Fort Sill's 30th ADA Brigade teams with Dolese for quarry run

By Mitch Meador, Fort Sill TribuneMay 16, 2019

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1 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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2 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Maj. Ogden Nash, chief of operations and planning for 75th Field Artillery Brigade, is the power behind his 3-year-old son Geoffrey Ogden Nash's three-wheeler May 11, 2019, at 30th Air Defense Artillery Brigade's 3rd Annual Quarry Challenge. Nash sai... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT SILL, Okla. (May 16, 2019) -- An overnight shower made the 3rd Annual Quarry Challenge a far more resplendent affair than the second.

A spell of dry weather had preceded the 2018 Challenge inside Dolese's Richards Spur quarry, and on the day of the event high winds kicked up loose sand, abrading the eyeballs and sinus cavities of all concerned.

This year, the precipitation and a low wind speed kept the sand in check. The rain even transformed the central pit around which the event takes place into a freshwater pond, and cloudy skies kept the temperature down to 50 degrees for most of the morning.

Partnering with Dolese on the event was 30th Air Defense Artillery (ADA) Brigade. Sgt. Maj. Tomás Barrios of the brigade's operations and planning shop said 272 people signed up for this year's Quarry Challenge on May 11.

"That's from the community, Fort Sill, and also from OKC as well. We have runners from all over," Barrios said. "We opened up the whole thing to all the running circuit, the clubs that go. We have a couple of them here that are running."

Participants could sign up for any of three timed events, a 5K, an 8K, or a 10-Miler, or they could opt for a more leisurely walk/run.

Fort Sill Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation's Child and Youth Services prepped post youth between the ages of 5 and 15 beforehand, using a nine-week "couch to 5K" training program so they could keep up with their parents on the track.

Barrios said 30th ADA Brigade presents the Quarry Challenge in partnership with Dolese to raise money for Fort Sill Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR). This year Dolese donated $15,000 to MWR, three times what the company's CEO presented at the first Quarry Challenge in 2017.

"Also, Dolese Quarry wanted to show the community what they're all about and what the quarry is, so that's why we have the run, is so they can see the quarry," he explained.

The rock quarry supplies sand and gravel, as well as hardscapes and ready-mixed concrete used in all types of construction.