CASEY GARRISON South Korea - The 8th United States Army brought their 10-mile qualifying run June 20 to Casey garrison. The sports specialists in Area I staged a serpentine 10-mile gauntlet for intrepid Soldiers to navigate and run as fast as they could to qualify for only six slots for competition in Washington D.C. later this year. The event is brought to the garrison and staged here because Casey only has the ability to map a route without leaving the garrison, said Jim Williams, Area I FMWR sports specialist.
"The top six men and six women will go on to the All Army 10 mile run that happens every year in conjunction with the Association of the United States Army convention in Washington, D.C.," said Tom Higgins, 8th Army sports director. "The race will kick off the convention the first Sunday in October."
Cheley Freeman placed 1 in the Women's Open (29 years and under) with a time of 1:16:38. Jennifer Adams placed 1 in the Women's Seniors (30 years to 39 years with a time of 1:23:13. Mi Cha Kincaid placed 1 in the Women's Master category (40 years and more) with a time of 1:21:17.
Alexander Pagon placed 1in the Men's Open (29 years and under) with a time of 1:01:02. Thomas Marnoch places 1 in the Men's Seniors (30 years to 39 years) with a time of 1:03:30. Josue Morales placed 1 in the Men's Masters (40 years and older) with a time of 1:00:10. Marnoch was 8 minutes and change short of the overall course record of 0:52:25 set in 1996 by Sammy Ngatia. Ngatia went on to finish 13 overall and 1 in his age category in the New York marathon a year later, Higgins said.
There were a total of 285 runners, more than double the participants at any time in Area I sports history, Williams said.
"The 8th Army 10 miler started in 1989," Higgins said. "This is our 20th year. The race is already booked in full and sold out with 28,000 signing up. It sold out in five days. It is the largest 10 mile run in the nation. The 8th Army has always finished in the top five places."
"The route of the 10 miler is the circumference of the outside perimeter of the garrison," Williams said. "They will run that distance in one lap."
Williams and his sports team divided the route into five segments to place water points and safety observers to monitor the race.
"Every 2 miles is a water point," Williams said. "We have four ambulances on site where we placed them in strategic areas and one follows the last runner. The heat is not a factor today because of rainy weather."
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