Jeremy St. Hilaire of Nashua will be participating in his sixth Tough Ruck on April 14. Courtesy photo

NASHUA – A modern-day Hercules, Jeremy St. Hilaire of Nashua will be participating in his sixth Tough Ruck on April 14 in Concord, Mass. in memory of America’s fallen service members and first responders.

“I have been doing my best to bring as many people into the event and raise awareness and support for Gold Star and first responder families,” said St. Hilaire, adding that his friends Joseph Molinari of Litchfield and George Haddad of Merrimack have joined him since 2021. “For the last three years, I’ve trained and participated in the event with my buddies Joe and George, and in turn, they’ve brought new friends to the Tough Ruck as well.”

In last year’s Tough Ruck, St. Hilaire led the way as Nashua’s top finisher, completing the course with a time of 8:40:29.

St. Hilaire said this year’s Tough Ruck will begin and end at the Fenn School in Concord, Mass. However, the course changes every year and the new route will not be released for several days.

“I have no idea what the course will be this year,” he said. “They generally release it the Monday before the event.”

This year, St. Hilaire, Molinari and Haddad will be joined by Barton Smith and Heidi Schlittler, both of Pepperell, Mass., Wayne Gagne of Nashua, Christian Cerino of Rye Beach and Douglas Patten of Tewksbury, Mass.

A retired sergeant with the Nashua Police Department, Molinari is now a detective with the University of Massachusetts Lowell Police Department. He also has a “daily ruck streak” of more than 1,700 days, meaning that he goes rucking every day for at least one mile. This will be Molinari’s fifth year participating in the Tough Ruck.

Haddad is a retired U.S. Army sergeant and a heart attack survivor. This year will be his third Tough Ruck.

Cerino will be participating in the Tough Ruck for the first time. He was also the Clinical Exercise physiologist for Haddad, who underwent cardiac surgery following his heart attack. Cerino followed Haddad on social media and ultimately decided to enter the Tough Ruck himself.

Patten, Smith, Schlittler and Gagne will all be participating for the first time this year.

Held the day before the Boston Marathon, the Tough Ruck is the same distance at 26.2 miles.

“We are awarded the first of the official Boston Marathon medals and receive recognition from the Boston Athletic Association,” said St. Hilaire.

However, in terms of physical rigor, there are few similarities between the Tough Ruck and the marathon.

Last year’s Tough Ruck winner, Landon Dolvin of Indiana, finished the course with a time of 3:59:22. In contrast, the winner of the 2023 Boston Marathon, Evans Chebet of Kenya, finished with a time of 2:05:54.

Tough Ruck participants also walk the course rather than run. That is because unlike the marathon runners, they carry rucksacks that weigh upwards of 35 pounds. Attached to each ruck are ribbons with the names of fallen military personnel and first responders.

St. Hilaire got his start in rucking by participating in numerous “endurance events” hosted by GORUCK and Spartan Race, Inc.

“I was working through some health issues and needed to take control of my weight and diet so I joined Dynamic Strength and Conditioning in Nashua and I started to run — a lot,” he said.

St. Hilaire lost 100 pounds in 2018 after running several 5K and 10K races as well as half marathons.

“I had always watched the Boston Marathon and wanted to run it and hopefully get the coveted Boston Marathon medal after finishing,” he said. “Unfortunately, my body was just too beat up from all of the running I was doing so it wasn’t feasible to run the race.”

St. Hilaire said he heard about the Tough Ruck in 2019 and was “immediately hooked.”

“We all carry ribbons to honor and remember heroes that have given their lives in the line of duty,” he said. “Quite honestly, it’s the most powerful part of the event for me aside from getting a hug from a Gold Star family member when we finish; it’s always an incredibly emotional and meaningful moment at the finish line.”

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