B.U.F.F. is an acronym for Better Understanding of Food & Fitness. The dudes are brothers Brandon and Hudson White, two YouTube stars with more than 2.6 million subscribers. Known for their impressive fitness feats and entertaining workouts, the B.U.F.F. Dudes produce a range of fun videos, from building an entire gym from trees to consuming only smoothies for a week. 

Their channel’s first foray into running was a segment about accomplishing a 6-minute mile. Both brothers are large, muscly humans, and speed isn’t exactly their game. After mixed results (spoiler: both B.U.F.F. dudes hit a PR, but only one of them breaks their six-minute goal), the brothers decided to up the ante by setting aside their normal training to devote an entire month to running. The end goal: to enter the Take the Bridge 10K, an intense after-dark race featuring checkpoints and plenty of racing talent. 

Most runners typically train for eight to 12 weeks for a 10K, but the B.U.F.F. Dudes had just 30 days, and they had little experience with running. 

“There was not a lot of intense cardio in our history other than trying the 6-minutes mile challenge that we first did with Brooks. That was definitely a wake-up call where we quickly found out that our cardiovascular strength wasn’t quite what we thought it was. There’s a big difference of having maybe a minute worth of heavy lifting and six minutes, 10 minutes of steady cardiovascular training. It was very difficult,” Brandon explained. 

The brothers left their first race training and running experience with plenty of words of wisdom.

What the B.U.F.F. Dudes learned about training for a 10K

• If you’re new to training for a race, get a feel for it by running more, or more often. “Running is almost like wading into the lake for the first time. You’re going just a little bit farther out every single time trying to get that confidence up a little bit,” Hudson said. 
• Train on your own, and train with a partner. The brothers would often train on their own, but when they got together for their runs, they were challenged and inspired. “I lost confidence at first whenever I ran with Brandon. When I would start wearing down, he was still going strong. But I eventually discovered that this was always a good kick in the ass. It motivated me to keep pushing, Hudson said”.
• Seek help. With no racing experience, the B.U.F.F dudes scraped the internet for running articles and wisdom from seasoned runners. No matter if it’s your first race or your 10th, there’s always something new to learn — can we interest you in a 10K training plan ?

The B.U.F.F. Dudes Take the Bridge, but first some detours

The Take the Bridge 10K pops up in various locations throughout the year, and for the B.U.F.F. Dudes, it was in Eugene, Oregon. Dustin Glass, Manager of Influencer Marketing at Brooks, ran the race with Brandon and Hudson. “It’s probably worth noting that people who do this race normally are ex Olympians and former collegiate athletes. That’s who these three rhinos were running with,” he said.

The route doesn’t matter in a Take the Bridge 10K. Before the race, participants are issued a map of the checkpoints, and you need to hit each in sequential order. The whole race takes place after sundown. And guess who forgot to bring their headlamps?

The trio began the race in the dark, but they had a plan. From their map of the checkpoints, they believed they’d found a shortcut and they were eager to try to jump ahead of the other runners.

“We’re going to kind of cut everyone off. You know, they might be faster, but we’re going to try to outsmart them. Then the race started, and everyone went the opposite way from us. Everyone was gone and we realize how much faster they were. We knew then that we didn’t have the physicality or the brains,” Brandon recalled with a laugh. 

“I was already demoralized. I thought there was no way I was going to finish that damn race. Leading up to that first checkpoint, I was gasping, and my shins were hurting. I was worn out. But then we kept going, and it got a little better. You get into a zone,” Hudson said. 

The plan further derailed when their GPS stopped working, and one wrong turn led to another. Our three intrepid runners ended up running a 15K and exploring more of Eugene than they’d bargained for. 

What the B.U.F.F. Dudes learned about running a race for the first time

• There’s nothing wrong with slow and steady. “I have a little bit of an obsessive personality. When I start something new, I just want to go all out. But that’s not really going to work if you haven’t run a race before. If you’re like me, you have to learn to back off of that a bit,” Hudson said. 
• Be prepared. Training aside, it’s a good idea to do some extra research if you’re running a race for the first time. The trio had never been to Eugene before, so they were unfamiliar with the topography and city streets. Headlamps for an after-dark race would have been helpful. Be sure to read through your race packet thoroughly, and research the local area, so you know what to expect on race day (or night). 
• Set a goal. Spelling out a goal and a specific program to achieve that goal will give you a “why” to your run. What do you want to accomplish? It’s important to be specific. “That’s what was so great about the Take the Bridge challenge. We had a specific goal to work towards. In order to make that goal, we had to stay consistent with our training,” Brandon explained.