Photo By Dustin Senger | U.S. Army Sgt. Edmond Burkhalter, from New Orleans, La., Sgt. Carrie Reede, from State...... read more read more
By Dustin Senger
Area Support Group Qatar
U.S. service members at Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar, located on the Arabian Peninsula, exhibited their commitments to staying physically fit by participating in an exhausting two-minute push-up challenge on Feb. 13. Almost 50 competitors signed up for the evening's push-up challenge – with numerous spectators cheering them on. Many of the event's participants were in Qatar during a four-day pass from military operations throughout southwest Asia, as part of the U.S. Central Command rest and recuperation pass program.
The Area Support Group Qatar Morale, Welfare and Recreation team provides weekly community strength challenges; to include: barbell squats, bench presses, pull-ups and push-ups. Participants receive t-shirts and points for Fitness Mania, an MWR program that encourages regular exercise at Camp As Sayliyah. First place winners earn a trophy for their top-performing efforts.
During the push-up challenge, 38 men and 10 women were closely monitored for strict form and an accurate repetition count during their two-minute opportunity to outperform their peers. U.S. Army Sgt. Carrie Reede, from State College, Pa., triumphed in the women's category by completing 74 push-ups within the two-minute time frame.
The men's category had some extra excitement after final numbers were compared. U.S. Army Sgt. Edmond Burkhalter, from New Orleans, La., thought he had earned the first place trophy in the men's category, after completing a powerful 125 push-ups in two minutes. Burkhalter, a cargo specialist serving in Afghanistan, was enjoying his fourth and last day of respite in Qatar. To everyone's surprise, Sgt. 1st Class Marcus Nix, from Houston, Texas, had tied him. Nix is stationed at Camp As Sayliyah, assisting in the distribution of medical supplies to troops serving in Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom.
"This is more than just muscular endurance!" said Burkhalter, after being asked to attempt another grueling two-minute push-up challenge to break the tie and reward a first place contestant. The two Soldiers rested for a few minutes and then hit the floor to battle it out for another two minutes. Burkhalter managed to force out another 69 push-ups. But once again, Nix did the same, to produce another tie! Due to their paralleled performance, MWR staff rewarded both Soldiers with a first place trophy.
For a competitive atmosphere, every strength challenge requires involvement of many individuals.
The popularity of this day's push-up challenge was fueled by a donation of shirts, accessories and magazines from Muscular Development, a popular monthly newsstand publication.
"It's great to have a magazine publisher sponsor a fitness event," said Tony Randall, MWR community service manager. "Bodybuilding magazine publishers can help generate a lot of excitement for the strength challenges by sending the participants some incentive to join in. The Muscular Development sponsorship helped take the event from a level eight to a perfect 10 – their generosity doubled our average troop participation! I believe this was the best community strength challenge we ever had – it's how I envision these events to turnout every time. I received calls throughout the night, talking about how great it was."
| Date Taken: | 02.13.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 02.14.2008 13:49 |
| Story ID: | 16350 |
| Location: | CAMP AS SALIYAH, QA |
| Web Views: | 351 |
| Downloads: | 247 |
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