The Fort Huachuca Army Ten Miler Team recently returned home from the 30th annual event held in Washington, D.C. Oct. 12, the third largest road race in the world, where athletes competed against a group of more than 26,000 runners.
The men's team, consisting of six members, finished third in the Open Team category. The women's team, consisting of four members, finished 10th in the Open Team category.
This year, Maj. Gen. Jeffery Buchanan, commanding general, Military District of Washington, presented the awards to the top finishers. Buchanan is a graduate of Buena High School and the University of Arizona.
Five of the 10 teammates made an appearance at the garrison commander's office on Oct. 22 to receive awards for their achievements at this year's race. U.S. Army Garrison Commander Col. Thomas A. Boone gave each teammate a coin as a token of appreciation and symbol of achievement for their outstanding success. The team also received a plaque for their accomplishment.
To qualify for the event, the Directorate of Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation Sports Division hosted three 8-mile timed trials, and active duty Soldiers had to be attached to Fort Huachuca on the day of the event. The top finisher(s) at each timed trial made them eligible to compete. Others participating in the time trials were eligible to practice with the team and were considered alternates for the team.
The Fort Huachuca Army Ten Miler team consisted of:
Men's Team: Brian Hayes, team captain, Alpha Company, 305th Military Intelligence Battalion; Cory Hanson, Alpha Company, 304th MI Bn.; Jeremy Larson, Alpha Company, 304th MI Bn.; Jaime Despain, Alpha Company, 304th MI Bn.; Brian McKenna, Charlie Company, 304th MI Bn.; and Jonathan Bosarge, Military Intelligence Corps Army Band.
Women's Team: Camala Coats, Alpha Company, 305th MI Bn; Shannon Garrett, Joint Interoperability Test Command; Sindi Connell, Alpha Company, 304th MI Bn.; and Melissa Salamanca, Alpha Company, 304th MI Bn.
The team met up daily around 5:30 a.m. and remained on a set training schedule throughout the last five months.
The team's 6-days-a-week training schedule began in May. Sunday was their rest day, which they used as a cross-training day. Monday through Saturday, the Army Ten Miler team members rotated between easy runs, long runs and speed work.
Hays, the team captain, has been on the Fort Huachuca team five times and has now raced in the Army Ten Miler 13 times.
"I was happy with my performance, and we do train here at close to 5,000 feet of altitude," he said. "I think it's a great benefit. I felt a little bit under-prepared going into the race, but once I got there I was able to run [it in] under an hour, which was my goal."
Some of the members on the woman's team returned even after fighting hip injuries, such as Salamanca who also recently had a baby.
"It was about figuring out what I could do and finding that fine line without getting hurt," she said. "We were all wanting to do it and looking forward to it, so that was a challenge and it ended up working out very well."
Salamanca said she wanted to race under 80 minutes, which was eight minutes per mile.
"I was able to keep that up throughout the race and it felt good," she said.
Another teammate who came back after suffering a hip injury was Connell, who also ran on the team last year.
"With it being a longer rehab, I did a lot of cross training like swimming," she said. "I felt great during the race and it was a pain-free day with beautiful weather. I ran it a lot faster than I thought, in about two to two and a half minutes faster than I expected."
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