January 20th, 2020 By Othello

129 Pax and guests signed up, 113+/- showed up and only 83 of the toughest brothers finished the 5 hr/11+/- mile MECA CSAUP on the UNCC Campus this Saturday.  All of this to honor our brother, Richard V. Pinto (aka Gremlin) who went to visit the Sky Q on 1/13/2018.  Although he left us too soon he will forever be in our hearts and his name memorialized by this event.
It took a village to put this together.  Kudos go to all 15 MECA AO’s and their Pax who volunteered in the planning of the Gremlin. We had over 30 #HIM’s who helped from signing in the Pax (@Hornet, @Booyah, @Othello’s M) and gathering emergency information, assisted with parking (Mint Hill Pax), Qing the beatdowns (see below), providing truck refreshment support (@Tootsie, @Hornet, Motown’s M, Kappa Sig Brothers), medics on call (@Gunny, @Backdraft) just in case, preparing the food for the after party (@Sizzlean, @Laser), and photographing the entire event (@R2D2, @Toughskins and @Hepner).  Meetings started in October 2019 all the way through the end of the year with a few “dry runs” sprinkled in here and there.  Needless to say: Prior Planning Prevented Poor Performance (5P’s) and everything went off without a hitch and right on schedule!

The disclaimer was read at 0600 followed by the “I am a Champion” speech. With shovel flags in hand, a swarm of Pax preceded to the Alumni Pavillion for a little warm-o-rama by Valley’s own, @Blowout.  Boondocks (@Motown), Dawghouse (@Rerun) and Afton (@Amway) divided the Pax into 3 groups and brought them to separate areas around this section of the UNCC campus we will call-Quadrant #1.  They traveled to each others beatdown locations in a rotating fashion where after an hour of running hills with burpee ladders, Fire drills and C.O.R.E. the Pax convened at the assigned muster location awaiting further instruction.

@Laser took the helm with a mosey lead towards the North Deck (Quadrant 2) where Comanche (@10&2 and @Robins Nest), Mint Hill (@Bluecrush), and Precinct (@Skipper) put the Pax through another hellish hour of fun.  For those who remember the good’ ol days of El Dorado, the Stairway to Heaven with intermittent Core exercises sprinkled in did not disappoint.  The ramps were put to good use too as quadraphelia was on the menu with a side of pain station at the top of each.  On the roof, something different this year, a little Broga which helped to loosen our stiff muscles while soft (and not so soft) bursts of flatulence could be heard echoing over the laughter of the Pax, like little school boys at recess.

After refueling, the Pax were led to Quadrant 3 by Concord (@Scooter).  This quad started at the Kennedy building where the UNCC shooting occurred last year.  A respectful Pax planted their shovel flags and gathered into a BOM to pay their respects for the fallen. 
Harrisburg (@Wexler), Rolling Stone (@Manwhich) along with @Scooter divided the Pax again into 3 groups and sent us on a rotating hour of pain in front of the library, around the fountain and in the breezway between Colvard. Everyone was starting to feel it by now, 4 hours in, energy getting low, one more Quad to go, DFQ, WE ARE CHAMPIONS!

Kannon (@ChickenStrip), Tradition (@Guinness), Skywalker (@Overdraft) and Highlands (@Dutchboy) guided us over to Quadrant 4.  This last set of pain stations was no joke consisting of merkin donkey kicks, welsh f’n dragon merkins, and the infamous @Guinness Cone Deck extravaganza.  The best part of Quad 4 was led by @ChickenStrip when he shared with us his eleven Gremlin “heads-up-penny” story.  Keep finding them brother, he is looking out for you, AYE!

Final mosey back to West Deck (#don’tfollowsnoop) where, ironically, there were four trucks on the first level that lost power and needed to be pushed up to the roof. With @Tootsie, @Hornet and two UNCC Kappa Sig Brothers at the wheel, the rest of the 83 remaining Pax took hold and pushed those mother’f-er’s to the top with flags a wav’n and a great show of teamwork to behold. We finished 10 minutes ahead of schedule – YES! Remember the 5P’s?

Once on the top of the deck we circled up for a little Count/Name-O-Rama.  @ChickenStrip was to record the names of all the Pax on his iPhone but it would not have it, and failed halfway through. Thanks to all of our visiting Pax for attending: Granite Falls, Hickory, The Fort, Waxhaw, Hurler (?), Metro, FIA, Kappa Sig, UNCC Alumni, UNCC Students, 2.0’s and guests.

Thanks to @Sizzlean and @Laser for coordinating the wonderful and much needed food for the after party and to all of the AO’s for bringing the beer as well as water for the support trucks.

Thanks to the photographers, @R2D2, @Toughskins and @MatthewHepner (soon to join F3 Mint Hill 😉 for the awesome documentation and drone footage.

The Pinto Family said a few words and handed us a small “penny” token to help us all remember Rick and the impact he had on our lives.
If I forgot anyone it was unintentional and I apologize.  Thank you for your help in making this a great event.

@Toughskins took us out.

Whats in store for next year?  #Gremlinplanningcommittee2021 AYE!

SYITG

 

#TheGremlin

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