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WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 5, 2008) - More than
18,000 runners, including 20 from Ft. McPherson and U.S. Army
Central, competed in this year's Army ten-miler race Oct. 5, which
is the largest race of its kind in the U.S. and the second largest
in the world.
The runners from USARCENT and Ft. McPherson consisted of three
teams of competitors from U.S. Forces Command, U.S. Army Reserve
Command and U.S. Army Central.
USARCENT's All Comers team, which consisted of runners of any
age and affiliation, placed second out of 42 teams. Ft. McPherson's
Mixed Masters team also placed second in their division.
USARCENT team coach, Bob Dalton, placed third in his age group
while Capt. Emily Potter, Deputy Support Operations Officer for the
Director of Logistics in Kuwait, who also ran with the all Army
team, placed fifth in the women's division.
While the team made their success in the race look easy, the
training to get there was not.
"In order to run on the USARCENT team, I had to try out," said
Sgt. 1st Class Margaretta Watkins, G-4 Platoon Sergeant. "Once I
made the team, our coach published a training schedule."
Dalton described the team's training schedule as serious and
tough.
The team trained for 27 weeks leading up to the Army Ten Miler,
he said. They trained on Tuesdays and Thursdays doing speed work
and 300 meter runs. Many of the runners ran an average of 30-40
miles per week while training but there were some who ran between
50 and 60 miles per week.
"We have a lot of good runners on the team," Dalton said. "It is
especially great to see because a lot of them can't train all the
time with being deployed."
Potter is an example of this. She has been at USARCENT for six
months and comes from the Army's World Class Athlete program. This
is her fifth year competing in the Army Ten Miler and she trained
at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait.
"It was difficult to train hard in Kuwait," Potter said. "I'd
get up at 3:30 in the morning and train before the sun came
up."
The Army Ten Miler was a chance for her to display her pride as
a Soldier.
"This is one of my favorite races to run because it is the
Army's race and I am in the Army," Potter said. "I like running for
the Army."
For Watkins, the Army Ten Miler is a chance to compete for
USARCENT against other posts. It is also a race that is not just
about winning.
"This race lets people know that the Army is representing, not
just during wartime, but also during peacetime," Watkins said.
While the USARCENT team heads back to Ft. McPherson with pride
for their accomplishments, their work is not done. The team has
competed in the Army's Hooah Race, The Atlanta Peachtree Race and
the Corporate Challenge. After getting back to Atlanta, they will
compete together in the Peachtree City Classic and the Atlanta half
marathon.
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