FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- They say that if you can walk, you can ruck -- but if you can't walk (or move, or even feed yourself, for that matter), a 26.2-mile ruck march through historic trails tread by Revolutionary War Minutemen sounds virtually impossible. Besides, who rucks for fun, anyway?
When Kimberly Mauro and her husband, Sgt. Nick Mauro, 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, arrived at Fort Drum nearly six years ago, a variety of auto-immune diseases, some not yet diagnosed, caused her excruciating pain and a host of other symptoms on a regular basis.
While he served with 1st Brigade Combat Team at Fort Drum, daily performing highly physical activity as an infantryman, she sometimes struggled to get out of bed.
"I was in so much pain all the time," she said. "There were times the pain was so bad, Nick would have to carry me to bed, would have to feed me. I couldn't take care of myself. And then the doctors would put me on these medications that had these horrible side effects, to the point where it was like I was drunk. I couldn't function."
Among her diagnoses were lupus, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, fibromyalgia and trigeminal neuralgia -- a condition also known as the suicide disease, as it causes so much pain that sufferers often take their own lives.
"Because of all these health problems, I went from 118 pounds at age 21 to about 170 at 24," she said. "I kept hearing that the more you move, the better you'll feel, but there were so many days I couldn't even get out of bed."
But, in March 2015, when Mauro saw an ad in the paper announcing an upcoming ruck march in honor of veteran suicide awareness, she mentioned the event to her husband, and they decided to do it together.
"We decided to do it. We only did the three-mile event because I was still really sick, but I fell in love with it because I realized it wasn't really a race," she said. "You walked with meaning. You were carrying the weight of something bigger than yourself."
And thus began an unexpected path to recovery. In conjunction with finally finding an endocrinologist who was able to better regulate her treatment, Mauro began rucking and even running for sport, and she lost more than 50 pounds in less than a year.
As her health continued to improve, Mauro got involved with the Fort Drum / Watertown Chapter of Team Red White and Blue, a national organization whose mission is "To enrich the lives of America's veterans by connecting them to their community through physical and social activity."
Through her involvement with Team RWB, Mauro continued to pursue physical activity that pushed her limits and kept her from regressing back into the more debilitating days of her chronic illnesses.
"I love rucking, because it's a social event that burns calories and actually helps with posture. It's strength, endurance and cardio all in one," she said.
Mauro has now completed three marathon-length ruck marches and a half-marathon run, with no plans to stop. Her most recent rucking event -- the Tough Ruck, which took place April 15 -- earned her a Boston Marathon finisher's medal and gave her a chance to honor fallen service members.
The money from the event went to the Military Friends Foundation, based in Massachusetts, which offers grant programs, community events, referral services and more to Families who have faced hardships related to active service.
Although she rucked with a yellow ribbon for Marine 1st Lt. Brian McPhillips, Mauro also carried with her memories of her grandfather, the late Al Brusco, who died unexpectedly only a week before the race. Brusco had served in the Navy, and he was passionate about serving veterans.
"I knew he was incredibly proud of me for all this stuff -- not just for overcoming all these diseases but also for the way Nick and I are involved in nonprofits that help veterans," she said. "He was always talking about how proud he was of that."
Mauro carried approximately 30 pounds throughout the course, which traveled through Boston's Minute Man National Historical Park. While she rucked with her Team RWB gear and a full-sized flag, she and her rucking partner, Diane Covell, also from Team RWB, cheered along military personnel and other civilians on the course.
"The course was on a loop, so you kept seeing the same people over and over, and you were cheering these complete strangers on and getting encouragement from everyone to keep going," she said. "The last few miles were really tough, the wind had picked up and was whipping the flag around, and my feet were hurting pretty bad by then, but I kept remembering my grandfather and seeing all these military personnel around us, and we had to keep going."
When she's not doing marathon-distance rucks for fun, Mauro acts as the Fort Drum / Watertown Team RWB rucking coordinator, putting together monthly three-mile ruck events in support of the Watertown Feed Our Vets Food Pantry.
"Every third Saturday, we march to the food pantry, stopping for a little extra PT on the way, with rucks full of nonperishables. When we get there, we weigh the rucks and donate the food, and then spend some time volunteering at the food pantry."
For Mauro, involvement in Team RWB has been a literal lifesaver, giving her a social outlet, a way to invest in veterans causes and the push she needed to pursue things she never thought possible.
"I never would have thought I could ruck a full marathon, no less three, and run a half marathon, when just a few years ago I couldn't even get out of bed," she said.
"I do these things and post about them online because people who have these diseases think we can't do these kinds of activities, and we can. Everybody totally can -- you just have to start somewhere," she said.
Membership in Team RWB is open to military personnel and civilians alike, with physical and social events scheduled regularly through the Fort Drum / Watertown chapter.
For more information about Team RWB, visit www.teamrwb.org/.
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