Marines help Marathon run smoothly

[thedrifter]

Marines help Marathon run smoothly

11/5/2008 By Lance Cpl. Skyler Tooker , Marine Corps Base Quantico

ARLINGTON, Va. —More than 1,400 Marines and sailors from the National Capitol Region volunteered during the Marine Corps Marathon, taking on many different tasks helping the event run as smoothly as possible, over the weekend.

The Marines that volunteered arrived at the course site, some as early as Oct. 21, staying to help set up the event for participants to get registered for the race.

‘‘We left for the Marine Corps Marathon at 4 a.m. to make sure everything was set up before the race started,” said Lance Cpl. Karey Boatright, from the Quantico Finance Office. ‘‘I was stationed at the second water point handing out water to all the runners as they passed by.”

The Marines also did everything from distributing out food at the end of the race to handing out the medals and even hooking up the computers to track the runners during the race.

There were also Marines helping direct people whether it was to the Metro or to the family connection center.

‘‘I worked at the information tent that just helped direct or gave out information about the 33rd Marine Corps Marathon,” said Lance Cpl. Charles Tredway, from the Quantico Finance Office. ‘‘This is my second Marathon I volunteered for.”

The race wrapped up with the last runners coming in and the Marines from TBS handing out medals and directing the exhausted participants to the Finish Festival for a little rest and relaxation.

‘‘The marathon was motivating, when you have people out there pushing their bodies to the max, it is inspiring,” Boatright said. ‘‘It was a pleasure to be there. It is another way to show that the Marine Corps is willing to help in other ways than just defending our country.”

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marathon Marks Special Anniversary for Couple

11/5/2008 By 1st Lt. Patrick Boyce , Marine Corps Base Quantico

ARLINGTON, Va. —While the purpose of 33rd Marine Corps Marathon may have been to promote a healthy and active lifestyle, adrenaline and speed alone were not the only things making hearts pound during the wheelchair and hand-cycle portion of the race. For one special couple, the race will always signify a bit more than the simple love of competition but a special human connection that began almost exactly one year ago.

We met last year and I’ve been chasing her ever since,” said Michael Sprouse, 48, a former Marine staff sergeant and drill instructor who served the Corps from 1978-1985, about his wife, Peggy Flobeck, 45. Both currently race on the Achilles Freedom Team of Wounded Veterans. The marathon not only marked the year anniversary of first meeting each other, but also threemonths of marriage.

While Michael had already been hand-cycling for two years, last year’s marathon was a first for Flobeck, who was looking for another sport to complement her kayaking. She explains how they met just before the race began when she was having some difficulty with her hand-cycle during a tune-up.

As Sprouse tells it, another gentlemen helping Flobeck ‘‘had no clue what he was doing,” and so like the former drill sergeant he was, he, in no uncertain terms, told the other guy to get out of the way and fixed the problem himself.

Although both sensed a special connection had been made, Sprouse had to leave immediately after the race for family reasons and they were prevented from interacting further. Instead of writing it off as a missed opportunity, he instead realized he had a new mission and that the race was not over yet.

Through diligent investigation Sprouse discovered that Flobeck would be participating in the Miami Marathon scheduled for Jan. 23. He quickly made arrangements to participate and was finally able to meet up with her again.

‘‘I was like ‘Hey girl, what’s up?’” Sprouse said laughing. ‘‘I made my intentions real clear.” Although he had been told that Flobeck might be involved with someone else, he claims he came to Florida to ‘‘screw that up.”

‘‘I was playing hard to get,” she explained slyly. ‘‘I was letting him chase me.”

Sprouse must have been up to the chase, as of now they’ve completed five marathons together on the Achilles Freedom Team of Wounded Veterans and were married July 26. They now live in Cedar Town, Ga.

Despite the other races, the Marine Corps Marathon will always stand out for both of them. Besides being the place where they first met, Sprouse also dedicates the race to his father, another Marine, who died in the Vietnam War. For Flobeck it got her ‘‘more involved with sports and people with disabilities.”

Sprouse finished the race in overall sixth place, second in his division, with a time of 1:49:09. For Flobeck, it was 2:21:09, placing 17th overall, second for her gender and first for her division, knocking an hour off her time from last year.

