Photo By Staff Sgt. Miguel Rivas | Sgt. Rosa E. Mendoza, 204th Brigade Support Battalion chaplain assistant, runs her way...... read more read more
By Staff Sgt. Miguel A. Rivas
204th Brigade Support Battalion
FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq – With more than 140 military and civilian personnel on hand, Capt. Adhana J. McCarthy realized quickly she would have plenty of competition at Forward Operation Base Kalsu's 10-Miler Oct. 5, 2008.
If McCarthy was seeking a runner's high or wanted to be part of the tradition that allows Soldiers to connect with their brothers-in-arms across the globe, she could be forgiven. But the Long Beach, Calif., native admits she had other motives.
"I wanted another t-shirt," McCarthy laughs, wearing her red shirt earned by participating in the 2006 Kalsu 10-Miler. "How many people can say they have run 10 miles in the same obscure place? I get to do it, twice."
The Kalsu race coincides with the U.S. Army Ten-Miler, held every October in Washington.
Soldiers from the 204th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, represented their battalion well during this year's FOB Kalsu version. Not only did 29 Roughriders come out for the run, four of them, two men and two women, crossed the finish line in the top five in their respective gender categories.
Specialist Matthew Maddox, distribution platoon, Company A, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, was first among the Fort Carson group.
The other top finishers in the battalion were Capt. Michael Cooke, battalion operations assistant; Sgt. Rosa Mendoza, chaplain assistant, and Edelina Calle, issue section, Company A.
Maddox said he has been running since his mother, Margaret, bought him a pair of running shoes when he was six. His life didn't exactly change, however it certainly started moving faster. The 29-year-old still fondly remembers how he started dashing from room to room inside their Springfield, Ill., home.
"Running is my hobby. It's relaxing, definitely," said Maddox. "I love to run. That is what I do."
Calle said she signed up for the Army 10-Miler as a way to challenge herself. The big payoff was not her coming in as the fourth fastest female, the Triunfo, Ecuador, native said, but that she could share her achievement with her eight-year-old son, Jeffrey.
"Oh, that's awesome, mommy!" Jeffery said, in an e-mail before giving his mom a verbal high five.
When presented with a picture of her assistant passing a group of security guards, Chaplain Lisa Northway, Mendoza's boss, had a quick thought.
"When she is not around, I can tell people that she is running around somewhere," said Northway, holding a copy of Mendoza's photo.
Running around somewhere is something that Cooke is known to do. Shortly after the battalion moved north from Camp Buehring, Kuwait, Cooke began spending time on the treadmill in preparation for the race. The San Diego native said he is no stranger to running in the sand.
Cooke added that the race was a way to break up the daily back-and-forth grind of going to the battalion tactical operations center and the temporary tents.
"[Ann] was happy I did it," said Cooke, when asked about breaking the news to his wife. "She knows that running makes me happy. She was proud that I finished in the top five, but she worries about my lungs."
All the runners who placed received medals and certificates and those that did not finish fast enough to earn a top five medal or certificate received a T-shirt as a keepsake.
Although McCarthy received her new shirt, she said there is more to why she chose to participate in the grueling run.
"Kalsu feels like a second home," said McCarthy. "I feel closer to Kalsu."
| Date Taken: | 10.14.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 10.14.2008 03:33 |
| Story ID: | 24927 |
| Location: | ISKANDARIYAH, IQ |
| Web Views: | 266 |
| Downloads: | 147 |
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