114th Public Affairs Detachment

Story by Spc. Amburr Reese

VICTORY BASE COMPLEX, Iraq -- Service members and civilians gathered from around Victory Base Complex, Baghdad, Iraq in the early hours of, Oct. 25, to "pick a fight against cancer" in support of the Lance Armstrong Foundation's Livestrong Challenge.

The race was organized by Maj. Scott J. LaRonde, Dripping Spring, Texas, intelligence planner with Multi National Corps-Iraq, in honor of his father-in-law Ed Mays who died of pancreatic cancer earlier this year.

"It was something I could do to honor him," LaRonde said about his father-in-law. "So I contacted the Lance Armstrong Foundation."

The 852 competitors launched off the starting line at 6:30 a.m. to the sounds of acoustic guitar playing from the Victory stage. John Nasasira, a Ugandan contractor, was not the first off the starting line but he was the first to cross the finish line with a time of 36:27.

"I feel excellent," Nasasira said about placing first in the race.

The 10K Livestrong shadow run was the first of its kind organized in Iraq. It was based on the Lance Armstrong Foundation's signature fundraising event and was held on the same weekend of the Livestrong challenge in Austin, Texas.

Team Iraq, the Livestrong team established on VBC, managed to raise $20,885 in support of cancer research for the LAF.

The LAF proved to be very supportive when of LaRonde and his idea of organizing the shadow run.

"The LAF donated 300 T-shirts and the race bibs," LaRonde said. "This is a great way for us to stay connected to things going on back home, and to be able to help raise awareness of cancer and cancer research."

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