Pecos Run-N-Gun

[SinistralRifleman]

I did this back in 2004, it felt like I was dying the whole time. I did finish though. You should all give it a try once, it is a humbling experience for those of us not in top physical shape.

Preface:

Gentlemen,

In light of the past few years experience, there will be some changes to the 2007 Run ’n Gun ’n the Sun. The date is Saturday, August 18. The past few years we were probably guilty of “trying to be everything to everybody,” and that has lead to a general over complication of the affair. This year, we get back to basics.

There will not be any divisions, classes, pistols, or required weights. Show up ready to run with a capable rifle and enough ammunition.

The course will not change. It will be approximately six miles, cross-country, with four opportunities to excel with your rifle interspersed along the way. You are responsible for your own water, and everything else. There will not be water at the ranges or along the route, nor cleaning rods to remove a stuck case, nor anything else. You will be self-contained. If possible, there will be a group camping out at the range the night before. All are welcome and encouraged to camp that night. A convoy will leave the morning of the 18th from the Flying J truck stop in Pecos at 0500 hrs, sharp. With luck we will start early, finish early, and have a good time at the banquet that night.

Required attitude:

The Run ‘n Gun is roughly a center-fire biathlon. The competition is the project of a half-dozen men who belong to the Pecos Rifle Club. The Club has less than 12 members. In short, manpower is limited. We created the run as a fun way to test man and equipment and to have something to train for throughout the year.

Our priorities: First is safety. Second is to have an enjoyable event for everyone concerned. Many of our members run in the event. Many competitors are also required to act as range officers either before or after they run the course. Good attitudes are required. If a minor hitch in plans will ruin your whole day this event is not for you.

Basics:

Run Order: Runners will run in a predetermined order that best suits the needs of the event. As we have not found a way to reliably enlist a full-compliment of range officers for this event, competitors will be asked to serve as range officers. One set of RO’s will begin the event at their ranges, and then run last. A second set will run first, and finish the day as range officers. Volunteer range officers who are selected for duty will receive an extra T-shirt for their service and drink on Smokey’s tab at the banquet. RO’s will be selected to best facilitate an efficient and safe event.

Stopwatch: All runners must carry a stopwatch of some kind. If a range is in use when a runner arrives it is the runner’s duty to start his stopwatch and show the range officer how long he had to wait. This time will be noted by the range officer and taken off the final run time. This will happen. You cannot avoid it in a match like this. Be prepared.

Recommended gear: Semi-automatic rifle and spare magazines, one gallon of liquid, 80 rounds of ammunition, cleaning kit/ruptured case extractor, running shoes or boots.

Timing Gear: All timing will be done with stopwatches. Time starts on the RO’s command and stops when the last round is either down range, or the last reactive target is hit, depending on the course of fire.

Courses of Fire:

* All CoF’s and scoring are subject to change up to the beginning of the race on account of weather, available range officers, live stock on the range, etc….

* There are no shooting position requirements at any stage of the match. Any position allowed by terrain is allowed, as are all slings, scopes, rests and magic potions. If you want to carry it 6 miles, you can use it.

• The procedure for each range will be the same. The shooter will approach the range. If it is busy, he will start his stopwatch. When the range is clear and the RO is ready for you he will ask you your name, record your wait time, if any, and then escort you to the firing line. Until you are given the command to do so, DO NOT begin to make ready. Once on the line, the RO will ask,

“Do you understand the course of fire?”

• Then the RO will give the prefatory command of, “Ready.” Then the RO will say, “Go.” At that point you may load your weapon and begin the course of fire.

(There is no “make ready” period. Competitors will make ready once their time has begun)

When you complete the course of fire, unload your weapon, make it safe, present it safely to the RO so that he can verify that there is no round in the chamber and no loaded magazine inserted. On verifying that your weapon is safe, the RO will give you the command to continue on the running course. IT IS THE COMPETITOR’S RESPONSIBILITY TO VERIFY THAT THE RO HAS RECORDED HIS SCORE CORRECTLY, BEFORE LEAVING THE STAGE.

Stage One: Take the Hill: (only one shooter on the range at a time) There will be two gongs situated approximately 200 yards from the beginning firing line. On the RO’s command, the shooter will engage and hit both targets with as many rounds as necessary to score one hit on each. Shooter will then advance to the second third and fourth firing lines, repeating the process at each firing line. Each gong must be hit once before the shooter can advance. When the second gong is hit at the fourth firing line, time stops. Your score will be the amount of time it took for you to successfully engage all targets. Maximum time is four minutes. If you cannot complete the course of fire in the four-minute time limit you will receive zero points for this stage. There is no max or min round count, or any required shooting positions or restrictions.

