Each spring at Fort Benning, Georgia, a select group of soldiers—"the 1 percent of the 1 percent"—gather for an event you likely haven't heard of: the Best Ranger Competition. Described by Atlantic writer Kevin Maurer as what "may be the hardest physical competition in the world," this three-day gauntlet tests elite US Army Rangers with nonstop challenges: miles of marching, obstacle courses, shooting drills, and land navigation—all while carrying heavy packs, grabbing little sleep, and burning through 30,000 calories. Out of 52 two-person teams, only 16 make it to day three, and the only thing as grueling as the course is the preparation, which can span months.
This year, for the first time, a woman—First Lt. Gabrielle White—qualified and competed, with little fanfare from Army brass. Yet on the course, gender was an afterthought. As Maurer writes, competitors had "no time to think about anything but putting one foot in front of the other." His recap of this year's race follows the favorites and eventual winners—First Lts. Kevin Moore and Griffin Hokanson—along with White, and it's rife with details about the exhausting nature of the challenges.
At one station, teams hurled a 100-pound medicine ball over one shoulder between each burpee in a set of 30, then had to drag a 290-pound yoke 50 meters. Another challenge saw each team forced to carry two 45-pound water jugs "for an unknown distance using only grip strength—no carrying the jugs on their shoulders, no wrist wraps, no resting the jugs on their feet." Set the jug down, and both competitors had to begin again. Now imagine three days of that nearly non-stop and you'll have a sense of just how demanding the competition is. (Read the full story for far more.)
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