A weighty workout: West Orange Ruckers in it for the long haul

Sometimes they walk through Winter Garden and Oakland with heavy backpacks on, sometimes they carry big coolers, and other times they carry giant watermelons.

They are the West Orange Ruckers, a group of men and women who hike the West Orange Trail three times a week for exercise and camaraderie — and to keep challenging themselves. Rucking involves walking with extra weight, usually contained in a backpack or ruck sack.

Chad Haggerty began rucking during the pandemic, when everyone and everything was on lockdown, including the gyms, and he wanted to continue exercising.

“During COVID, we’re all by ourselves, and I started rucking through the neighborhood and then going through Lake Louisa Park, just spending a couple hours in nature by myself, exercising but not really feeling like I’m exercising,” he said. “But it was more for my mental health.”

With the stress of going through the pandemic and having a 1-year-old, Haggerty saw rucking as a way to “get my head straight,” he said.

As restrictions on the lockdown loosened, Haggerty invited other folks to join him on his ruck walks.

“Rucking really is about, ‘Let’s get people out here, I don’t care who you are, who you pray to, you don’t even have to put on the weight, but let’s get out together and hold each other accountable,’” Haggerty said. “We’re all from different walks of life. It’s also very therapeutic for them. Some people need someone to talk to.”

Haggerty discussed with a few friends the idea of forming a rucking group in West Orange County, and in April, he, Dave Tran and Doug Sahr formed West Orange Ruckers. The group meets at the fountain on Plant Street in Winter Garden.

“Downtown Winter Garden is the perfect area to be seen and (get) people involved,” Haggerty said. “You can do like a coffee ruck or a beer ruck or a pizza ruck, and everything is there. And you can walk to it. That’s kind of how it originally started.”

He collaborated with a graphic design artist to come up with a logo for the group, and within a few weeks he had a green and orange design featuring an alligator and the group name. Shortly after that, the West Orange Ruckers had their official patch. Anyone who rucks with the club gets a patch, and there are additional opportunities to walk and earn specialty patches with images of heavy objects such as watermelons or coolers.

In June, the club participated in its first specialty walk in downtown Orlando, where they rucked three miles to a food truck and earned a food truck patch. This month is the four-mile buddy carry ruck, and members must carry 20% of their group for the last mile.

It’s up to the walker how much weight he or she wants to carry. Thirty pounds is the standard weight, but Haggerty sometimes pushes the limit at 45. Typically, anyone weighing 150 pounds or less carries 20 pounds and anyone over that weight carries 30.

“But, we don’t judge anybody,” he said. “If you’re starting brand new, you definitely don’t want to start with 30; you want to tart with 10 to 15. You’re working your core muscles you’ve never worked before. I want this to be a fun thing that’s maybe a little bit challenging at the same time.”

His plan is to engage in a few outreach programs. The first will be Challenge 22, an event in November that raises awareness of veteran suicide.

The local club officially is affiliated with the international GORUCK organization, and its motto is “Ruck Around and Find Out.”

There are officially 91 members, Haggerty said, but there are 10 to 15 who are regular walkers.

“I have a feeling, as the weather starts calming down, we’ll have more,” he said.

Ruckers can choose from the three days and times — 5:30 a.m. Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m. Thursdays and 5 p.m. Sundays — or elect to walk all three. The Sunday walk tends to draw more families, he said.

“Come out with your kids, wives, husbands, and afterward, let’s go downtown and get some ice cream, something to eat,” Haggerty said.

The ruck walks take about an hour, and all ages are welcome to participate.

For information on West Orange Ruckers, email [email protected] or visit the group’s Facebook page.