Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall's Army Ten-Miler team is almost formed. With 100 team members the Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation held their last public qualifying 10K [6.2 miles] race on Aug. 5.

This most current race was the fourth run scheduled in the JBM-HH team qualifying historical race series. The run commemorated the establishment of Fort Cass, which later became Fort Myer. One last race will be held for Soldiers the week of Aug. 15. The fastest runners will be taken to fill all the remaining team spots. For example, if 30 Soldiers from the various units on base show up to run and there are only 10 spots open, the 10 fastest runners will be placed on the team.
Every runner who attempted to qualify for the JBM-HH Army Ten-Miler team during the historical race series will be offered a spot on the team, said Todd Hopkins, recreation specialist and special events coordinator for the Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation.
The qualifying runs are 10Ks because the Army Ten-Miler requires all participants to submit a 10K run time, said Hopkins.

Recognized in the 100 spots are members from each of the five armed services as well as the different organizations within JBM-HH.

Each runner who accepts their spot on the team will return a personal information form to DFMWR prior to the due date so all of the information can be entered at one time on the official run website by Aug. 19.

"We'll take overall result times and we'll start with the fastest, go to slowest and make a checklist that way … have 10 to 12 total teams comprising of six to eight members," said Hopkins.

Twenty-five runners showed up to the run Aug. 5 with temperatures in the 80s and a humidity index reading out at about 50 percent. The race had more than one person dripping in sweat by the end of the race. One female runner was overcome by the heat and precautions were taken following the race to cool her down.

The top two runners for the Aug. 5 qualifying race were David Garver, Charlie Co. 1/3, who finished the race at 00:38:20 and Jose Trevino, Alpha Co. 4/3, who finished at 00:38:27. "The course was well-planned out considering the environment of Fort Myer … I don't think it could have been better," said Garver. Asked what his goal for the ten-miler is, he added, "To be faster than the guy in front of me."

Trevino also ran in the third qualifying race but returned for the fourth 10K to improve his time. "My time went better, I dropped a whole minute " that was a good thing," said Trevino. "I've been training a little bit harder doing a lot more mileage and a lot more leg work … I injured my back three days ago. I showed up, wasn't even sure I was going to run."

Trevino's goal for the Army Ten-Miler is to break an hour; he has run the race at 60, 61 and 62 minutes, but hopes to achieve 59 minutes or better this time around.

The goal for the JBM-HH team is to defend their honor and receive the Sergeant Major and Masters Women HOOAH Eagles each for the third time in a row and the Active Duty Masters-Men for the fourth year in a row. This year's Army Ten-Miler will be held on Oct. 9. Both the start and finish will be at the Pentagon.