Going the distance

Courtesy Photo | Defense Contract Management Agency Hartford team members Aimee Cooper and Angela Collier hold medals they earned for completing the 38th Marine Corps Marathon in Arlington, Va., Oct. 27, 2013. The race was the first marathon for each.  

HARTFORD, CT, UNITED STATES

02.27.2014

Courtesy Story

Defense Contract Management Agency

HARTFORD, Conn. - Two Defense Contract Management Agency Hartford team members honored active duty military and veterans by running the 38th Marine Corps Marathon in Arlington, Va., Oct. 27, 2013.

Angela Collier, mission support management analyst, and Aimee Cooper, associate counsel, were both relatively new to DCMA Hartford – and the Hartford area – when they learned they were both running the race. It would be the first marathon for each woman.

“It’s always a challenge moving to a new area where you only know a few people,” recalled Collier. “When we realized that we were running the same race, both as first timers, we knew we lucked out. We became immediate friends and training partners.”

The runners trained for more than four months in order to be “mission ready” on race day.

“We trained together at least once a week,” said Collier.

For Cooper, the marathon was about more than fitness, it was about marking two decades of service. She enlisted in the Marine Corps in December 1993 and served on active duty as a paralegal while obtaining her bachelor’s degree at night. Cooper continues to serve as a judge advocate in the Navy, and was recently selected for promotion to commander.

Joining 23,480 fellow runners, Collier and Cooper finished the marathon with times of 4:58:43 and 5:10:42, respectively.

DCMA Hartford Director Dennis Larocque commended the runners’ accomplishments, “After the challenges our workforce has endured lately, it is a nice change to recognize the positive efforts and hard work of our employees.”

The Marine Corps Marathon is the third largest in the U.S. and the eighth largest in the world. The marathon’s mission is to promote physical fitness, generate community goodwill and showcase the organizational skills of the Marine Corps.

• Date Taken: 02.27.2014
• Date Posted: 02.27.2014 14:15
• Story ID: 121256
• Location: HARTFORD, CT, US