FORT SILL, Okla. (Oct. 24, 2013) -- Fort Sill runners ran on easy street Oct. 20 winning one division and placing second in another during the 29th edition of the Army 10-Miler in Washington, D.C.
Command Sgts. Maj. David Carr, Paul Larsen, Bryan Pinkney, Taylor Poindexter and Sam Young ran a combined 5 hours, 3 minutes, 32 seconds for their top-four finishers. Pinkney paced the Fort Sill CSMs completing the run in 1:12:13 as they took first place in the Sergeants Major division.
The CSM runners dedicated their win to Randy Ward, a former Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation employee, who died March 20 at the age of 58. Ward accompanied the team in years past and was a fixture for more than 30 years here coordinating intramural sports programs.
"The challenge is finding CSMs over age 40 who can run 10 miles and be competitive in a race of this caliber," said Carr. "Randy Ward was the catalyst for this team in previous years pushing us to do our best. We determined to win the sergeant major division for him."
Fort Sill's varsity squad finished second in the Active-Duty Mixed division with a time of 3:55:30. Capt. Charles Billi led the team posting a 55:40 time.
Other varsity runners were: Capts. Meghan Curran, William Lemieuex and Jacinta Nelson; 2nd Lt. Victoria Adame; Sgts. 1st Class Augustin Avila, Antonia Silva-Warren and Francisco Torres; Staff Sgt. Brandon Perdeu; and Spc. Danny Iniguez.
Purdeu, a first-time runner in the 10-Miler and an ROTC senior at Cameron University, said the mixed team format gave Fort Sill the best chance to medal in a race.
"Captain Meghan Curran is an extremely talented female runner and finished 19th overall among other females. Her time along with Captain Billi at 55 minutes gave us our best shot," he said.
Fort Sill's runners qualified for the race in June, and Perdeu said everyone got a lot faster in the four months leading up to race day.
But the 10-Miler race is far more than just a test of who's the fastest.
"It was an exciting race and all began with about 100 wounded warriors then Army World Class Athlete program runners," he said.
Running in the first wave of faster regular Army runners, Purdeu ran stride for stride briefly with the elite runners.
"It meant a lot to me to be part of the team that represented Fort Sill," he said. "It's the Army's race, and you want to get to go and to do well, but you also want to prove your post is the best.
"This year we were shooting to bring home something for Fort Sill; we trained hard and we got it," said Perdeu.
Finishing as Fort Sill's top woman runner, Curran breezed through the scenic course in 1:01:22.
"We appreciate Corvias Military Living for sponsoring Fort Sill's varsity team to run the Army 10-miler in Washington, D.C.," said Shane Dunlevy, FMWR community recreation officer. "The team's success, as well as the first place showing by the sergeants major team, is a direct reflection of the strong community support Soldiers receive here on a daily basis."
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