Photo By Sgt. Jeff Shackelford | Wheelchair racer, Kelley Ellmlinger, races across the finish line during the Alamo Run...... read more read more
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SAN ANTONIO – The streets of San Antonio were alive with bright-colored clothing, high-speed wheelchairs, and nearly 2,700 athletes of all backgrounds and ability levels the morning of Feb. 21.
As the day broke over the Alamodome, wheelchair racers and runners warmed up to begin their respective Alamo Run Fest race, staging themselves into groups for the 5K, 10K and half-marathon.
Carl Owens, the co-director of the run, said that although 48 states were represented in the event, the festival is a local happening.
“This isn’t an out-of-town event that’s managed from out of state. We are Texans,” he said. “The idea is that San Antonio is one of the five largest cities in Texas, but it is without its own big, homegrown event.”
“There’s plenty of room for a couple major events,” he added. “So that’s the idea, to grow something that has a unique flavor.”
“For a long time, we were on the top 10 list of obese cities in the country,” he said. “I know there has been a change in that. There’s a very active mayor’s fitness council in San Antonio.”
“We know that if people will start to do something, like this (run), it could change their lifestyle,” Owens said.
“They have a good time, they get motivated, it’s a big event, there’s a lot of excitement going on,” he continued. “A lot of what we know is what it takes to change people’s habits. A big part of the mission of this event and our sponsors is to help people get an idea of what it’s like to be healthier.”
Owens stressed that the event is open to not only runners, but adapted athletes as well.
“We’re not the largest event, but we have more wheelchairs participating in this event than any other event,” he said. “We have somewhere between 45 and 50 wheelchair and adapted athletes in this event today.”
The Alamo Run Fest also holds appeal for service members and veterans.
Through collaboration with Fort Sam Houston, the half-marathon running course turn-around point was on the base, and participants returned to the Alamo Dome for the finale. Almost six miles of the 13.1-mile race was run on the streets of Fort Sam, starting and ending at the historic Quadrangle.
“They’ve been gracious enough to allow us to do that and it’s been great,” Owen said. “It’s an opportunity that hasn’t been available for a long time. Obviously, we worked with the security concerns to make it work but it’s been a really nice opportunity. “
“What’s more than starting and finishing at the Alamodome and running through one of the most historic bases, certainly in Texas, and the country, and in an area that has a big military presence,” he said.
Capt. Kelly Elmlinger, an active duty Soldier and registered nurse who lost her leg due to a cancerous tumor, said she keeps her body and mind strong through wheelchair racing.
“I’ve always been an athlete my whole entire life, my entire military career,” she said. “I was introduced to adaptive sports in the Warrior Transition Unit. Not only did it help with the recovery but just dealing with life stressors and major illness stressors.”
Owens continued by saying that building a more solid community connection has been part of the mission of the Alamo Run Fest from the beginning.
“A number of our folks, a lot of our volunteers are actually military, not just on base, but off base as well,” he continued. “It’s really a great opportunity to tie the military and civilian communities together.”
“An event like this takes time to grow,” Owens said. “We’ve had a lot of good partnerships. We have four different beneficiaries this year and most of them have a tie in to supporting the military.”
“One is America’s Fund, which is actually part of the Semper Fi fund, and its mission is to help all the service branches,” Owens said.
“Obviously, their original mission statement was for the Marine Corps, but they did such a good job, they had a lot of requests for other support, and that’s where America’s Fund came from.”
“Then there’s Returning Heroes Home, which is a unique charity that supports the Warrior & Family Support Center, which is on Fort Sam Houston,” he continued. “That’s been a really good opportunity to help the community learn about some of these institutions.”
“We have two other sponsors: San Antonio Clubhouse, which works with mental illness, and Texas Regional Paralympics. We have a lot of wounded warriors that are part of that program.”
“We’re also thankful that the city is starting to wake up and again thankful that the military community in San Antonio has really gotten involved in this event,” he said. “Fort Sam is such a great place to be able to work with and run through the joint base. It’s nice. We’re excited about the future of the run.”
| Date Taken: | 02.21.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 02.24.2016 18:54 |
| Story ID: | 190004 |
| Location: | SAN ANTONIO, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 104 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Alamo Run Fest: Community races forward to stronger connections with Fort Sam, by SGT Elizabeth Raney and SGT Jeff Shackelford, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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