It was a long time coming. The 2019 Bull was announced in February 2019 after we decided to hold the annual event on F3 Durham’s bday on the last Saturday of every October. The Bull was subsequently announced in every COT since that time. So there was a lot of anticipation and high expectations for the event.

This Bull was the 4th annual CSAUP held by F3 Durham. Last year, we trekked through the Eno State park. This year we decided to go back to our roots and have it in downtown Durham once again.

The Bull prides itself on being a fun, creative, inclusive event which incorporates all of the 3 F’s in F3. The first F, fitness, was pretty evident. There was 4 hours of punishment and by the end, even YHC was feeling like a FNG. The 2nd F, fellowship did occur during the workout, but also at the after party at Tobacco Road where PAX drank some ice cold beverages and had some pretty good bar food. Finally, the 3rd F was Q’d by Knope and we spread out tons of gravel at the Durham Dog Park in the downtown area.

54 PAX overall participated in the Bull. Several had to drop off due to personal commitments. The Bull was a 5 mile loop with 4 AOs and 1 service project. PAX were split into 5 squads. For the first time ever, we had a rucking squad and a jack rabbit squad (for the fast guys). Then there were 3 other mosey squads. Each squad had a squad leader Q whose job it was to get the PAX to the next stop before the time hack and also deliver punishment along the way. The Bull was scheduled to be 3.5-4 hours and we did finish just at 4 hours. We only got a little lost along the way.

All in all, it was a very successful event and people (mostly me) are already pitching The Bull October 31, 2020. That’s right, next year’s Bull falls on Halloween. Better start getting ready!

First, I’d like to thank all the men who stepped up and helped organize and Q the event. We could not do it without you men.

Course Qs: Floyd, Doogie
Squad Qs: Bellhop, Scapula, Shake It, OPEC, Cardiac, Knope, Beano, Riggs, Elf
2nd F Q: Knope
3rd F Q: Knope
Sag Wagon/snacks: Floyd, Brady, Happy Gilmore
Warm Up Q: Floyd
Welcome Party AO Q: Sweats
AO1 Qs: Kia, OPEC
AO2 Qs: Dial Up, Mr. Brady
AO3 Qs: Elf, Grunge
COT Q: One Direction

The Thang: The Bull
Mosey to the large empty car dealership lot beside the American Tobacco Campus. Initially was going to do this in the gravel lot under the 147 bridge, but it turns out this was waaaaay too loud. So…we already are improvising!

Circle Up!
Side Straddle Hop x 25
Windmills x 10
Burpees 5 OYO
Imperial Walkers x 10
Hillbilly’s x 10
Willie Mayes Hayes x 10
Arm Circles x 10
Reverse Arm Circles x 10
Harvester x 10
Burpees 5 OYO

Split up into 5 Squads. 1 Ruck, 1 Jack Rabbit, 3 Mosey

Next stop Welcome Party. Squads had 10 minutes to meet in the big plaza with the Bull statue in the middle of town. The mosey squad was seen beside the railroad tracks performing partner railroad tie lifts and curls.

Welcome Party:
What better way to start off the Bull than to have OG Sweats give a signature beatdown. In Sweat’s own words, “My goal is for PAX to think to themselves, ‘Ok, now we’re at the Bull!”

The Thang: 8 exercises, AMRAP in 1 minute intervals
Merkins x 1 minute
Jump Squats x 1 minute
Mountain Climber x 1 minute
Flutter Kicks x 1 minute
High/Low Plank x 1 minute
Lunge Jumps x 1 minute
Dry Docks x 1 minute
Burpees x 1 minute

Mosey to the next site: DowntownDurham Dog Park
The Thang: 3rd F service project.

Knope, our parks and rec man had set up this project for us. Our goal, spread a couple of tons of gravel in an evenly distributed manner in the dog park. The gravel had already been delivered and shovels and rakes were available. It took 50 men the better part of 30 minutes to complete the task. This represents 25 man hours of work. Knope estimated that it would’ve taken 3 full time Parks employees an entire work day to complete.

