Photo By Lisa Crawford | Staff Sgt. Patti Lee-Smith, of David City, Nebraska, runs on a treadmill March 12 at...... read more read more
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Running is as much a part of being a Soldier as wearing boots or learning to shoot. And while every Soldier spends significant time maintaining physical fitness, few maintain quite the rigorous physical training schedule that Nebraska Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Patti Lee-Smith does.
A full-time Nebraska Army National Guard contract specialist, Lee-Smith works out six days a week, often running with her dog on long stretches of the dusty, gravel road that winds past her home in David City, Nebraska, or looping through the dimly lit Joint Force Headquarters atrium in Lincoln, climbing stairs long before most of the building’s other employees arrive.
Whether in sunshine, rain or even brown, sloppy snow, Lee-Smith continuously laces up her purple and pink tennis shoes and sticks to her dedicated training schedule, not only to meet the fitness standards of the Army National Guard, but also to fulfill her personal call to service.
“I believe strongly in service to your community and service to others,” Lee-Smith said.
That calling stretches back to her childhood, where her grandfather, a 25-year Coast Guard veteran, had always recommended his grandchildren toward military service.
With his encouragement ringing in her ears, Lee-Smith made contact with an Army National Guard recruiter in 2010, just short of her 35th birthday, and enlisted.
“It’s now or never,” Lee-Smith recalled saying to her grandfather when she called him to discuss her options.
With a post-secondary degree, an established career and a full family, Lee-Smith said she knew her experiences were going to be different from the younger enlistees, but her call to duty was the same.
Following her 2011 enlistment, Lee-Smith completed basic combat training and advanced individual training. Because of her age, she was often forced into leadership roles, which she now believes helped mold her into the noncommissioned officer she is today. It’s also what continues to drive her to excel in the Nebraska Army National Guard.
“I was taught very early on in life to never ask for anything,” Lee-Smith said. “I was taught that if you want something bad enough, you will work for it. I live that principle every day in the military and have the utmost respect for those in leadership positions who do the same.”
Which leads back to Lee-Smith’s passion for running and physical fitness. Lee-Smith admitted she has been a pretty inconsistent runner her entire life. She ran track in high school, but didn’t begin running regularly until she joined the Army National Guard. But when she ran her first half-marathon with her sister-in-law in 2012, she found she had a passion for the sport.
“I started and I never stopped,” Lee-Smith said.
Lee-Smith said she’s come a long way since that first race where she walked the entire eighth mile of the half-marathon, reevaluating where she was at, how much further she had to go and her plan to get there. But with her sister-in-law by her side, pressing on together, it was then that she realized the race wasn’t about crossing the finish line for yourself, and so she kept going. She is now training to complete her 25th half-marathon on May 6 at the Lincoln National Guard Marathon and Half-Marathon in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Her passion for running only intensified as she met other enthusiastic runners. In 2014, she began running with Sgt. 1st Class Kyla (Triplett) Robbins when they served together in the Nebraska Army National Guard’s 734th Transportation Battalion. When Lee-Smith first came to the unit, she expressed interest in becoming a better runner, Robbins said.
“Patti always strived to better herself and help others,” Robbins said.
The pair began running together and later completed what Lee-Smith still claims to be her favorite half-marathon, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half, in Nashville, Tennessee. Lee-Smith credits the mentorship and support she received from Robbins and Sgt. 1st Class Tarissa Batenhorst, both strong runners and past members of the Nebraska National Guard Marathon Team, as being instrumental in her development as a runner and as a Soldier.
“They allowed me to grow as a leader, as an NCO and pushed me in PT,” Lee-Smith said. “I think that’s why physical health is so important to me right now, because they really pushed me to do better and to be better.”
Running, she said, is now much more than completing a specific race. It’s about the journey, itself.
“Running is my release, because it’s just me and the road,” she said.
It’s something that allows her to further connect to her community and find new ways to harness her passion for service her grandfather awoke in her years ago. Four years ago, after her uncle lost his battle with cancer and a high school friend was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, Lee-Smith joined the Project Purple Nebraska marathon and half marathon teams.
“I reached out to them, and I just kept running really to advocate funds for cancer research,” she said. “It’s really why I keep running.”
It’s a passion that continues to drive and push her, especially on those occasional days when things are less than optimal. For example, last month, while running along the rolling country roads of her small, rural community following a heavy snowfall, the first car of the day flew past, causing her to throw herself into the cold, icy ditch to avoid being hit. About a mile later, another car sped past, this time splashing her with the cold, brown roadside slush.
It was a frustrating situation to say the least.
“I kept running, but the whole time I was thinking negative thoughts,” she said.
But that perspective changed when she got home. As she sat down and began to remove her wet socks and purple shoes – the negativity dripping away much like muddy water – things just didn’t seem quite so bad.
“They pushed you into a ditch and you were soaked, but when that water hit your feet, you’re able to feel it, so you need to be grateful,” Lee-Smith recalled thinking. “When you’re out there you’re still able to take a breath, so be grateful that you can breathe; that you have that air to breathe; that you have the lung capacity to do it; that your legs are allowing you to move forward.”
Running, she said she realized, was really about simply being in the moment, pushing through adversity and coming out the other side with a better perspective about what’s truly important in life.
“It is a gift,” she added. “I can get up every morning, I can take a deep breath and use my two legs to run, and I am not going to take that for granted. I have a lot of gratitude for even having that ability.”
Lee-Smith now serves as an ambassador for the Project Purple program, which has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for cancer research, early detection clinics and patient care support. She said it’s a program that has the potential to create significant good for those who need it the most.
“Runners are super competitive most times, but we are the most non-judgmental, high-fiving, supportive group of people you will meet in your life, and I didn’t know that until I started truly running to the extent that I do now.”
Lee-Smith said it’s common to meet a stranger out running who will give a high-five and verbal words of encouragement.
“I appreciate that about running,” she said.
She said she found that same friendly camaraderie with Robbins and Batenhorst, two mentors who have been instrumental in her development. Lee-Smith said it’s what pushes her to provide similar mentorship to others, especially her two daughters and others in her community. She even manages a private, online running and fitness-related support group on Facebook for others on their own journey.
“I am very proud of her in all her accomplishments,” Robbins said. “She is a great role model (who) is reaching her goals mid-life, and showing that anything is possible.”
Lee-Smith and Robbins both said serving in the National Guard and being an avid runner share many similarities.
“The Guard and running both provide opportunity, and in both you can learn and grow if you’re willing to put forth the time and the effort,” Lee-Smith said. “Being a Citizen-Soldier is serving your community and upholding the oath that you took.”
“Her values show that she is committed to helping her local community and country, just as a Citizen-Soldier should,” Robbins added.
Lee-Smith said she hopes she’s living up to that ideal each and every day, both in her military service and in her contributions to the community.
“I just really hope that my work with Project Purple or the work that I do in the Guard – I just hope that in the long run it helps someone, and that it pushes somebody to be better and to do more for people around them,” she said.
“I think we need to get back to making service to our country, our community and each other a priority.”
| Date Taken: | 05.04.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 05.04.2018 15:55 |
| Story ID: | 275791 |
| Location: | LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, US |
| Hometown: | DAVID CITY, NEBRASKA, US |
| Web Views: | 149 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Soldier: Running, like community service, is journey not race, by Lisa Crawford, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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