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As the Redstone team prepared to leave Sunday’s 40th annual Army Ten-Miler in Washington, D.C., one of its runners had a familiar song playing on his phone, the 2010 hit “All I Do Is Win” by DJ Khaled.
That’s what Redstone does every year at the Army Ten-Miler: Win, win, win, no matter what.
Redstone won both the all-comers division and the government agency division again Sunday. This makes 28 eagle trophies in the long-distance running event’s 40 years. Last year was the Redstone team’s first trip back since 2019 because of the pandemic. From 2007-19, Redstone won 13 consecutive championships in the government agency division and 11 consecutive titles in the all-comers division.
“I’m amazed how this team can assimilate new talent and just weave them into our winning culture,” coach Harry Hobbs said. “It’s not just about winning trophies. It’s a journey of self-discovery and building friendships for life.”
This year’s team had four new runners, 10 returnees and two members who rejoined the team from past years. The newcomers included Joey Schlich, Jay Day, Allan Anderson and Hunter Nails.
All four contributed to this year’s successful dual championship defenses. Day led Redstone’s all-comers division runners in 52:55, followed by Schlich (54:46), Beck Mitchell (56:01) and Josh Cornett (1:01:07). The top four finishing times are used in team scoring. Redstone’s other all-comers runners included Matt Casiano, Blaise Binns, Tim Vinson and Hobbs.
“That was a tough race,” Day, 25, of Huntsville, said. “It was rewarding, though. It was a rewarding and tough race.
“Mentally it was tough. I tried to focus on the race instead of focusing on the hurt.”
Day, a second-year physical therapy student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, ran his longest race ever. His previous longest race was 10K.
“The entire race, through the hurt, I was praying,” he said. “And I said, ‘Lord I want to give you the glory no matter how it goes.’ So, yeah, I’m thankful. He got me through it. So yeah, that was a good race.”
This was also his first time in Washington, D.C. “I want to be back next year,” Day said of returning with next year’s team.
Nails led Redstone’s government agency division runners in 53:14, followed by Anderson (53:29), Ryan Seballos (57:36) and Will Rodgers (1:02:24). Redstone’s other government agency runners included Bo Brawner, Sean Allan, Quinton Watkins and assistant coach Skip Vaughn.
Nails, 26, of Madison, a flight test engineer at Redstone Test Center, ran his first Army Ten-Miler. The longest race he has run is the 2022 Bridge Street Half Marathon in Huntsville.
“I underestimated the course,” Nails said of the Army Ten-Miler. “There was more rollercoaster-type hills.”
He said he was happy about finishing 25th overall because his goal was to place in the top 25 runners.
“It was super cool,” Nails said of this experience. “I’ve missed the team aspect since college. I’ve been racing mostly as an individual, so it was really cool to have the team atmosphere back.”
Nails, who ran cross country and track for the University of Alabama in Huntsville from 2017-21, said he wants to return with next year’s team.
“I’ve been to D.C. before,” he said. “It was my first time running around it, though.”
The race had more than 19,000 finishers on a sunny Sunday near the Pentagon. Sam Chelanga, 39, of Niceville, Florida, won in 48:40. Elizabeth Sullivan, 24, of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, was the female winner and 97th overall in 56:58.
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