Nearly one year ago, we launched the Spy Ruck with a simple mission: create a weighted vest designed specifically for women.
As a female founder, athlete, and former CIA officer, I knew firsthand that women deserved gear built with them in mind, by women who have years of experience rucking together.
We set out to create something different. Something that combined the durability GORUCK is known for with a design that made weighted training more comfortable and accessible for women.
Today, seeing the Spy Ruck recognized by TIME as one of the year's best inventions is an incredible milestone for our team and a testament to the work (and miles) that went into bringing this creation to life.
But there's so much more to the story.
Next week marks one year since the Spy Ruck launched. To celebrate, we're going back to where it all started, sharing the inspiration, early designs, and behind-the-scenes journey that brought the Spy Ruck from concept to reality.
We're incredibly proud to celebrate this recognition with you. We couldn’t have done it without the people who have been rucking with us since the beginning, who show up every week, and who bring a friend along for their first ruck. Whether you’ve been rucking for years or were just brave enough to try something new, this one belongs to you too.
From a simple realization to a TIME Best Invention.
Great ideas rarely happen overnight. They percolate, evolve, and build over time, shaped by conversations and the willingness to keep asking, What if we could make this better? But sometimes, a single moment brings everything into focus.
For me, that moment came on a ruck with a Girl Scout troop.
Since GORUCK began in 2010, we've been constantly iterating on our gear to improve the rucking experience. Over the years, I've talked with countless women in our community, listening to their feedback and thinking about how we could make rucking more comfortable, inviting, and accessible. Our R&D team experimented with smaller rucksacks (link some of our smaller 15L rucks or Bullet Ruck), thinner shoulder straps, and lower-profile (link RPC) ways to carry weight. We were making progress, but I knew there was more we could do.
Then, a longtime GORUCK employee named Robert asked me to lead a ruck for his daughter's Girl Scout troop. He and his wife thought it would be a fun way for the girls to earn a badge. I said yes, of course.
I showed up with an assortment of GORUCK gear, from rucksacks in different sizes to various weights and Ruck Plate Carriers. I fitted the girls with gear appropriate for their ages and sizes, explained what we were going to do, and watched them get to it. They understood the concept immediately. They picked their weights, loaded their gear, and were ready to roll.
The moms were another story. They were the ones who needed a little more convincing and help figuring out what to wear, how much weight to carry, and whether rucking was really for them.
At the moment, it felt a little like a failure. That is, until I realized it was the nudge I needed to take a different approach: something designed specifically for women, something that made carrying weight feel less intimidating and more intuitive from the very first step.
That moment crystallized years of conversations, experimentation, and miles rucked into a clear mission. We needed to bring the benefits of rucking to more women by making it easier to get started.
That mission became Spy Ruck.
Spy Ruck is about more than a piece of gear. Women have carried weight, both physically and metaphorically, since the beginning of human existence. I want every woman who puts on a Spy Ruck to feel how strong and capable she already is. To recognize that strength in herself, and to see it in the women around her.
Sometimes, all it takes is the right tool to help you discover what you were capable of all along.
Seeing Spy Ruck recognized as one of TIME's Best Inventions is an incredible milestone. For me, it's also validation of something I've believed for years: when we listen to women, design with them in mind, and remove unnecessary barriers, we can open the door to something much bigger.
And this is just the beginning of the Rucking Revolution.