40th CAB Soldiers hit the ground running in Spark Marathon

Photo By Staff Sgt. Ian Kummer | Army National Guard Soldiers from Company F, 1st Battalion, 168th Aviation Regiment, 40th Combat Aviation Brigade, gather up at the Spark Marathon 2016 in Kuwait City, Jan. 16. Capt. Sherri Gregoire, the Company F commander and San Tan Valley, Ariz., resident, won third place in the half-marathon event. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Ian M. Kummer, 40th Combat Aviation Brigade Public Affairs)  

KUWAIT CITY, KUWAIT

01.16.2016

Story by Staff Sgt. Ian Kummer 

40th Combat Aviation Brigade

KUWAIT CITY – Thirty-nine National Guard Soldiers from the 40th Combat Aviation Brigade participated in the Spark Marathon 2016 in Kuwait City, Jan. 16.

This is the first major off-post recreational event American troops from Camp Buehring have participated in at the beginning of the new year.

“It’s a good opportunity to get Soldiers off base into the local economy and culture,” said Master Sgt. Todd Pratt, a fire support specialist from Sacramento, California, in Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 40th CAB.

Participants of all ages were welcome to attend the event, and could choose from a variety of distances to run including 5 km, 10 km, a half-marathon and a full marathon route.

“Today is my husband’s birthday, and this is my gift to him,” said Staff Sgt. Anabel Avendano, a Sacramento resident in HHC.

Avendano left behind a husband and two children when she began her Federal tour of duty in October.

Soldiers stationed at Camp Buehring are permitted to participate in command-approved morale events off-post.

“It’s not to often we get to see things like this in other countries,” Pratt said. “I love it and I appreciate it.”

Captain Sherri Gregoire, commander of Company F, 1st Battalion, 168th Aviation Regiment, 40th CAB, won third place in the half-marathon event.

“I thought participating in the Spark Marathon was a great opportunity to promote physical fitness to my Soldiers in way that would be exciting, something new and a chance to accomplish a personal challenge that they could be proud off,” Gregoire, a San Tan Valley, Arizona, resident, said. “As I came across the finish line, three of my Soldiers were there cheering me on.”

• Date Taken: 01.16.2016
• Date Posted: 01.25.2016 02:46
• Story ID: 186921
• Location: KUWAIT CITY, KW
• Hometown: SACRAMENTO, CA, US
• Hometown: SAN TAN VALLEY, AZ, US