Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall can add another Army Ten-Miler First Place Hooah Bird trophy to its collection thanks to its active duty mixed masters team, which emerged victorious on Oct. 11.
The winning team comprised U.S. Air Force Antonio Eppolito, and U.S. Army Lt. Cols. Christopher Wong, Christopher Rizzo, Beth Clukey and Steve Hanson, as well as Coast Guard Cmdr. Nick Wong.
For this year's Army Ten-Miler, the joint base sponsored a team of 36 runners, said Todd Hopkins, recreational specialist and special events coordinator with Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation. That team was then broken down into six smaller teams of six runners each.
Winning teams were determined by adding up the finishing times of each team's top three male finishers and the top female finisher, Hopkins said. The winning JBM-HH team clocked in with a total finishing time of 4:25:21.
JBM-HH took home the title in the active duty masters mixed division, which consists of teams of male and female U.S. service members age 40 or older from the same duty station, installation, division, center or group.
Last year, JBM-HH placed third in the men's masters division.
"Hopefully we can win a team award, and if not, then the service members get to have a good time running the Ten-Miler," Hopkins said.
This year, service members were able to win some hardware.
Lt. Col. Christopher Wong, whose finishing time of 1:04:34 contributed to the win, said he had a blast running in this year's race.
Wong, who has been in the Army for 19 years, said it was his fourth consecutive Ten-Miler and his second on the JBM-HH team.
But Wong said this race is special because he gets to share the win with his brother, Coast Guard Cmdr. Nick Wong, who recently turned 40 and was able to qualify for the masters division and round out the team.
"He's in my category now so it makes for some competition," Chris said in an interview with the Pentagram.
And as long as he's stationed in the National Capital Region, Chris said he'll keep trying out for the Army Ten-Miler teams.
"Hopefully my times are good enough to keep qualifying for the joint base team," he said.
Hopkins said the win was a welcome surprise.
"It was unexpected," he said. "I expected the team to place but we were all amazed and excited that they ended up getting first place. Those are talented runners we had in that division. I knew we would place."
The team's 2015 First Place Hooah Bird trophy will join the other Hooah Birds the joint base has won throughout the years in the Fort Myer Fitness Center.
"We really like to add to that collection when we can," Hopkins said.
The winning runners will be recognized during JBM-HH's quarterly awards ceremony Oct. 28 at Spates Community Club on the Fort Myer portion of the joint base.
For more information about the Army Ten-Miler and for a full breakdown of results, visit www.armytenmiler.com.
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