Arifjan peachy as Peachtree Race run

Photo By Sgt. Wesley Landrum | Runners begin their 10K trek after the starting pistol fires, officially beginning the Peachtree Road Race in Kuwait, July 4. More than 1,000 participants from the Third Army/USARCENT area of operations joined in the run at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, as part of the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta.  

CAMP ARIFJAN, KUWAIT

07.04.2007

Story by Spc. Wesley Landrum 

50th Public Affairs Detachment

By Spc. Wes Landrum
50th Public Affairs Detachment

CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait -- As the sun shone its rays above the desert installation, lines of people were busy with their pre-run rituals. They stretched their muscles, loosening them from slumber. They tied their running shoes tightly. This, however, was not a regular holiday run; this was the Peachtree in Kuwait.

The third annual Peachtree in Kuwait and Third Army/U.S. Army Central Area of Operation mirrored its sister race being held for the 38th time in Atlanta. While the participants were not running through the skyscraper-lined streets in Atlanta, more than 1,000 runners joined more than 3,000 participants running the Peachtree Road Race in Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan July 4th.

At the sound of the pistol, the crowd of people began running. The runners may not be traveling from Lennox Square to Charles Allen Drive but that does not mean their run is not important, said Lt. Gen. R. Steven Whitcomb, commander Third Army/U. S. Army Central. Running the Peachtree here brings a bit of home to the desert.

"We have a fun run about once a month," Whitcomb said. "But not one of those has the ties to home like the Peachtree. This race connects us with the home folks.

"This race (Peachtree in Kuwait), in a combat zone, ensures that future Peachtree Races (in Atlanta) will take place in the future," he said.

Col. Dallas F. Wurst, 360th Civil Affairs Brigade, running in Kuwait this year, has been participating in the race since 1981. Back then, the race wasn't as big as it is today.

"There weren't near as many people and you actually had a little space between people back in those days," Wurst said. "People used to sit on the roofs of all the buildings and drink, scream and carry on and really ask the question 'Why are you running?'"

The Peachtree race began in 1970. The idea for the race was born a year earlier as members of the Atlanta Tack Club traveled to Fort Benning, Ga., for their annual Independence Day run. While on the way home, a suggestion was made that Atlanta should have their own race. Approximately 110 people ran that first race on July 4, 1970, and it has gotten bigger each year. Getting through the first 10 years was key, said Wurst.

"By '81, the folks who had run it years prior, that I talked to, thought it was destined for bigger and better things," Wurst said. "The numbers that were running were not that many early on. By '81, they were having tens of thousands; the most people I'd ever seen in one place."

The Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta is a special time for Wurst and his family. In 2001, he ran the race with one of his oldest sons, both finishing the race in less than 55 minutes. In 2003, Wurst said he got his wife and two other children to run. They have run in the race every year since. They may not finish the race together but, at least, they start it together, he said.

"I am still able to beat my children – even my E-4 (Specialist) son," Wurst joked. "As long as I'm still beating my kids, I'm alright."

In the 2007 Peachtree in Kuwait Fun Run, Chief Warrant Officer Sean O'Donnell from the U. S. Army Central C-4 Maintenance Battalion, Ft. Rucker, Ala., led the way for the men. He finished the fun run in a time of 33 minutes and 53 seconds. 2nd Lt. Micah Bushouse, 228th Signal Co., a native of Fremont, Mich., finished in second place completing the course in 41 minutes and 10 seconds. In third place was Austin, Texas native Sgt. 1st Class Richard Tinney, 36th Combat Aviation Brigade, checked in with a time of 41 minutes and 15 seconds.

Boston, Mass., native Major Laura Wells, Third Army/U. S. Army Central Army Staff Judge Advocate, led the women in the fun run. She came in with a time of 44 minutes and one second. Behind Wells, Houston, Texas, native Staff Sgt. Sonia Lewis, automation/ log operations non-commissioned officer, came in second crossing the finish line in 45 minutes and 10 seconds. Stonesville, Ohio, native, 1st Lt. Yvette Richard, 2nd Transportation Company HET, ended her Peachtree Fun Run in third place with a time of 47 minutes.

• Date Taken: 07.04.2007
• Date Posted: 07.04.2007 02:59
• Story ID: 11115
• Location: CAMP ARIFJAN, KW