Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Jb Jaso | Capt. Omololu Makinde, of Columbus, Ohio, completes another lap around the rocky...... read more read more
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By Sgt. 1st Class J. B. Jaso III
2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division
ISTAQLAL, Iraq – As a 15-month deployment comes to a close, several "Wolfhounds" are running against time to make it to the finish.
Soldiers assigned to the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment "Wolfhounds," 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team "Warrior," 25th Infantry Division, currently attached to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad have formed a club that motivates the Soldiers to run laps around Joint Security Station Istaqlal, northeast of Baghdad, in an effort to fight to the finish.
"This was a spur of the moment idea" stated Capt. Brian Sweigart, of San Antonio, on how the club formed. "It was an idea that was thought of when we were sitting around the table."
"We set an achievable goal in our short time remaining in Iraq," continued Sweigart, who was one of the original five runners that started counting laps on Nov. 11.
Sweigart, who commands the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, said that 127 laps around JSS Istaqlal was a good number, as it represents the unit.
"We have a large area to run," stated Sgt. Timothy Miller, of Circleville, Ohio and infantry team leader in Company A. "Each lap is .75 of a mile long."
If finishing more than 95-miles in the last three months in the deployment wasn't difficult enough for some, the terrain was another added challenge.
"More than 50 percent of the course is covered with gravel and large rocks, which makes it difficult to run on," continued Miller, who was also one of the original club members. "It's like running in the sand on the beach."
The challenge of running 127 laps around the JSS was completed first by Sgt. 1st Class Nathanial Hanrahan, of Broad Brook, Conn., who is an infantryman with Company A.
Not only has Hanrahan completed the 127 laps, but he also recently completed 170 laps, resulting in over 127-miles ran since Nov. 11.
"The 127 lap club is a positive thing out here," stated Miller. "It has motivated a lot of people to get out there and run; it helped me get out there more than I would have."
| Date Taken: | 01.20.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 01.20.2009 08:40 |
| Story ID: | 29047 |
| Location: | IQ |
| Web Views: | 341 |
| Downloads: | 292 |
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