While we were there:
Impromptu PT: Floyd and Cosmo Q
Hands free t-merkins x 10
Freddie Mercuries x 10
Hands free t-merkins x 10
Freddie Mercuries x 10
Hands free t-merkins x 10
Freddie Mercuries x 10
Fire Hydrants x 20 (Cosmo’s contribution because of location)

Mosey to the next site: Old North Durham Park
Along the way a very generous (and expensive)gym left their pull-up bars out near the sidewalk. These bars are well known to the men of the #bullpen AO. Anyway, several squads paid homage to that with multiple sets of pull-ups right before the next AO.

The Thang: AO1 Old North Park. Circuits with water jugs.

All PAX were divided into 4 even groups. Cones had been set up at 25 yard intervals across the field. One by one, PAX would run to a cone and do an exercise and move on to the next cone. Next PAX up would then follow suit. Rinse and repeato for 20 minutes.

1. Carry water jug to first cone and back.
2. Run to second cone and do 20 Merkins
3. Run to 3rd cone and do 20 LBCs
4. Run to the end and do 10 water jug thrusters
5. Run back through the course doing everything in reverse order

Snack Break! 5-10 minutes to have water, gatorade, snacks and bananas.

Run to the next site which was a little over a mile away, Duke East campus quad. Duke East Campus was the 2nd ever site of F3 Durham, and although there is currently no AO there, many strong bonds and fond memories were made sweating and bleeding on that campus.

Along the way, I witnessed several breakout groups doing squats, wall PT, and bear crawling around some poles.

The Thang: AO2 Duke East Campus Quad.

Qs Dial Up and Mr. Brady circled us up around a very large circular drive. Time to bear crawl. This was pretty brutal if I’m being honest. It felt like >100 yards and the sun was starting to heat things up. Definitely difficult.

Not to be outdone, PAX then lined up at one of the rectangular quads and did some more circuits. 10 burpees, run to path in the middle, 10 jump lunges, run to the end 25 WWII situps.

PAX were then grouped back into squads. The next AO was at Orchard park which gave us our longest run of the Bull 1.8 miles. Maps had been distributed and groups set out. All groups made it to the Orchard Park on time….except for YHC’s group. Somehow the Course Q got lost. After 10 minutes of running, we did a quick google map search and realized….we were still 1.8 miles from our destination. A double-time run got us to the site only 10 minutes late. Our squad received a hearty cheer from the other PAX who thought we were lost forever.

The Thang: AO3 Orchard Park
Q’s Elf and Grunge divided PAX into four groups and stationed us at four corners around a picturesque garden. We then proceeded to do some modified Jack Webbs in a 1:4 ratio. 1 rep of one exercise, 4 of the next. Starting at 1/4 reps, going up the ladder to 5/20 reps and back down to 1/4.

Jack Webb #1

1 burpee, 4 mountain climbers
2 burpees, 8 mountain climbers
3 burpees, 12 mountain climbers
4 burpees, 16 mountain climbers
5 burpees, 20 mountain climbers
then back down to 1/4

Bear crawl to next corner

Jack Webb #2
1 jump squats, 4 around the world lunges in cadence
2 jump squats, 8 ATW lunges
3 jump squats, 12 ATW lunges
4 jump squats, 16 ATW lunges
5 jump squats, 20 ATW lunges

Army crawl to next corner. At that time, we were out of time, and had to run back to the beginning, only 1/2 mile away!

Endex:
After everyone made it back to the empty car lot beside the American Tobacco campus, we planted our shovel flags and circled up.

Mary: Led by Grunge
On your six!

LBC x 20 IC
Flutter Kick x 20 IC
Box Cutters x 20 IC
American Hammers x 20 IC
8-point plank: 2 hands, 2 elbows, 2 knees, 2 feet. 1 minute, very difficult

COT: Namorama was performed and thanks were announced for all the Qs who helped make the 2019 Bull possible. Prayer requests were made and then One Direction took us out with a very nicely stated prayer.

2nd F event: After everyone dispersed, we all gathered across the street at Tobacco Road for beers and food. There was a great turnout with over 30 men sticking around for some good fellowship and reflection. And the beers. After 4 hours of an absolute beatdown, those beers were frosty and tasty.

Thanks to all the Qs who put in a lot of effort and time making this event possible.

Thanks to all the PAX who posted and also went with the flow as we navigated through the course. It was so awesome being among so many like-minded individuals and the level of positivity that I witnessed was incredible.

Looking forward to the Bull 2020!