Celebrating 10 years of the Rubicon

AO: Rubicon

When: 2025-04-17

QIC: Cookie

PAX (68): aflac, Animal, Birdie, Bo Knows, Boomer, Busboy, Callahan, Cam's, Caroline, Catheter, Chapter 11, Cookie, Deep dish, defcon2, DeLorean, Devito, DirtyMO, Dosido, Dutch Oven, False Start, FannyPack, Floater, Focker, Fresh Prince, Groundhog, Hitchcock, Hollywood, HotSauce, IKEA, Knight Rider, Lefty, lumbergh, Matlock, Mayhem, Meatball, MillerTime, Nacho Libre, Nair, No-See-Um, Oshkosh, Papercut, Peaches, Pinkey, PushBack, Red Ryder (the one that posts), Scar, Schnitzel, Sell-out, Shazam, Slick, Smoker, Snowman, Spandex, Special K, Sprocket, Stroller, Stu, Sweep3r, Tank, TopHat, Trebek, Tumbleweed, Turbine, uga, Virginia Slim, Walkie Talkie, Zig, Crack

Preamble:

10 years ago a few PAX came down from Charlotte to help launch F3 Alpha. These men abandoned their comfort zones to give the gift of F3 away to a few men here in the Alpha that were willing to receive it. Fortunately, a few of these men took the torch and kept it lit in the early days even when times were hard. The flame began to grow and more men eventually stepped up to help carry it forward. 10 years later, we can confidently say that the decision to bring F3 to the northern burbs of Atlanta has positively changed the lives of thousands of men across the southeast and beyond. It is my belief that they named the first AO in the Alpha the Rubicon because they knew that F3 would spread like wildfire here and there would be no turning back, hence it had "passed the point of no return" and the "die had been cast". As the anniversary of this date approached, YHC had the idea of celebrating the Rubicon launch by inviting one of those early men to help lead the beatdown. The twist, is that YHC was the only person who knew that this man would come out of the woodworks to lead it. A man who had rarely been seen in the gloom over the past 5 years. A mystery man until he emerged. Here's what went down:

Warm-O-Rama:

When YHC arrived by 05:15 to setup, the parking lot was already packed with those seeking extra credit. At least 15 pre-ruckers and runners out getting it in the gloom. 05:30 struck and there were 67 men (1 would join later by design) standing in a circle ready to celebrate. After a typical disclaimer, we moseyed to the pool parking lot for a few laps around the islands and eventually into a big circle. Count off by 4 as it would be needed later on. As YHC was finishing the 2nd warmup exercise, a mysterious man emerged from the woods. I asked him if he wanted to join. He was wearing short shorts and a pullover. As he approached, some of the PAX recognized him as Crack, a founding member of F3 Alpha and the region's first Nantan. He shed the pullover revealing a crop top homemade F3 shirt which paired well with his nut huggers. He was everything everyone remembered. A loud, beastly, bulging man. It was at this moment that YHC let everyone know that Crack would be taking over the workout. A few chuckles and then we went right to business.

The Thang:

Escalating BLIMPS in the cheese grater parking lot using the islands. Crack gave them the lowdown which went something like this.10 burpees at 1st island, back to home, 10 burpees go to 2nd island for 20 lunges, back home, 10, 20, 30 etc.  YHC blasted some fun tunes from his car.
  • Burpees - 10
  • Lunges - 20
  • Imperial - 30
  • Merkins - 40
  • Plank jack - 50
  • Squats - 60
Next, we moseyed over to the field of dreams and split into 4 groups with the numbers assigned earlier during warmups. Group 1 start at 1st base, Group 2 at 2nd, etc.
  • LBC's at 1st base, lunge to 2nd
  • Superman's at 2nd, bear crawl to 3rd
  • V-ups at 3rd, reverse lunge home
  • J-Lo's at home, broad jumps to 1st & repeat
Time running out, we took a quick lap and then headed back to the parking lot for 2 minutes of Mary.

COT:

YHC was honored to co-lead such a fun morning. During COT, we acknowledged three of the men that were there for the Rubicon launch. Boomer, Def Con 2 and Crack. YHC spoke a little bit about how those men from Charlotte got out of their comfort zones to get this thing off the ground. I challenged the group to give the gift of F3 away to other men. I know most of us would agree the F3 has enriched our lives more than we could have ever known. We finished with coffee and and donuts in the parking lot. A few notes:
  • Crossruck on Good Friday
  • 10 year F3 Alpha Convergence, Saturday May 3rd
  • Checkout the F3 Alpha 10 year retrospective flipbook that Stroller put together, amazing work to pull it all together into one booklet
As always, I was honored to lead. -Cookie

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