Photo By Staff Sgt. Gauret Stearns | Staff Sgt. Tyler Lundquist of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard Recruiting and...... read more read more
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FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. – Four members of the Pennsylvania National Guard made the All-Guard Marathon Team at the team’s tryout May 7 at the Lincoln Marathon in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Staff Sgt. Tyler Lundquist, Capt. Matthew Stern, Sgt. 1st Class Earnest Fullwood and Lt. Col. Deborah Fisher will now travel around the country representing the National Guard at other races over the next two years.
“We are excited to have four Soldiers on the All-Guard Marathon Team for 2023-24 to represent the Pennsylvania National Guard in events throughout the country,” said Capt. Daniel Kysela, who is the coordinator for Pennsylvania’s Marathon and Endurance teams.
Lundquist, of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard Recruiting and Retention Battalion, was the top finisher from Pennsylvania with a time of 2:49:57. He was the sixth National Guard male finisher and the top Guard finisher in the 30-34 age group.
This is Lundquist’s second time making the All-Guard Marathon Team.
“I finished in 2:49, and my goal was 2:35, but I was still able to qualify for the National Guard team, so I was happy to qualify,” he said. “I wasn’t so happy with my time, but sometimes things don’t always go your way out there. Sometimes just finishing is the main goal.”
Lundquist said the temperatures got up into the mid-70s and the sun came out during the latter stages of the race, and that affected his pace.
“At the start of the race the temps were tolerable, but the back half of the race got warm, and the clouds opened up, and the sun was beating down on us the last half of the course,” Lundquist said. “I executed my race plan for the first half, but then my pace kind of fell in the back half.”
Stern, of the 28th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade, was the 26th National Guard male finisher with a time of 3:02:27. This is his 11th All-Guard Marathon Team.
Fullwood, of the 876th Brigade Engineer Battalion, was the 30th National Guard male finisher with a time of 3:05:12. He qualified for his third All-Guard Marathon Team.
Fisher, of Joint Force Headquarters, was the first 50+ National Guard female finisher with a time of 4:04:24 and the third in the female 50-54 age group in the entire race. This is her ninth All-Guard Marathon Team.
Kysela, of 1-110th Infantry, was the 68th National Guard male finisher with a time of 3:23:31.
Overall, there were 803 competitors at this year’s Lincoln Marathon, 556 male and 247 female. Of them, 187 – 143 male and 44 female finishers – represented the 54 states and territories of the National Guard.
It was the first time in over 30 years that “all 54” were represented in the field of National Guard competitors for the marathon.
The Pennsylvania National Guard finished sixth out of 54 teams in the National Guard team competition.
“Overall, it was a fast year for Guardsmen,” Kysela said. “We always want to come out on top, but a sixth-place finish among the 54 states and territories is not a bad showing for our team.”
“We were planning on making the podium, but we were a few places off,” Lundquist added. “Hopefully in two years we’ll be there.”
| Date Taken: | 05.11.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 05.11.2023 13:29 |
| Story ID: | 444549 |
| Location: | FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Web Views: | 103 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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