO’s was so inspiring, I found what I was looking for, I found my brothers, who had been here the whole time.
Having the two AO’s now, I felt the need to post 6 days a week between the two of them, which happened to be what I needed to run the bridge like I had promised myself and my old CO. Still not a runner. Back and forth between DE and ES, was a good lead up to the Tour de Charleston where as we all know, the trophies all went to the West Side, where they rightfully belong and will stay in 2020. Team Harbaugh-some BAMF’s aka Team POINTS took home the gold, and as I sit here in Florida, writing this and staring at that cup, I can still taste that pink bubbly celebratory yuck we drank out of it that morning. During the tour, I met some of the most HIM’s, I never imagined I would have the privilege of knowing. I could list everyone out but I’m pretty sure there’s a character limit on this, but rest assured, if you are reading this, your name would be on the list. A bit of time later, I started posting at WBnD, so now I’m up to 7 days a week (sounds like a good idea, right?) Again, I’ve had the privilege of running with some more HIM and some great coffee post run.
So, the reason I wanted to write this was to say THANK YOU to all who will read this, THANK YOU. The influence that you all had on my life, is immeasurable. I would not be where I am today if it had not been for F3 and my brothers in the low country. Yall motivated me to get up off my ass and MOVE. I took that drive and motivation back to work where I ran my own BCs for my guys and gals at the Coast Guard station, dubbed “Wednesdays workouts.” So long story short, that improved parts of my evaluations, which helped towards my promotion which helped land me in Florida, so I literally would not be here if it hadn’t been for yall!!
So, after my abbreviated goodbye tour mid “rona”, I didn’t get a chance to thank you all in person so this is my way of saying thank you. I’ve been here in Bradenton, FL for less than a week and have already posted a bunch, volunteered to be the 1st F Q for the Sun Coast region and will be helping open up a new AO. Additionally, will be coordinating a Florida version of the Tour de Charleston and The Greenway Gittyup. Yall have inspired the hell out of me and I continued to push myself daily (except those fartsacking days, aka rest days).
Keep pushing and stay the course. We are all stronger together, no matter our beliefs, we are all here for a common reason, to make us better physically, mentally and spiritually. We need our brothers, and our brothers need us. This country needs us to be that beacon, that rock, that unified front to all outsiders. We are stronger and better together.
Cheers y’all!
Tom Leggett | 36 | Captain Ron