Friends Tyler Simpson, Chris Robart, and Brett Hagan started the Ruck It Up fundraiser last year to recognize the struggle many people experience with mental health and donated the proceeds to Journey to Hope Moose Jaw.
The event takes place at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 28. Participants will meet at the Rotary Pavilion in Wakamow Valley, across from the old Burger Cabin.
Register at: www.events.runningroom.com/site/17520/ruck-it-up-2022/.
Rucking is a verb, meaning to walk with a weighted rucksack/backpack, Hagan explained. It implies action, energy, and purpose. Rucking requires strength, endurance, and character — and builds them, too.
The event will be a 6K ruck. The backpack can have as much or as little weight in it as the individual is comfortable with.
“The idea was, with the backpack, anybody who hasn’t experienced mental unwellness can come for a 6K ruck with us for about an hour and experience a little bit of the burden it is to carry that weight on your back every day,” Hagan said.
The first Ruck It Up raised over $7,500 for Journey to Hope, which is a local organization that raises funds for suicide awareness and prevention.
There were 66 people at that first ruck, and organizers are hoping to match or exceed that number for their second go-around.
The name is a pun on the “suck it up” mentality many people have experienced when trying to talk about their mental health.
“So, instead of ‘suck it up’ — that doesn’t work — ‘ruck it up’ for mental health,” Hagan said. “The fitness part is that with a rucksack on your back, it helps with your posture, gives you a core exercise, leg exercise. Then you can expand. Instead of just going for a hike, you also do some exercises — push ups, squats, deadlifts, different things.”
This particular hike isn’t about exercise, though. Simpson, Robart, and Hagan want to bring the community together and create a space to talk about mental health, share stories, and raise awareness.
Another aspect to the activity, the organizers say, is to help people realize how therapeutic being outside can be.
“Getting outside for 30 to 40 minutes a day, just to walk, is a very underrated exercise,” Hagan said. It helps more than you think, he continued, and is a good tool to increase mental health and work for suicide prevention.
Simpson said that this year will include a penny parade with gift bag donations from local businesses; participants should bring cash if they’d like to be part of that.
Anyone interested in donating to the cause or looking for more information should email Tyler Simpson at [email protected].