Stage Two: Defend the Hill: (only one shooter on the range at a time) There will be five steel gongs at approximately 300 yards. On the RO’s command the competitor must score a hit on each target. Your score will be the amount of time it took for you to successfully engage all targets. Maximum time is four minutes. If you cannot complete the course of fire in the four-minute time limit you will receive zero points for this stage. There is no max or min round count, or any required shooting positions or restrictions.

Stage Three: Ten Rounds for Record: There will be one or more steel gongs at approximately 200 yards. On the RO’s command the shooter will engage his target with ten rounds. Your score will be the number of hits (0-10). Time limit is two minutes. Any rounds unfired after two minutes will count as misses.

Stage Four: Take Your Time, Quickly: There will be several paper targets (standard SR-2s probably) at approximately 200 yards. The RO will assign you a target. On the RO’s command you will engage your target with 20 rounds. Scoring is Comstock (total hits divided by total time). Maximum time limit

is four minutes. Exceeding the time limit will earn the competitor a zero for this stage.

Banquet: We plan to have a banquet Sunday night in Pecos. All competitors’ meals are covered in the entry fee. All guests will be charged at cost to the club. Better halves and children are very welcome. HQ – Our facilities on the range are very rough. There is an outhouse. There is no running water. Shade is limited. Bring some of both. No electricity either. Snakes are common.

Emergency services: The past three years we have had an EMT on hand all day. We plan to do so again, however there is always the possibility that the ambulance and the EMT will be on a call. You will be at least one hour away from the closest medical services and cell phones often do not work. Please plan accordingly.

Questions: Please do not hesitate to call Smokey Briggs at either 432-943-4313 (Monahans) or 432-445-5475 (Pecos) or 432-445-5155 (Home) or contact by email: smokey@pecos.net.

[EricW]

Pecos, NM or TX?

Sounds like a blast! I'll be there if I can.

[SinistralRifleman]

Pecos, TX

[EricW]

Thanks! I have the match flyer. I'll try to upload it tonight.

[uscbigdawg]

Russell,

Pencil me in for next year. We don't do much here other than workout and I have my 6 mile time under 50 minutes now.

Rich

[SinistralRifleman]

Russell,

Pencil me in for next year. We don't do much here other than workout and I have my 6 mile time under 50 minutes now.

Rich

uh....yeah....I'll be happy to finish it in under 2 hours this year.

Edited June 30, 2007 by SinistralRifleman

[SinistralRifleman]

just about a week out, who else is going?

[BigDave]

Something like this done on bicycles would be awesome, also.

[EricW]

Won't make it. Really wanted to.

Once I get my personal life squared away, I want to try setting up something similar here. Wish we had ranges with TX and NM size real-estate...

[SinistralRifleman]

The biathlon hosted by the Pecos, Texas Rifle Club is a unique type of shooting competition that is most likely not found anywhere else in the country. This isn’t the Olympic event with skis and .22 rimfire rifles. As the competition’s name, “Run ‘n Gun ‘n the Sun”, implies it is a cross country race in the heat and humidity of the West Texas desert with rifle shooting stations spread throughout the course.

The competition attracts people from all over the Southwest. Competitors’ ages range from teenagers to over 70 years old. Age is clearly not a factor here; physical endurance and shooting skill are what matters. The winners, including this year, are most often retired military men that have maintained their warrior spirit, kept their bodies fit, and their shooting skills sharp.

All a competitor needs to compete is a center fire rifle, there are no other gear or weight requirements AR-15 variants were by far the most common. Also seen were, FALs, M14s, and bolt action hunting rifles. Everything else a competitor can use is entirely at their discretion. Most shooters use varying sizes of hydration packs. Some competitors use military style field clothing and load bearing rigs carrying what they would need for a short patrol. Others go with a minimalist approach, and run in shorts and athletic shoes with the minimum ammo and water needed to finish the course.

http://www.cavalryarms.com/competition/Pecos/02.jpg

http://www.cavalryarms.com/competition/Pecos/03.jpg

http://www.cavalryarms.com/competition/Pecos/04.jpg

http://www.cavalryarms.com/competition/Pecos/05.jpg

http://www.cavalryarms.com/competition/Pecos/06.jpg

http://www.cavalryarms.com/competition/Pecos/07.jpg

http://www.cavalryarms.com/competition/Pecos/10.jpg

The course itself is a six-mile long round trip. Competitors are released individually every 5-10 minutes to keep them spaced out, and avoiding pile-ups on the shooting stages. If a shooter gets to a range with a shooter on it already, they will start a stopwatch and the Range Officer will deduct that time from their run time. The terrain over the course varies, including some dirt roads, desert with cactus and thorn bushes, a few areas with thicker vegetation, and rocky hills. Competitors need to watch out for rattlesnakes and other biting, stinging local critters. Temperatures varied during the match from 80-95 degrees, with humidity around 60%.

