Photo By Frank O'Brien | Lt. j.g. Gabriel A. Rocha, 29, of Brigham City, Utah, completed a 2.5 mile fun run...... read more read more
ZABUL PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Sailors, airmen and soldiers from Combined Team Zabul set aside inter-service rivalries on Aug. 6 at Forward Operating Base Lagman in Zabul province, Afghanistan, to participate in a challenging five to 10K fun run.
The elevation of FOB Lagman is more than 5,000 feet above sea level, comparable to Denver.
“It’s like someone kicked you in the chest,” said Sgt. 1st Class Theodore P. Warren, 47, of Martinsville, Va., describing the run. “I try to run every other day around the FOB. It’s like Denver, but I don’t think Denver is this hot.”
FOB Lagman is infamous among medical personnel for patients with ankle and respiratory injuries. The course included hills, patches of deep dust – affectionately known as “moon dust,” and rocky straightaways. Runners needed to take special care when running the course – dodging construction equipment and trucks, and keeping an eye out for camel spiders and saw scaled vipers. Although no snakes were spotted during the run, they saw scaled vipers, which are known to chase humans and can leap one to two feet in the air.
It’s similar to running cross-country, said Warren describing his approach to the run. Runners had to watch where they were placing their feet and had to keep their eyes out for big rocks and little ones. Runners also had to monitor their respiration because of the dust and the heat just made everything worse.
While the run was filled with many younger runners such as Capt. Stephen D. Carey, commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, and Capt. Matthew T. Etheridge, commander of Company A, 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, there was one older runner who followed both soldiers around the course with steady discipline: Chief Warrant Officer 2 Kinder L. Preston.
“There are a lot of people who can’t bend over and tie their shoes at my age … I’m happy just to finish,” said Chief Preston, 48, of Newport News, Va.
Like Warren, Preston found the environment to be the main challenge.
“Holy Mackerel!” Preston exclaimed. “I was doing five miles a day at the MOB [mobilization] station. I’ve run hills in Carolina. We go to the gym six days a week, and run three to four days a week. I love the outdoors, but the conditions here ….” Preston shook her head wearily for emphasis. “The conditions … .”
Heat, dust, vehicles, wildlife, rocks and elevation were factors enough to challenge most runners, but one participant took the run to a new level of intensity … by doing it on crutches.
Lt. j.g. Gabriel A. Rocha, 29, of Brigham City, Utah, chased Preston and completed a two-and-a-half-mile course on crutches.
“I’m a sports medicine physician’s assistant and I should probably take my own advice,” Rocha said, with a sheepish grin describing the recovery regimen prescribed to injured service members at the Miranda Trauma Center where he works.
Rocha, an avid athlete, hurt his knee playing volleyball against Seabees at Lagman. Although the fun run was an at-your-own-pace individual event, Rocha, like many others, was ready to compete.
“I can crutch pretty quick. I probably won’t finish last,” Rocha added, and he didn’t.
The run was held as a fund raising event for the sailors of the Navy’s CPO Select Course. To prepare for the responsibilities and duties of being a chief petty officer, selectees are required to organize fund raisers and community-building events. Approximately 50 participants beat feet to make the event a success, and a commemorative T-shirt was available for purchase.
The run, which was open to everyone regardless of fitness level, consisted of laps around the perimeter of the base, an interior loop for the 5K and an outer loop for the 10K.
| Date Taken: | 08.06.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 09.04.2011 05:22 |
| Story ID: | 76422 |
| Location: | ZABUL PROVINCE, AF |
| Web Views: | 457 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, For soldiers at FOB Lagman, charity 'fun run' is anything but, by Frank O'Brien, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
