Local Firefighters Complete Military-Style Endurance Challenge

And you thought fighting fires was hard.

Try lugging around a 45-pound backpack through the streets of Philadelphia for up to 14 hours around a 20-mile course. That's what a team of firefighters from Haddonfield did over the weekend.

The group included Lt. Jeff Mirabello, Brian Poliafico, Mike Carmody, Jason Kolbe and David Berrigan. They took part in in the physical fitness, endurance and team-building GoRuck Challenge in Philadelphia.

The challenge is led by an ex-Special Forces veteran and carries the mantra of “under promise, over deliver,” according to a news release. The event started at midnight as the team started with exercises, stair climbs, extended running, marching and carrying large heavy objects nonstop for almost 14 hours through the city of Philadelphia.

Throughout the challenge, the team of 30 was tasked with working together to accomplish missions and military-inspired challenges—all while each person carried a backpack filled with six bricks, ultimately weighing an extra 40 to 45 pounds.

It was designed to break down the individual physically and mentally in order to help them surpass their own perceived limitations. The ultimate goal of the challenge was to bring 30 strangers together to work as a team, to overcome adversity and complete their objectives as a unit of one. After nearly 14 hours, covering about 20 miles, the members of GoRuck Challenge Class 467 successfully returned to the base of the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps  and earned their GoRuck Tough patch and became proud members of the GoRuck family.  

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