Run to the Rock
From USAFA Folklore
The Run to the Rock is an annual event held at the conclusion of Recognition training. The entire fourth class, accompanied by the entire first class, participate in a formation run from the Cadet Area to Cathedral Rock.
Before the run, the fourth class cadets of each squadron acquire a large rock (normally carryable by 6-8 persons) and decorate it with the class and squadron colors. Often, these rocks were kept in the squadrons and passed down and repainted from year to year. Just prior to the run, upperclassmen from the squadron would transport the squadron rock to the Cathedral Rock area. Upon reaching Cathedral Rock, the fourth class cadets would be expected to locate the squadron rock and carry it, as a team, back to the Cadet Area. This was a considerable challenge, as carrying a 100-pound rock for 3 miles, usually with 6-8 cadets holding edges of a blanket holding the rock, required significant coordination and teamwork on the part of the fourth class cadets.
During the past few years, the squadron rock has been replaced with a "charge", a plastic/composite railroad tie fitted with rope handles and likewise decorated by cadets. Although just as heavy, if not heavier, than a typical squadron rock, the handles make it much easier to carry.
[edit] Comments
- Each class of smacks tried to haul the biggest boulder they could manage back to the area from Cathedral Rock. Then you painted it your class color and displayed it in SAR. The OSHA concerns alone were enough reason to stop this, but the real problem was that – inevitably – some Saturday night, under the influence of intoxicants, one class would take vengeance on another by pitching their rock into the quad. We threw '79's out the sixth floor window in the dead of a winter's eve. It is an intensely mixed feeling to heave that 150 pound stone into the void. Simultaneously thinking "YES! WE DID IT!" and "Oh boy – that was not smart." - (e-mail, 6-3-1999)
- We still do that, paint them all up and stuff with our class color/squadron color, give it to the firsties to hide, and then the soon-to-be-recognized smacks and firsties run out there to find it. Starting with 2002, they made a restriction on how much the rock could weigh (something like 30 lbs) and that took all the fun out of it. I'm sure the tradition will continue with 2003... I remember carrying back our rock, and it took approx 8 people to hold the litter we taped it to, with people switching off every once in a while. - (8-23-1999)
