Courtesy Photo | Runners and walkers alike participate in the Pat Tillman Run here April 16. Some...... read more read more
By Spc. Jennifer Andersson
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- It was still dark at 5:30 a.m., but the Boardwalk was beginning to bustle with activity, April 16. Volunteers set up sign-up tables, t-shirts and traffic cones in preparation for the 4.2-mile Pat Tillman Run. Runners lined up to get numbers.
Just six days earlier, many of the same people participated in the 5K Equal Opportunity Sexual Assault Awareness Run and will try to run in every race to follow.
While these runs aren’t mandatory, they still see a significant turnout. Each runner has his own reason for participating.
“The fact that I’m here for an entire year makes me want to get out and do some kind of organized event once in a while,” said Capt. Ben Seipel of Maryville, Mo., commander of Company A, Task Force Lift, (7th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment) of TF Thunder (159th Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division).
Some people get friends and coworkers together to go running, just to bond.
“I’ll choose option number three - the social aspect,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Tom Parker of Clarksville, Tenn., an aviation maintenance technician for Troop D, Task Force Palehorse (7th Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment). “It’s important to get out there and show your fitness for the troops. It’s important to be out there with senior leadership.”
“It does bring about unit cohesion,” said Seipel. It’s good to get out with a group of people.”
Some do the runs for the cause. A 24-hour super-run even let the participants choose what cause they wanted to support. Participants solicited sponsorship for their cause, receiving donations based on the number of kilometers they ran. Task Force Thunder had three teams participate in the run, including the winning team, Thunder Runners, which ran nearly 250 miles combined.
Capt. Paul Rickmeyer, a native of Hicksville, N.Y., an intelligence officer for TF Thunder, and a runner in the 24-hour run, said his run offered an opportunity to raise money for a good cause close to his heart.
“The HHC Dragonlords gave to the Wounded Warrior project,” he said. “Any additional funds that I raised would go to the Tom Martin Memorial Foundation. Tom was a good friend of mine who was killed in Iraq in 2007.”
Martin’s high school in Alabama established the scholarship fund, to which Rickmeyer donated more than $200, thanks to the people who supported his 24-hour run.
“I e-mailed some people information on the foundation,” he said. “Once they knew what (the cause) was, they were more willing to sponsor it.”
Learning what the run is about sometimes motivates a person to participate, said Staff Sgt. Char Fick, of Grand Rapids, Mich., the senior paralegal for TF Thunder and the brigade MWR NCO.
“If you hear, ‘Hey, I’m going to pay $15 so that I can run 4.2 miles,’ it totally is a turn-off,” she said. “But if you get a little more knowledge about what the run is for... it tends to make people a little more interested.”
Entry fees for runs rarely exceed $15, and usually include the cost of a T-shirt, Fick said.
“You’re on deployment,” Rickmeyer said. “You’re not spending money on anything else, so why not contribute to a good cause and get something out of it, too?”
Runs held on Kandahar this year have included breast cancer awareness runs, Seabee runs, and Christmas runs. There have been runs to support different issues or functions throughout the world, or even here on Kandahar Airfield. Upcoming runs include Nurse and Medic Appreciation and Wounded Warrior runs.
Some people participate in runs because of peer pressure.
“We’re supporting one of our soldiers who went and signed up,” said 1st Sgt. Grace Wood, first sergeant for Troop D, TF Palehorse.
“He bought me a shirt, and a bunch of other people said, ‘Hey, I’ll go, too,’”she said.
For other soldiers, the races bring them a little closer to loved ones.
“It makes you feel a little bit normal because there are races like this back home, pretty much wherever you live,” said Seipel. “My wife and I do things like this occasionally back home.”
Regardless of the personal reasons for running in organized events while deployed, there are always physical benefits.
“It’s an opportunity to set a goal for yourself and to do it,” Rickmeyer said. “If you’re not a good runner, then you create a goal and you train for it. It’s a sense of accomplishment. It helps keep your mind off your job. It helps keep you centered and focused. It gives you a chance to improve yourself.”
With that many reasons to participate in a run, the question isn’t, “Why?” but rather, “Why not?”
“I have no desire to run. I hate running, but I do it because there are no real disadvantages to it,” said Fick.
“Whatever runs are out there, I know I’d like to get involved, just because it’s something other than work,” Rickmeyer said. “It’s a nice distraction from work.”
| Date Taken: | 04.16.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 05.24.2011 08:47 |
| Story ID: | 70967 |
| Location: | KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, AF |
| Web Views: | 59 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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