Tobacco Road Marathon participants get extra challenge by carrying 30-pound load

This year's event will be different from previous years because it will include a competition known as rucking, which serves as the foundation of training that many military enlistees participate in when serving in the U.S. armed forces.

Bryce Mahoney carries a weighted backpack that has 30 pounds in it. And he's not afraid to carry it 20 or 30 miles.

Mahoney carried the weight during exercises when he was an airborne infantryman in the Army. When he left the military in 2008, he found the transition to civilian life wasn't easy.

"That loss of purpose and loss of community really took its toll," he said.

Indie band to headline Rock 'n' Roll half-marathon post-race fest

Six years ago, he found F-3.

It's a nationwide group that gives men like Mahoney a challenging workout the first thing in the morning -- similar to the tough, daily workouts he participated in while in in the Army.

"That could be 4,000 burpees or a 2-mile sprint run," he said.

The military workout included rucking, the low-impact training that involves walking with a weighted backpack, called a ruck.

Now that he has found F-3, the workout group gives him a sense of community he was missing.

"I've had quite a few friends take their lives because of that loss of purpose and community," he said. "So, I credit F-3 with saving my life."

The F-3 group is planning to participate in the Tobacco Road Marathon. And for the first time, the half-marathon will have a rucking division.

Mahoney said he hopes it raises awareness about groups like F-3. He said he hope it will attract other ex-military members who live in the Triangle who are looking to form bonds.

"It's a process, and it doesn't happen overnight, but with the right community, you can make it," he said.