Courtesy Photo | Service members participate in a 10K shadow run on COB Basra in honor of the Statesman...... read more read more
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Spc. Brittany H. Gardner
362nd MPAD, USD-S Public Affairs
BASRA, Iraq – Many soldiers often think of home while they’re deployed overseas, but not many think about running there. There are thousands of miles between Iraq and the U.S. and more than 7,000 miles from Contingency Operating Base Basra to Texas. Although it seems like an impossible feat, one group of 36th Infantry Division soldiers decided to take on the challenge of running those 7,000 miles.
The idea to ‘run to Texas’ was originally thought of by Staff Sgt. Jason R. Perdue and was launched in January.
“We started this group run on Sundays,” said Chief Warrant Officer Lisa Buckley, 36th Inf. Div. Special Troops Battalion property book officer. “You know, when it was a little bit cooler outside. And for a couple of Sundays we had a pretty good group. I brought up the idea that he presented and said, ‘Hey, you know, it’s seven thousand and some odd miles to Texas from here.”
Chief Warrant Officer Christy Clements, 36th DSTB human resources technician, who helped plan and coordinate the races for COB Basra in 2011, expanded on these ideas.
“You hear about people running across the States,” said Clements. “So we said, ‘How far is it? How far do you think it is from here to Texas?’ So they did the calculations, and of course it does go over water. It’s about 7,663 miles.”
Clements and a group of other 36th Inf. Div. soldiers realized that there had to be guidelines for what did and did not count toward their mileage log, said Clements. Those rules included having a battle buddy present while running as part of COB standard operating procedure, and someone had to validate that each runner actually ran the amount of miles claimed. Also, biking counted toward the total mileage for those who couldn’t run. Soldiers who ran had to do a minimum of three miles at a time.
“We came up with a minimum, so that those that were serious about doing this run would continue and be committed to it,” said Clements.
Buckley has personally logged more than 1,000 miles since January, which is when the group began their long-distance running project. Buckley said she totals at least 30 miles weekly. Before she recently began training for a half iron man competition, she was totaling almost 60 miles each week.
“She’s already crossed the thousand-mile marker,” said Clements. “She’s actually at 1,120.”
Buckley attributes her passion for running to Lt. Col. Doug DeVries, 36th DSTB commander, who started her on a running program when she was a specialist.
“It was sort of his way of mentoring me,” said Buckley. “He sat me down and he asked me what my goals were. What were my life goals, my career goals, and my financial goals? He had me draw them out on a timeline. But one of my goals was that I wanted to max the PT test by the end of the year. So, he made me run with him at least four times a week. At the time I kind of hated it, but as I did it I got better and better at it and got more comfortable.”
Buckley soon began setting goals to run small races. It eventually led her to run for the Texas Marathon Team and the All Guard team. Now, she is running toward Texas to help this group of soldiers meet their goal. She said she now thanks DeVries for pushing her many years ago.
“Something that at the time seemed so insignificant brought me to where I’m at now,” Buckley said.
With the help of Buckley and many other dedicated runners and bicyclists, Clements said they will soon wrap up their tallying and finally finish the run.
“We’re only about 100 miles off right now,” Clements said. “So we will meet that goal.”
If the feeling of accomplishment isn’t enough, DeVries and Command Sgt Maj. Todd Richardson, 36th DSTB, offered one more incentive to the group of Texas runners if they reached their mileage goal.
“We’re going to have it completed by 1 August,” said Clements. “So, we’re pretty excited about that. And of course, you know, Command Sergeant Major Richardson along with Lieutenant Colonel DeVries said if we actually completed and finished they would wear pink reflective belts.”
| Date Taken: | 03.27.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 07.27.2011 10:00 |
| Story ID: | 74376 |
| Location: | BASRA, IQ |
| Web Views: | 100 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Running to Texas: Soldiers tally the miles between COB Basra and Texas, by SPC Brittany Gardner, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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