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January 17, 2008
Troops Ignore Cold To Finish Victory 455
Troops ignore cold to finish Victory 455
By Army Spc. Stephanie Homan, MNC-I PAO
About 400 runners showed up at the Victory main stage on the morning of Jan. 6 to battle the chilling temperatures together as they participated in the Camp Victory 455 Run.
The creation of the run, which followed a 4.55-mile course around the camp, began in November when a group of avid runners, who try to participate in all the runs around Victory Base Complex and in the International Zone, decided they wanted to jump off the track for once and organize a run for others.
Army Staff Sgt. Corey Fink, Information Assurance NCOIC, Multi-National Corps-Iraq, and Huntersville, N.C. native, enjoys running to stay fit. She said the group wanted to give back to all those who have organized runs.
"We wanted to prove that any individual, unit, or group can organize a run," Fink said.
The group had shirts promoting the race designed and located a sponsor.
Because the NASCAR Performance Network agreed to sponsor shirts for the run, Army Sgt. 1st Class Joshua Coble, Joint Fires Cell Information Operations Assessments Chief, MNC-I, said they named their run similar to that of a NASCAR race.
"Once we knew NASCAR was going to sponsor the T-shirts we wanted to have a race theme," said the Tulsa, Okla. native. "Ultimately we decided that 455 would be a perfect number in honor of our 455 day ‘extended vacations' here in Iraq. It seemed like a great way to wind down this tour for many of us."
The first 250 runners to finish received an official Camp Victory 455 T-shirt, while the rest received Morale, Welfare and Recreation Fun Run shirts.
The 1st place male and female runners were awarded a trophy and a gift certificate. The 2nd and 3rd place finishers were awarded a silver medal with a gift certificate and a bronze medal with a gift certificate, respectively.
However, the prizes didn't stop there. At the end of the award presentation, the group raffled off other prizes to all participants, to include an iPod Shuffle, a Fossil watch, gift cards from AAFES and an autographed NASCAR hat.
Finishing first for the males was Army Staff Sgt. Roderick Reeves, 535th Military Police Battalion, Raleigh, N.C., with a time of 27:47. Army Capt. Hilary Mann, 716th MP Bn., 18th MP Brigade, took 1st place for the female category.
Wild Thing's comment........
I love that NASCAR supports our troops. All of this is so good for our troops, to get a break in what they do, the competition and awards. This is all just great.
Posted by Wild Thing at January 17, 2008 01:40 AM
Comments
And this year's Daytona 500 opening race is on my birthday? No wonder most NASCAR racing events are successful in RED STATES! Must be the Jack Daniels, tank-tops, the average Bud Millers, and those confederate battle flags, eh? But we don't need to race in Mexico (Busch series)!
Posted by: darthcrUSAderworldtour07 at January 17, 2008 03:36 AM
I am glad the troops have events like this, especially with sponsors like NASCAR. With their extended and multiple deployments, they need recreational activities and support from home. These troops are the best. In Nam our recreational activities were, uh, kinda different. Booze and "me boo coo luv you too much" girls were certainly not sponsored, but they eased our burden.
And Darth is right again. NASCAR does not need to go to May-hee-ko.
Posted by: TomR at January 17, 2008 11:53 AM
Darth, hahaha yippee for NASCAR. And I better check out the date of the opening so I know your birthday. giggle
Posted by: Wild Thing at January 18, 2008 12:14 AM
Tom, LOL, I agree please do not go to Mexico Nascar.
Posted by: Wild Thing at January 18, 2008 12:15 AM