Although racing a marathon is often a solitary venture where the goal is just the finish, this couple now partnered to continue that race long past the finish line.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Double amputee cranks way to victory

11/5/2008 By Lance Cpl. Meloney R. Moses , Marine Corps Base Quantico

ARLINGTON, Va. — A Rocky Ridge, Md., native, finished first place in the hand bike division of the Marine Corps Marathon wearing bib number 508, with a time of 1:23:19 – beating his time from last year by 15 minutes.

In high school, Scot E. Seiss excelled at track and soccer and earned third in the state for the 300-meter hurdles; 15 years after losing both legs to a motorcycle accident, he continues to excel as an athlete competing with hand-cranked bikes.

‘‘This is the biggest race I’ve ever competed in,” Seiss said, seemingly unaffected by the 26.2 mile course. ‘‘Every time I go by a checkpoint it encourages me to keep going.”

Seiss said he has been racing for about 10 years, starting out with wheelchairs, and has competed in the Marine Corps Marathon three times with this being his first win.

Also a whitewater kayaker, water skier and downhill mono-skier, Seiss said he won the Virginia Beach half marathon in 2002 in a race chair and the Baltimore marathon the last two years on a hand bike.

‘‘I get on the road about three or four times a week and cycle about 30 miles in two hours to train,” said Seiss who is currently self-employed in the excavating industry. ‘‘This is all just training to me.”

With his new aluminum, bright yellow, 18-speed, kneeling cycle and endless hours of training, Seiss was able to finish about 16 seconds ahead of the second place finisher.

We stayed together up until the Iwo Jima Memorial and then I just took off, said Seiss.

‘‘Recently my motivation has been to get closer to the elite hand bikers whose time is from 1:15 to 1:22,” he said.

Seiss said he plans to compete in either the Boston or Pittsburgh marathons in the spring.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Amateurs Dominate People’s Marathon

11/5/2008 By Cpl. Travis J. Crewdson , Marine Corps Base Quantico

ARLINGTON, Va. — About one-third of the competitive field at the 33rd annual Marine Corps Marathon had never participated 26.2-mile tests of endurance. Among that amateur group were the first-place male and female finishers in the race of nearly 20,000 runners Sunday.

Arlington novice Andrew Dumm, 23, was the first male on top at 2 hours, 22 minutes, 44 seconds. Almost 30 minutes later, Cate Fenster, a 37-year-old from Wooster, Ohio, was the first woman to cross the finish line at 2:48:55.

As the largest race in the world without prize money, the MCM attracts those seeking pride, looking for a fun first-time marathon, or trying to qualify for Boston.

Runners poured across the starting line for several minutes after a cold, overcast 8 a.m. start. The weather later turned sunny and crisp.

Runners battled inclines for the first four miles before taking the hill down to the 4-mile marker and the Key Bridge, where runners took a turn into Georgetown, which had been removed from last year’s route. As the front-runners headed out to Hains Point between miles 12 and 13, Dumm broke into the lead.

‘‘I just wanted to use Hains Point because that’s a little bit of a lonely stretch of the race to make a move,” the American University graduate student said. ‘‘It’s a pretty good psychological area to do so.”

Participants ran down the National Mall to the Capitol, where Dumm maintained his lead ignoring a bleeding right foot.

‘‘The marathon was exactly what I thought it would be,” Fenster said. ‘‘I felt good for most of the way, but at mile 20, I could feel the bricks coming. I was kind of shocked to win.”

The marathon posed a challenge for the teams as well.

The U.S. Marine Corps team upset the British Royal Navy/Marine team by winning the Challenge Cup, a traditional competition between the trans-Atlantic rivals since 1978.

While Gen. James Conway, commandant of the Marine Corps, was on site encouraging runners, Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent, 16th sergeant major of the Marine Corps, was finishing his eighth running of the race in a personal best time of 3:37:18.

Along with a few route changes, the marathon also altered other aspects. Several mile markers in Arlington displayed ‘‘subway art” featuring a blend of arts and running designed by local graffiti artist Kevin Irvin. Instead of the disposable timing chips of previous years, runners were equipped with a new disposable timing tag to loop through their laces this year.

This year’s race gave many runners an excuse to smile and wave as it was broadcast live on television as well as several Web sites for loved ones at home to view.

With the 33rd barely behind them, the MCM office here at Quantico is already planning the 34th marathon and the second running of the Marine Corps Historic Half, which opens for registration Jan. 7.

Ellie