FORT SILL, Okla. (July 30, 2015) -- The Fort Sill Army 10-Miler Team is taking calculated steps that will ultimately lead them to the finish line in Washington, D.C.
The team is made up of six male Soldiers, six female Soldiers and six sergeants major who will represent the post Oct. 11 against other teams in their divisions.
Last year was the 30th anniversary of the 10-Miler race with 30,000 runners taking to the starting line. The runners set off in waves from the Pentagon, where they eventually return.
"You see all the monuments in D.C. in a 10 mile radius," said Command Sgt. Maj. Jason Maynard, returning runner on the sergeants major team.
He described the race as a homecoming of sorts.
"Everytime you go you see 10-20 people you served with in Iraq or Afghanistan. You see people you were stationed with or maybe even the person who inspired you to get into running."
While the final race is months off, the teams started logging thier miles right after the qualifier here.
"There was a pretty good turn out for the qualifier. There was a lot of competition," said returning female team runner, Sgt. 1st Class Amy Larsen, Fires Center of Excellence.
As other Soldiers were training for PT, the group was traveling anywhere from five to eight miles depending on their training schedule.
"We do it independently especially with the females because we all have different abilities. The males are all kind of on the same page. I set it up so we can run the distance and don't overtrain," said Larsen.
Although there are six runners on each team, during the final race only the top four running times are averaged to give the team a final score.
"We're just trying to get everyone on the same sheet of music," said Maynard.
With four sergeants major on the training side of post and two on the west side, he said they are switching running locations from one side of post to the other.
"I try to run 30 miles a week divided over six days of running so it's not that much. Everybody is trying to get to a 7-7.30 minute pace."
They are already looking toward their competitors' times, which averaged under seven minutes and therfore are training for speed.
During their run July 22 the group sprinted for 60 seconds followed by a run/walk for two minutes. On the way out and on the way back they also threw in a 90-second sprint and 180-second run/walk.
"It just gives you that extra 30 minutes of breathing hard. It'll shock your body. It's mainly for gaining speed," said Maynard.
The sergeants major team is a group of "seasoned" Soldiers which is why Command Sgt. Maj. Paul Larsen, FCoE, believes other Soldiers should be outrunning them at every stretch.
"Here's the challenge to Fort Sill -- we pass a lot of Soldiers on the run and we are a little bit older than they are. That's the challenge -- if you're young you need to pick it up if you see these sergeants major running across."
He said it's strictly for bragging rights, but it may also be encoded in the sergeant major rank to push other Soldiers to try harder.
The runners on all three teams also make sure they change out their equipment regularly so they don't injure their biggest asset in the sport: their feet.
"I change my shoes out like every three months," said Larsen.
"It depends too because we had all that rain. So this pair of shoes, I put them on right when those rains started and because of all of that they're already ripping out," said Maynard.
With a little more than 10 weeks of training to go, the 10-Miler team is hopeful.
"Fort Sill always does fairly well, and we have a pretty strong team this year. We're looking forward to it," said Larsen.
Sgt. Maj. Kevin Donegan said it's just an honor to represent Fort Sill.
Women's team:
Capt. Brooke Withers, MEDDAC
CW2 Phyllis King, FCoE
Lt. Col. Katherine Stich, FCoE
Staff Sgt. Ryan Godfrey, 434th FA
Sgt. 1st Class Amy Larsen, FCoE
Sgt. 1st Class Lesleyanne Guevarra, 434th FA
Men's team:
Capt. John King, 428th FA
2nd Lt. Connor Gjevre, 428th FA
Capt. Matthew Robinson, 428th FA
Spc. Armando Ibarra-Espinoza, MEDDAC
1st Lt. Stephen Hill, 428th FA
Capt. Richard Mard, 30th ADA
Sergeants major team:
Command Sgt. Maj. Taylor Poindexter, 434th FA
Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Oates, MEDCOM
Command Sgt. Maj. Jason Maynard, 1-19th FA
Command Sgt. Maj. Paul Larsen, FCoE
Command Sgt. Maj. Miguel Quiros, 1-40th FA
Command Sgt. Maj. Kevin Donegan, 434th FA
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