Kraken 2022

‘Winter’ in Florida typically doesn’t last very long.  We get a small window in January and February to break out the cold weather gear.  We needed it all on Saturday to defeat the Kraken.  

The Kraken was fierce, it roared on the beach attempting to drag in a couple of Pax out to sea at pain station one.  All fought back, lifted each other up, and carried on down the shore line as the wind blew at our backs.  

As the Pax fought the weather and soft sand at Mickler’s Landing, the Kraken again reached out and cramping began to set in.  Thankfully, or maybe not, they had begun to arrive at their next stop.  After everyone completed the workout, they were able to rehydrate and work out any soreness.

Feeling refreshed they turned north, into the teeth of the beast.  Wind howling and the cold mist unrelenting, pain station three came into view.  The suffering of the group was now evident, clothes were wet…complaints of “why did I wear cotton?”, “my hands are freezing, why didn’t I bring my M’s Isotoner’s?” and “why did I drink so much at the beer stop?”  could be heard.  Motivated by the thought of coffee, dry clothes, and (more) beer, the Pax began the last trek to slay the Kraken.  

But the Kraken was not done…  

One last workout in the cold, the worst one yet, was on the horizon.  As each moved into slay the beast, cheers from those waiting for their arrival erupted.  Sore muscles and exhaustion slowed them down, but the Kraken was now defeated, pride still intact…barely…and thought of the next event began to take hold.  

The Kraken is always more than sweating for some period of time. It’s so much bigger…shared suffering with a friend, that you may not have had last year, but you can now lean on in times of need.  Or pushing yourself harder to accomplish something you weren’t sure you could do.  

Let’s face it, we need these events to check our pulse sometimes to get the heart rate up and make sure we are still preparing for what’s to come.  

As a supporter this year, it was incredible to see all of this in action.  

The true magic came at the end as we crushed our challenge and raised $12,000 for men in our community.  Men that may not have that friend yet, men that are struggling and need to be lifted up to get on their feet.  No one gets left behind.  

Many thanks go to the volunteers at each Pain Station and the M’s that braved the weather to support this CSAUP, not too mention the leadership of Saigon Sam and Aquaman to continue to push us all to exceed our goals.  Also, you know we got the attention of F3 Nation when the big Kahuna  – Dark Helmet – makes the trip to see ALL the good work we are doing in Jax!

Job well done men.  We should all be proud of the work that we did to slay the Kraken in 2022!

I’m out…

Mr. Woodchuck