Photo By Tech. Sgt. Leilani Peltz | The 104th Fighter Wing hosted more than 100 participants for its third annual...... read more read more
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BARNES AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Massachusetts – In the military, service members will often experience a wide variety of physical and mental trials and tribulations throughout their time serving. Many of these are not by choice. Yet, the Norwegian Ruck March, a strenuous endurance test the Norwegian military started in 1915, brings together volunteer participants each year around the globe.
Master Sgt. Andrew ‘Larry’ Lawrence, the 104th Fighter Wing government special access program security officer, organized the wing’s third annual Norwegian Ruck March at Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield, Massachusetts April 5, 2025. Prior to the Lawrence’s coordination, no other military installations in the state had ever held the event.
“I was talking with the Chief Warrant Officer in Charge, Chief Vincent, and he brought up that nobody in the state has ever hosted the Norwegian Foot March,” said Lawrence. “So, with permission from the 104th command, I contacted the Norwegian Embassy to see what the setup would entail, and from there, I started organizing it.”
Lawrence, who has a background in track and field, reached out for assistance from his dad.
“My father has set up road races since I was a child, so I leaned on him,” Lawrence said. “He gave me some pointers, and I just ran with it from there, but now there’s a military spin involved.”
Participants must each carry a weighted rucksack with a minimum of 11 kilograms (24.25 pounds), spanning 30 kilometers (18.6 miles). The rucks are weighed at both the beginning and end of the event.
More than 150 signed up for the ruck, with 119 showing up the day of the competition. 105 of those completed the ruck, and 88 earned a medal.
“It’s another opportunity for service members to earn a foreign badge,” Lawrence said.
“Making the event more available makes it a bigger deal to everybody, and this is also a good test of my ability to organize and lead something from scratch to what it is now three years running. We’ve come a long way compared to the first year when we only had around 40 people.”
One competitor not only placed first for the second consecutive year but also beat the state and base records, which he previously held, when he completed the ruck march in under three hours.
Army National Guard Sgt. Connor Gorman, a radio equipment repairer with the 110th Support Maintenance Company, won the race, finishing in a record-breaking 2 hours, 59 minutes. His previous time in 2024 was also a base record of 3 hours, 14 minutes.
“My goal was to try to finish in less than 3 hours,” said Gorman. “I didn’t care if it was a second or an hour under, and I did what I wanted to do.” Gorman’s win did not come by accident.
“After last year, I decided to take rucking a little more seriously when I was working out,” said Gorman. “Alongside marathon training, I focused with weighted rucks once or twice a week.”
Another notable accomplishment was from Sylvia Burkman, a cadet from University of Massachusetts – Amherst, who beat the previously held women’s record on the base with a time of 3 hours, 39 minutes and placed 14th overall.
The event also hosted its first international student, Wei-Cheng Wang, a cadet at Norwich University in Vermont, who placed 60th overall.
Gorman and Sgt. Cody Kaine, a medic with the Massachusetts Army National Guard Medical Detachment, who finished in third place this year, started training almost immediately after the end of last year’s march.
“My goal this year was to beat Gorman,” said Kaine, who placed second in 2024. “We’re like Goku and Vegeta. He pushed me to do better. I ran 5Ks daily, with a 30-pound plate every other day, since last year’s ruck.”
While Gorman and Kaine are both experienced with long-distance ruck marches, second place this year went to first-year cadet Graham Goodwin and third-year cadet John Lopes, both with the Bay State Battalion at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Both participants had experience with shorter ruck marches, but this was not only their first time competing in the Norwegian Ruck March but also their longest distance ever completed. They tied with a finished time of 3 hours, 7 minutes, not an easy feat for newcomers to the march.
“We didn’t expect to finish,” said Lopes. “We’re both avid runners, but this required more endurance.”
“As we kept going, we became more confident,” said Goodwin.
“We definitely followed the motto of ‘The tortoise wins the race,’” added Lopes.
To continue building on the success of the event at Barnes, Lawrence hopes to open future ruck marches to the local area.
“It’s a way to reach out for community support and engagement,” Lawrence said.
For the dedicated competitors, the Norwegian Ruck March is more than just another military event, it is an opportunity for them to push past their own limits and demonstrate the determination that defines what military excellence entails.
| Date Taken: | 04.05.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 04.11.2025 08:31 |
| Story ID: | 495042 |
| Location: | WESTFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, US |
| Web Views: | 171 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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