Photo By Staff Sgt. Ian M. Terry | Capt. Lisa M. Chabot, commander, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 43rd...... read more read more
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Fort Carson’s 43rd Sustainment Brigade hosted a shadow run of the 38th annual Honolulu Marathon on Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, Dec. 12.
While the official registration count in Hawaii was nearly 22,000 runners, the event on KAF boasted a modest 134. Even so, with KAF’s total population only slightly higher than the number of runners in Hawaii, the turnout was significant.
The shadow run kicked off from KAF’s social hub, known as The Boardwalk, at 5 a.m., the course still dark and cold. The two races were separated by nearly 7,500 miles, 14 time zones, 3,300 feet of elevation and around 40 degrees in ambient temperature.
While the runners in Honolulu raced through picturesque city streets, surrounded by throngs of cheering crowds and police-manned roadblocks, the participants on KAF ran on dark and dusty roads, the course dotted with water points manned by uniformed service members sporting grass skirts and coconut bikinis. Overhead, helicopters passed across the base, increasing both the wind chill and the dust content.
Regardless of the austere conditions of the course, each of the volunteers and runners said they enjoyed the race.
“Well, as much as you can expect to enjoy a 26-mile run, anyhow,” said 1st Lt. Brian J. Spurgeon, executive officer, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 43rd SB.
The top female runner of the day was U.S. Army Capt. Bonnie S. Kovatch, officer in charge of human resources for 2nd Battalion, 17th Cavalry Regiment, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, with a time of 3 hours, 42 minutes and 3 seconds.
Kovatch, who secured the number one slot during October’s Army Ten-Miler shadow run, also held on KAF, said she finished the marathon feeling awesome. This was Kovatch’s third marathon.
The fastest man on the course was Phil Erwin, a civilian contractor on KAF, with a time of three hours flat.
Second and third place in the women’s category went to U.S. Army Capt. Loan Vo, a project manager for Afghanistan’s Regional Command-South, with a time of 3:43:15, and Canadian Army Capt. Leah Sherriff, chief of current operations for Task Force Kandahar, with a time of 3:48:19.
Second and third place in the men’s category went to U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. David Platz, of the 3rd Naval Construction Regiment, with a time of 3:15:08, and Karel Vandenbussche, of Belgium, with a time of 3:21:14.
This was Sherrif’s first marathon. She said she felt sore, but good. Sherriff had knee surgery in February, and she said completing such a grueling competition, knee brace securely in place, left her feeling vindicated.
U.S. Navy Master Chief Petty Officer Donald L. True, the first master to cross the finish line, finished fourth overall, with a time of 3:29:20. True, 45-year-old command master chief of KAF’s emergency care clinic, wasn’t entirely sure how many marathons he has run in his day, but estimated this was his 25th.
The 43rd Sustainment Brigade, which organized the race, had nearly a dozen soldiers participate in the day’s run.
Capt. Lisa M. Chabot, commander, HHC, 43rd SB, and Sgt. Michael D. DeRosa Jr., carried the job of coordinating with the official Honolulu Marathon planning staff to take the shadow run from conception to execution. Chabot, along with nearly 20 other Soldiers in the 43rd SB, have served at least one tour on Hawaii’s Army post, Schofield Barracks.
This was Chabot’s third time participating in the Honolulu Marathon. She ran in the inaugural shadow run in Afghanistan at Tarin Kowt in 2004 and also ran the official race in Hawaii in 2006.
The inaugural Honolulu Marathon took place in 1973 and had 167 participants, with 151 completing the race. The inaugural overall best time of 2:27:34 belongs to Duncan Macdonald, then a 24-year-old medical student at the University of Hawaii. June Chun took the top spot in the women’s category with a time of 3:25:31. Chun was 14 years old at the time.
Jimmy Muindi, of Kenya, holds the Honolulu Marathon record best time of 2:11:12, which he achieved in 2004. The overall female record for the race is 2:27:19, run in 2006 by Russian Lyubov Denisova.
No records were broken in 2010.
| Date Taken: | 12.12.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 12.29.2010 08:25 |
| Story ID: | 62742 |
| Location: | KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, AF |
| Web Views: | 234 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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