On Saturday, March 22, 2014, fifty-three athletes gathered at the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock to raise funds for the Central AR disaster relief effort and to commemorate those members of the military and first responders we’ve lost.
The 2014 Heroes Ruck Challenge was a 15.3 mile team road march that started at the Clinton grounds, wound through downtown Little Rock to the Big Dam Bridge and back along the North Little Rock shore of the Arkansas River to the finish line back at the CPC.
Teams included a team from the Alexandria, LA SWAT unit, an Arkansas National Guard training unit, two Naval Reserve units, a local Boy Scout troop, ROTC and JROTC contingents as well as a civilian team made up of former law enforcement officers that marched in the name of a fallen comrade.
At 7am the teams gathered for a safety brief and a rousing rendition of the National Anthem sung by a Sheep Dog volunteer. Afterward, the names of the 14 fallen military members and first responders that marked the mile markers along the route were read with deference. A memory wall at the finish line marked the names of those who served, those who were lost and personal notes of appreciation for their service from the participants and those who came to watch.
Winners included the AR Tech University ROTC unit who took first place in the Active-Duty Division, SDIA NWA took the Former Duty Division first place trophy and Team Hans Fifer took the Civilian Division trophy. The best individual time was from CSM Larry Rankin and CPT Mitch Graham with the time of 3:42:12.
We would like to thank our sponsors; Capital Advertising, Bennett’s Military Supplies, ClifBar, the Arkansas EMT Association, Southern Ambulance Company, and our food truck vendors; The Waffle Wagon, and Kona Ice.
You can see more photos of the event at www.facebook.com/SheepDogcentralAR.