FORT RUCKER, Ala. (October 31, 2013) -- Staff Sgt. David Seymour led the eight member Fort Rucker Ten Mile Team to a second-place division finish Oct. 20. in Washington during the 29th running of the Army Ten-Miler Race.
Fort Rucker beat the post record by 1 minute and 51 seconds with a scored time of 3 hours, 57 minutes and 38 seconds.
The team competed in the Open Mixed division, which is open to all teams, military or civilian, male and female. There were 35,000 registered runners with more than 26,000 participants finishing the race, according to the results.
Seymour, who is captain of the team and is a small group leader at the NCO Academy, finished 80th overall out of all military competing men with a time of 58:46. Teammate 2nd Lt. Brian Morenus, D Company, 1st Battalion, 145th Aviation Regiment, finished 23rd out of all military males at 54:43. Second Lt. Mark Freeman, 1st Battalion, 145th Aviation Regiment finished 101st out of competing military males with a time of 59:47, and 2nd Lt. Jennifer MacGibbon, D Company, 1st Battalion, 145th Aviation Regiment, finished eighth out of all military females with a time of 64:23.
CW4 Stephanie Rose, Headquarters Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 14th Aviation Regiment, whose overall time did not count towards the team, finished 83rd out of all military women at 71:57 with a broken foot.
Fort Rucker's team finished 18th out of 421 teams, with six of those teams being international, said Seymour. Teams from Canada, Germany, Brazil and Japan competed in the race.
"Our division had more than 200 teams in it," he said. "Had we run in the Active-Duty Mixed division we would have finished third overall."
The Mountain Post Men from Fort Carson, Colo., won the Commander's Cup, finishing in first place in the Active-Duty Men's division, and the Fort Bragg Women finished first in the Active-Duty Women's division. Fort Eustis, Va., took first place in the Active-Duty Mixed division.
Secretary of the Army John McHugh, Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Ray Odierno, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. John F. Campbell and Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond F. Chandler all attended the event and were seen cheering on the sidelines along with thousands of fans, friends, supporters and Family members who lined the race route motivating racers to keep going.
Chandler said it's always motivating seeing so many people participating in the race each year and staying Army Strong.
"It's amazing to see, especially the wounded warriors who just inspire all of us every single day," he said.
The race began and ended at the Pentagon and is one of the most scenic routes in the country, taking runners past many of the nation's historic monuments.
At the awards ceremony, Maj. Gen. Jeffrey S. Buchanan, commanding general of the Military District of Washington, said the event couldn't have been such a huge success without the people who put time and energy into making it so.
"I just want to thank all our Soldiers, all our Family members, all our sponsors, more than 900 volunteers put this race together. We couldn't have done it without them," he said. "This is a great day to be Army Strong," he said.
MacGibbon, who has since transferred to Hawaii, is now being considered for the All-Army Cross Country Team. For more on her achievement, see Sports in next week's Army Flier.
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