http://www.cavalryarms.com/competition/Pecos/map.jpg

The Shooting Stages were all fairly straight forward. The brush and foliage on the ground made it difficult to use the prone supported position frequently. Shooters had to use kneeling and sitting positions to see the targets. Some preferred to use shooting sticks to support their rifles in those positions. The prone position could be used on a couple of the stages if the shooter could find the right angles to see the targets through the ground cover. Using supported positions was critical to shooting well, particularly on the stages with limited shots allowed, fatigue, breathing, and heart rate dramatically effect ones’ shooting ability.

http://www.cavalryarms.com/competition/Pecos/01.jpg

http://www.cavalryarms.com/competition/Pecos/08.jpg

http://www.cavalryarms.com/competition/Pecos/09.jpg

Stage 1 consisted of 2 steel plates starting at about 200 yards that the shooter engaged once each from 4 different positions advancing forward to each subsequent position. Scoring was based on the fastest time with a max time of 4 minutes.

Stage 2 consisted of 5 steel plates at approximately 200 yards that the shooter had to engage with one round each. Scoring was based on the fastest time with a max time of 4 minutes.

Stage 3 consisted of one steel plate that the shooter had to put 10 rounds on as fast as possible. No more than 10 rounds could be fired. Comstock scoring was used on this stage. The shooter with most hits per time taken had the best score.

Stage 4 consisted of one paper high power style target that the shooter had to put 20 rounds on as fast as possible. No more than 20 rounds could be fired. Comstock scoring was used on this stage. The more points the shooter got for the time they shot, the better.

Scoring is balanced between run time and shooting 50/50. The fastest run time gets 100%, the lowest 0%. Everyone in between is scored on a curve, with their percentage being turned into points. Likewise the shooting stages are calculated the same way, with the highest score on each stage getting 100% and the lowest 0%. The scores for the shooting stages are then added together and averaged and added to the run time score. A perfect score would be 200 points for the combined shooting and running events.

The competition was followed by a banquet at the Pecos Country Club. Cavalry Arms, Practical Tactical, and Spec Ops Brand provided prizes for the match. Prizes were awarded by order of finish and random drawing, so most of the shooters walked away with something.

The Pecos Run ‘N Gun ‘N the Sun is a true test of physical fitness and shooting skill. Simply finishing the match should be viewed as an accomplishment as a lot of people who can show, won’t because they view the competition as too difficult. Military, Law Enforcement, and average citizens can all benefit from this competition, learning the limits of their physical and shooting capabilities under adverse conditions.

[uscbigdawg]

I'll be there next year....

Rich

[SinistralRifleman]

Lessons learned for next year:

More PT for next year so I can go faster. I don't think I was in bad shape to do this, the heat combined with humidity really messed me up though. So heat conditioning is in order.

I carried twice as much water as I needed.

I should have carried more gookinade, it helped when I started feeling really bad with muscle cramps coming on in the heat.

Pre-hydrating the night before helped a lot.

Taking ibuprofin the night before, and before the competition kept most of the pain down.

Apparently my footwear (Matterhorn boots) was good, no blisters. I do need new boots now though, had those for 3 years and the match killed them.

Shooting wise, more practice shooting kneeling and sitting. Practice running a few hundred yards then shooting. I am going to bring a shooting stick or longer bipod anyway though because I am a gamer.

[uscbigdawg]

Some lessons from the Bataan:

- Limit what you need to carry. For this match, 2 mags, the rifle and a 2 liter camelback would have been plenty. Probably a simple vest would be adequate for everything with some kind of padding on the back if you chose to sling it while running.

- Footwear. Definitely some form footing footwear is in order. For the Bataan we always had regular jungles but added inserts to form fit our feet as if we were wearing running shoes. A good cross training running/hiking boot (i.e. high top) would be perfect for this.

- A little tip from the Bataan: Hard candy is your friend. Not so much a "sugar boost", which is good too, but it keeps your mouth from drying out. 2 Liters of water and or 50/50 gatorade & water would be more than adequate.

- 200 yard shots = 16-18" AR with NO problems. I'll be there with either my new 16" or my ol' reliable 18" and an ACOG. More than enough for these shots.

Rich

ETA: PT. Do not over or under do road running. If you're the type that does aerobic/cardio 3 days a week, running about once every other week is not a bad idea. I do cardio 6 days a week, twice a day (so 12 sessions basically). On 5 of those days I'll use my favorite cardio machine the elliptical. Reduces stress/impact on joints and you get an awesome workout. On the other day, I'll run. We do a minimum of a 2 mile sprint, but a standard run is 4 miles. This match is a 6 mile run, so start at say 1-1.5 miles and work your way up slowly. You'll be doing 6 miles comfortably in no time flat.

Edited August 21, 2007 by uscbigdawg

[Coolduckboy]

Sounds like a match that builds Character.

Someone bring the Sundial?