Speedy Soldiers from across the 1st Infantry Division will be in our nation's capital this weekend to represent the "Big Red One" in the annual Army Ten-Miler. On Sunday, BRO Soldiers will be among 35,000 athletes running through the streets of Washington, D.C.
Fourteen runners organized onto three teams have spent months training for Sunday's event.
"I was on the team last year," said 1st Lt. Chris Odekirk, 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Inf. Div. "The team is great. I think we have a really good chance in our mixed category of placing."
Odekirk said their chances would be even better if not for the fact that three of their fastest runners are deployed. "That being said, I think we have a solid group of individuals on the team."
Cpt. Brigette Robshaw, 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Inf. Div., said she was looking forward to again running on her second mixed team, where men and women run together. "I really like the idea of doing the mixed team because it gives you … a challenge, someone to chase after," she said. "It's great for the training aspect, to make you push yourself harder than if you were training by yourself."
Both Robshaw and Odekirk have been to the Army Ten-Miler several times, but it will be the first experience in the race for one of their teammates.
"This is my first team, and I think it's great," said 2nd Lt. Jennifer Meredith, 299th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Inf. Div. "It's the cohesion. Good teamwork, they motivate each other. There's good planning."
Odekirk said that because of the high caliber of individual competitors, the team scores are what the Soldiers focus on. "There's world-class athletes, like Olympians, that run this race," he said. "We're all pretty fast, but none of us are quite that fast," he added with a laugh.
"Chances are we won't place individually, but if you add up our times as a team, we have a good shot," he said. "We're competitive across the board."
Participating in her third Army Ten-Miler, Robshaw said the large number of runners and spectators give her a boost. "It gets you motivated to run faster than you think you could run," she said. "It's just the energy from the crowd and people are cheering you on, and you're just in the zone."
Odekirk, running in his fourth Army Ten-Miler, said the Soldiers are further motivated by the confidence of their training that's taken them this far. "That, combined with 30,000 people at the starting line and the crowds throughout -- the city of Washington, D.C. really shows up for this race -- and there's a lot of people there on the sidelines cheering you on," he said. "And you've got the Wounded Warriors that start five to ten minutes before you, and so you're running along and you'll see them as you run. It's pretty humbling and motivating at the same time."
Robshaw and Odekirk both agreed that running through the nation's capital, past monuments and historical sites, was interesting, but the focus is on the race. "I remember my first one, they were like 'oh, did you see this?' I'm like, 'I don't remember seeing anything,'" Robshaw said. "I was concentrating on running; I didn't have time to look to the side."
"After about mile five, you're just thinking about holding on," Odekirk said.
"I'm really excited for it, because I have a lot of pride in this," Meredith said about her first Army Ten-Miler. "I've actually competed in the Army Ten-Miler qualifiers twice before, but I was never active duty. So the fact that I qualified and can go, to me, this one being my first one means the most to me, especially because this is my first unit and my first duty station."
She said she's been told nothing but good things about the race, the biggest one she's ever participated in. "I guess the course itself is just gorgeous," Meredith said. "It's really nice just to be in D.C. and having people cheer you on."
The 2013 Fort Riley Army Ten-Miler team members are: Lt. Col. Clyde Buckley and Lt. Col. Sean Ryan, both of Division Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 1st Inf. Div; Sgt. Jonathan Dominguez, 1st Lt. Brent Nedergall, Cpl. Richard Eskridge, Spc. Jason Sampson and Spc. Vilias Cherubin of 101st Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Inf. Div.; 1st Lt. Chris Odekirk, 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Inf. Div.; Cpt. Brigette Robshaw, 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Inf. Div., Warrant Officer Zachery Owens, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Inf. Div.; 1st Lt. Stephanie Hansen, Special Troops Battalion, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Inf. Div.; Spc. Norman Decelles, 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Inf. Div.; 2nd Lt. Jennifer Meredith, 299th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Inf. Div.; and Spc. Noah Halter, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Inf. Div.
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