Guard Takes Part in Army's Big Race

Oct 13, 2008 by National Guard

Greg Rudl

Guard Members Take Part in Army's Big Race

ARLINGTON, Va. - Still perspiring from his recent 1:22:08 finish at the Army Ten-Miler running race, Chief Warrant Officer Roger Fillmer, 58, headed back to his hotel room in Crystal City carrying energy snacks, but not before reflecting on his race.
 
The Missouri National Guard member enjoyed the route that crossed the Potomac twice and went by several monuments.
 
Something else moved him, though. “Running with the wounded warriors was inspiring,” said Fillmer, referring to the courageous servicemembers, who ran with prosthetic legs or who peddled special racing wheelchairs with their arms.

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Fillmer was one of nearly 1,000 Guard runners to take part in the 24th Annual Army Ten-Miler Oct. 5, which begins and ends at the Pentagon.

Proceeds from the race go to the Army Morale, Welfare and Recreation, a comprehensive network of support and leisure services designed to enhance the lives of Soldiers and their families.
 
It’s the largest 10-mile race in America, and this year over 26,000 runners participated.
 
What’s ten miles to Fillmer, though? He did the National Guard Marathon in Lincoln, Neb., and the Bataan Death March Marathon in California earlier this year.  This armaments section chief for Apache helicopters is readying for a lengthy deployment overseas.
 
Along with the runners, the National Guard was well represented in the HOOAH Tent Zone, where rows of hospitality tents showcased various Army units and installations.
 
Like most, the National Guard Bureau’s had food and drink, activities for kids, a disc jockey and plenty of chairs for weary runners and waiting family members. Guard runners from several states congregated there before heading to the start line.
 
Waiting on his wave at the NGB tent was Iowa National Guard Col. Gary Freese, who calls running his “daily stress relief.”

He probably needed it after commanding 11,000 Soldiers this past summer engaged in sandbagging operations along flood-swollen rivers in his state.
 
His expectations for the day? “We’re not going to be first, we’re not going to be last,” said Freese, who clocks a respectable 12:45 in the Army two-mile physical fitness test.
 
His goal for this, his second Army 10-miler, was an hour and 20 minutes. He actually beat it by more than two minutes.
 
Nearby was fellow Iowan Col. Tim Orr, the Chief of Staff of the Iowa National Guard.  He looked back on a busy year of domestic response and supporting the warfight.
 
“It started in May with the tornado in Parkersburg; in June we had the floods, at the same time we were committed overseas with a series of Soldiers coming and going for the war,” he said. His state also sent troops to Louisiana for hurricane relief.
 
Another Hawkeye, Capt. Karla Pfeiffer, 41, said she trained “very little” for the race. That’s if you call four to five times a week for the last two months a little. Her goal was to break two hours.  The officer-in-charge at the National Maintenance Training Center in Camp Dodge did, with 12 minutes to spare.
 
The National Guard tent bustled with pre-race activity as Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Wiley Williams Jr. gave a blessing followed by a pep talk by Maj. Gen. Raymond W. Carpenter, special assistant to the director of the Army National Guard.
 
He said that with his 21,803 bib number and late start time he would be “policing up the battlefield after you guys go through.”
 
Carpenter reminded all that Guardmembers deployed overseas would be running in several “shadow runs” at bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.
 
Chief Warrant Officer Michael Piellusch of the Army Guard’s Strategic Communications office, who served as an organizer, said Guard involvement in the race has been increasing: 802 Guard runners took part in 2006, 880 in 2007 and this year he counted 965.

He said 47 Guard teams took part, including an all-female team from the South Dakota National Guard.
 
“Running with someone gives you motivation to keep going,” said Staff Sgt. George Carter, who works at the National Guard Bureau.  He shaved about 10 minutes off his time from last year, ironically training less this time.
 
Alabama Guardsman, Lt. Robert Schwartz, came up from Camp Shelby, Miss., and was another one who didn’t train too hard for the event, enjoying the camaraderie as much as the workout.

He is the executive officer for the Observer Controller Trainer (OCT) Academy, part of Headquarters, First Army, which trains the trainers who go back to the mobilization stations and train troops deploying overseas.
 
The highlight of his year has been “being able to transform the academy and increase its efficiency,” he said. “Being a Guard Soldier in the midst of all of this, you don’t think you can affect the big Army that much, but in this case, it’s happened.”
 
Piellusch said the speediest Guard runners were Missouri Maj. Mark Turner, 31, with a time of 58:15 (81st fastest man); and Kentucky Guardmember 1st Lt. Varinka Barbini, 26, with a time of 1:04:20 (26th fastest woman). The race was won by Reginaldo Campos Jr. of Washington with a time of 48:59. Reena Veddy of Centreville, Va., won the women's category with a time of 58:08.

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