Courtesy Photo | Participant of the decathlon finishes the one mile run during the decathlon at Camp...... read more read more
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Story by: Tech Sgt. Samara Scott
Regional Support Command-West/NTM-A Public Affairs
HERAT, Afghanistan - Sweat was pouring from the faces of athletes during Camp Stone’s inaugural decathlon on June 11. The Camp Stone Moral Welfare Recreation Committee worked with the United Service Organizations at Shindand Air Base and together made the decathlon a success.
U.S. Army Lt. Col. Thomas Howko and Capt. Max Reele developed the decathlon events and point system and pitched the idea to the MWR committee.
“A lifelong friend told me that he participated in a similar event for charity and told me how much fun he had competing in the event and that it gave him an overall assessment of his strength,” said Lt. Col. Thomas Howko. “Our overall intent was to provide a free, fun, and challenging event for Forward Operating Base Stone.”
There were 22 athletes in all, and 14 volunteers from Forward Operating Base Stone helped with the scoring. The first event of the decathlon was the resting heart rate. The other nine events were pushups, sit ups, dips, jump rope, one mile run, bike, stair stepper, pull ups and plank. All of the event repetitions or times were converted into points to calculate the final score.
Frank Stinson, USO officer-in-charge from Shindand, brought his team up to Camp Stone and passed out prizes to the winners and give-a-ways to the volunteers. The USO donated prizes that included MP3 players, watches, golf clubs, phone cards, BX gift cards, snacks and shirts.
“When I heard about the event, right away I knew that it was something that I wanted to be a part of,” said Stinson. “I have been working for the USO since 2009 and I love doing it. Everything I do, I do for the troops. I like knowing that I can help build their moral and support them in any way that I can.”
| Date Taken: | 06.11.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 06.20.2011 06:24 |
| Story ID: | 72411 |
| Location: | HERAT, AF |
| Web Views: | 174 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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