Mike and Bob talk with Lewis Haines, WWII Veteran of the Phillipine theatre, about their success in White Sands, NM.

A Special Message from Gallagher's Grunts

Our six member team of Gallagher’s Grunts from BJ’s Pit BBQ & Pub completed the grueling 26.2 mile 17^th Annual Bataan Memorial Death March at White Sands, New Mexico.  The March requires the ultimate in physical endurance.  There are two categories to enter, Heavy and Light.  We chose to enter the Heavy category which requires us to carry 35 lb. Backpacks the entire length of the 26.2 mile march.  This year’s march was especially challenging as White Sands missile range hadn’t received any rain for the past 6 months.  This made the sand on the trail very loose as compared to a hard packed if there had been rain.  Everyone knows from walking on a sandy beach the extra effort that’s required.  Add a 35 lb. Pack to your back and you have some idea of the stamina required to complete this.

We have been training hard for the past 8 weeks, including lifting free weights in the gym, doing our own aerobic exercises individually, and every Sunday training as a group doing long marches with our heavy backpacks.  This, in addition to the countless hours the team spent raising funds from our customers, friends, and family.   I’m happy to report we were all very successful.  We not only reached our $10,000 goal, but we also were able to finish the march.   As a rule, 25% of those that enter the march do not complete it due to dehydration, severe blisters, and general fatigue.  In fact, we were so successful, we had a First Place Winner in our group. 

Congratulations to Matt Shingara who won the first place award for the Individual Heavy Category, beating out all military and civilian entrants with a finishing time of 4:47:25 (hours/minutes/seconds).

The team results were as follows:

Matt Shingara         4:47:25   (First place in Indiv. Heavy)

Michel Spuesens      5:30:49   (Third place in his age group)

Bob Kirkpatrick        9:05:40   (The old man presses on!)

Joe Storer            10:06:59   (Joe fell on his face at mile 8 resulting in a bloody nose, bruised face.  He spent one hour in the      medical tent and still decided to continue the march for the next 16 miles in a great deal of pain.)

Courtney Bender 10:41:07  (second place medal winner in her age group)

Santa Rodriguez  10:41:07  (A superior effort after having turned 39 two days before the march)

Everyone made a 100% effort and had a great time doing it.  This was not an event for the faint of heart, complainers, or the undisciplined.  One of the highlights of our trip was to be able to meet with Mike Gallagher at the Dallas Airport.  We all felt very appreciated and were very happy to receive his recognition for a job well done.    All of us feel very deeply about our troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and it has been a great honor to be able to participate in this event and raise those funds for Gallagher’s Army.

 

The 26.2 mile memorial march route starts on the White Sands main post, crosses dusty and hilly desert terrain, circles a small mountain and returns to the main post through sandy desert trails and washes. The elevation ranges from about 4,100 to 5,300 feet.