FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska- A Fort Wainwright Military Police Soldier finished the U.S. Half-Marathon 2 in the top five percentile April 10.
Spc. Melody Wright, a Kent, Wash., native and a military police Soldier assigned to the 472nd Military Police Company here, completed the U.S. Half Marathon 2 in San Francisco, Calif., with a time of 1 hour and 48 minutes, making her the 49th among 1,200 female runners to cross the finish line that day.
More than 2,200 people competed in the half marathon, which led runners through the streets of San Francisco. The race is the sequel to the U.S. Half Marathon which usually takes place in November.
Wright traveled to San Francisco on her off-duty time to compete in the half marathon.
She plans to continue training and run in the Anchorage Mayor's Half-Marathon June 18 and she also has her sights set on Big Wild Life Run, a full marathon set for Aug. 21 in Anchorage.
Wright says she originally found the motivation to take on a marathon during her deployment to Iraq, but she also says she "liked running before the Army and it just made sense to continue running now."
She started training for the half marathon in January, running at least five times a week on a treadmill while she waited for the end of winter in Interior Alaska. She found a long distance training program online and used that to guide her training routine.
Her rigorous training and dedication paid off when she placed 270th out of more than 2,000 contestants and 49th out of 1,200 other female runners.
"If you put your mind to something and prepare hard, you can do anything," said Wright.
Wright said she enjoyed the city of San Francisco and found that running with thousands of other people was unlike anything she had experienced before.
"I was in a mental zone and didn't really think much for the first 10 miles. The last three miles were extremely challenging" Wright said.
Overall, Wright said, she found the half marathon "a very rewarding experience."
In addition to the half marathon and a full marathon she plans to run this summer in Anchorage, she said she is always on the lookout for running events in the Fairbanks area.
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