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Norwood - Local Town Pages

Norwood Native Rucks Throughout Norwood

Sep 28, 2020 10:18AM ● By Bella Caggiano

As with many events this year, the “I did not pre plan a route,” Lydon said. “I decided to just go where I felt in the moment. I signed up for the heavy weight class, meaning my pack had to weigh at least 35 lbs.”

Her personalized course started at her home in Canton, then she headed to Norwood. She traveled by foot to her parents home, then to visit deceased family members in Highland Cemetery, her grandmother’s home, through Stoughton, and returned to Canton.

Lydon raised over $1,500 (with support of the Norwood Fire Department), and her team of four drew in approximately $3,000 for the organization.

 

The Tough Ruck is typically held the Sunday before the Boston Marathon and members follow the Marathon route with their rucks on. According to military.com, a ruck can be described ‘as simple as walking around with a backpack on a hike or as difficult as moving fast with all your military gear, loaded for bear, over rugged terrain, infiltrating to your objective.’

The Rough Ruck is a group of military personnel or civilians to ruck in memory of fallen service members, police, firefighters, and EMTs to raise funds to help support military families in time of need. The event is held in partnership with the Boston Athletic Association and National Park Service.

While Lydon performed the route solo, there are those who contributed to her success both financially and personally, encouraging her throughout the day. 

“First off I need to thank everyone who donated to my ruck,” Lydon said. “I reached the top fundraising goal and that money is going to families of fallen military. So thank you, thank you, thank you.  

Extra thank you to those that where there for me throughout the race: John Reardon, Mom and Dad, Anne LeVitre Brawley, Andy Haase, and Gammy.”

Raising money for charities is noble in itself, but when people put themselves out there physically, that effort is both admirable and noteworthy. But as they cross that finish line, the ache of their efforts and sacrifice was well worth the pain.

“This ruck was in honor or all fallen military, police and fire,” Lydon said. “The last 5 miles where rough but babe was there with me for the last 7  and knowing what he had been through during deployment kept me from complaining about it and just continuing to put one foot in front of the other. Also thinking of the reason why I signed up, for those who are not here to be able to do this, that it didn’t matter what I was feeling, I could keep going. So glad I signed up for this and together we were able to raise money for these families.”