Week 5 of the Rucking series will kick-off (and end) at The Buzz Mill to allow for attendees to grab coffee or a snack and use the facilities prior to hitting Lady Bird Lake trail for 8 miles this week.
This week’s patch:
– The Horned Toad
The Texas horned lizard, official state reptile of Texas, though not actually a toad, they are often referred to as such. It’s horns and coloration help it to blend into the sparse vegetation of West Texas. It’s ability to blend into it’s surroundings, it’s hored appearance give it strong defenses, match only by it’s aggressive offensive strengths which include it’s ability to inflate it’s size & spit blood from its eyelids top deter predators.
What can we learn from this? It’s good to be thick skinned & not fun to mess with. That is the mindset for this weeks 8 mile trek as we begin to hit longer miles on the trail.
Last April we hosted the first GORUCK City Ruck here in Austin with our friends at Squatch Frontier Fitness & Official Project Grit. It was the first time GORUCK decided to take a major weekend event outside of their headquarters in Jacksonville, and Austin, WE absolutely showed up!
More than 500 Austinites took on the challenge. Teams stepped off for 50-mile, 25-mile, and 12-mile rucks, and what followed was one of the most powerful displays of energy, camaraderie, and resilience we’ve seen in this community.
It filled our cup.
Well guess what…
It’s back.
This year’s event, RUCKAPALOOZA 2026, returns to Austin April 8–11.
This time the event will be based out of our sister brand, Buzz Mill Coffee on Riverside, turning the Buzz Mill plaza into ground zero for the weekend. The miles will still be out there waiting for you.
Participants can choose from:
• 50-Mile Ruck
• 25-Mile Ruck
• 12-Mile Ruck
If you’re looking to get ready, the training series is already underway. Every Sunday morning ruckers meet at Buzz Mill at 9 AM and head out together to prepare. There are still four weeks left, which makes this the perfect time to grab a few friends, build a team, and jump in.
The weekend schedule looks like this:
Thursday, April 8
Bat City Shakeout — a warm-up ruck from Buzz Mill to Congress and back.
Friday Morning
2:00 AM — 50-Mile Ruck begins
6:00 AM — 25-Mile Ruck begins
9:00 AM — 12-Mile / 12K Ruck begins
Throughout the day teams will make their way back to Buzz Mill Plaza, where the community will gather for music, speakers, food, and celebration. Expect the plaza to come alive between 3–5 PM as everyone finishes.
If you’ve never done a ruck event before, this is one of the best communities to start with. If you’ve done one before, you already know how special these weekends are.
Jump in.
Grab your crew.
Be part of what’s shaping up to be an incredible weekend.
Click the link below to secure your spot for RUCKAPALOOZA 2026.