Laughlin teams receive top honors in USAF Marathon

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Sara Csurilla
  • 47th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Two teams, one men's and one women's, represented Laughlin by competing in the 12th Annual Air Force Marathon held at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio Sept. 20.
Not only did they compete in the marathon, they both beat out teams from all over the
world to take first place in the 10K Team Race.

The marathon is held every year in September to commemorate the founding of the Air Force as a separate military service on Sept. 18, 1947. This year it attracted more than 10,000 people participating as runner, volunteer or spectator.

The marathon was a three-day event that including a Sports and Fitness Expo, the marathon, a half marathon, a 5K and 10K Team Race and more.

Both men and women's team, which adopted Laughlin's commonly used "Team XL," participated in the 10K Team Race. Due to the fact that it was a team event, all teams ran together and at the end of the 6.2 mile race, all team members' individual times were added together for the team score.

The women's team finished with a total of 3:07:19, crushing the second place Air Education and Training Command team by more than 30 minutes.

"It was a great privilege to represent the base and have Team XL listed as number one," said Lt. Col. Cheryl Beineke, 86th Flying Training Squadron commander and a part of the women's Team XL. "The fitness center originally tried to have both the men's and women's team represent the Air Education and Training Command, but when they decided to use teams from other bases, one of our goals was to beat the AETC team, and AETC's team took second to both Laughlin teams. It was a great privilege to show that AETC has lots of high-quality personnel."

The men's team finished with the time of 2:34:04, squeaking by the AETC team by a mere two minutes and 38 seconds.

"The marathon was amazing," said Capt. Aaron Gill, 86th FTS, and a part of the men's Team XL. "We knew the AETC team was going to put up a good fight but we also knew we had a really good possibility of winning."

Two runners on Laughlin's men's team were also returning winners from last year's USAF Marathon and according to Captain Gill, the whole men's Team XL plan on participating together again next year.

The 2009 USAF Marathon is scheduled for Sept. 19 and both the full- and half-marathon races, along with a 10K race, will begin and end at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.

"It was a fantastic experience to be a part of the Air Force Marathon," said Colonel Beineke. "I plan to return in a couple years and run the full marathon. Distance running is a great analogy for how we should live our lives; set a manageable pace and always keep moving toward your goal."