Marathon draws support from many organizations

  • Published
  • By Mike Wallace
  • Skywrighter Staff
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  After the Air Force Marathon began, the finish area grew busy as volunteers and employees made their respective tents ready for the finishers and masses of spectators. 

Most of the attractions were in tent shelters, and had goods and services available. 

For example, in the United Way tent, the first charity sponsor of the marathon representing 84 agencies in the Greater Miami Valley, Melonya Cook handed out pocket radio and light combinations as well as snacks. Next to that was Evans Motorworks, a race sponsor and newcomer to the area. The New Balance booth offered snacks and the chance to win a new pair of athletic shoes. 

American Massage Therapy Association had a team offering massage therapy to 13 people at a time. Donna Armentrout there said, "Massage helps shorten recovery times, helps the athlete stretch out, and helps improve the athlete's circulation." 

Photographers from Brightroom, a professional photography service, were at the starting line, along the route, and the finish line. 

Runners, or anyone else, also could pose in front of a plastic backdrop that threatened to become a kite in the strong breezes present throughout most of the morning. 

A tent for distinguished visitors such as media representatives and runners who had competed in all the Air Force Marathons offered bagels, chicken crepes, potatoes, pancakes on a stick, scones, and Danish pastries courtesy of Chef David Glynn, executive chef of the base Club and Banquet Center. Ron Sealy, Abe Egodotaye, and Aaron Jobson, club employees, provided food service there. 

For most runners however, the place to go was the Runners Tent. In it were great quantities of nutritional Powerbars, crackers, various kinds of fruit, "portable yogurt," water, and Gatorade. You could pick up La Rosa's Pizza mini-Frisbees™ there as well.
Runners and spectators who wanted to unwind after the race could go to a tent and listen to Systems Go, a jazz and rock band made up of members of the Air Force Band of Flight. Band members and twin brothers, Tech Sgt. Brian and Staff Sgt. Michael Hornbuckle, played instrumental music. 

Among those enjoying the race aftermath were Chief Master Sgt. Dane Wetz, and several of "his people" from the 178th Fight Wing, Springfield, Ohio. Sgt. Wetz ran the half-marathon, and his entourage of four or five people equipped with enlarged portraits of him on long sticks, cheered him in. 

On the course were many "hydration stations." One of these, Station Six, near Wright State University, had more than a dozen members of Phi Kappa Tau fraternity handing out cups of water. 

The group also had worked the evening before on the five-kilometer race, and on Sept. 23 will volunteer to clean the Wright Field Fitness Center in Area B. 

Fraternity spokesman, Jason Sigritz said, "Our fraternity does service projects, and this year we are geared to the military. Besides volunteering at the base, we also visit patients and residents at the Veterans Affairs facility in Dayton." 

Another PKT member, Chris Brown, said that "four or five bands" from the fraternity will play starting at 7 p.m. Saturday at Quaker Steak and Lube, across from W.S.U. just off Col. Glenn highway, to raise funds for domestic violence prevention. 

One of the on-base volunteers, Becky McCutcheon, represented the American Society of Military Comptrollers, a group that sponsored two runners in the full marathon, two in the half, one relay team, and two 5K runners. She explained that the group paid for the runners' entry fees and special T-shirts. She added, "Altogether, 14 of us worked last night and today. Next year, our goal is to form a relay team." 

The race this year featured a loop through downtown Fairborn. Community members welcomed this move, and several spectators on sidewalks or in bleachers watched the runners go by. The spectators included Karen and Al Rogers. Karen was positioned in front of the huge, inflated Dayton Dragons mascot near the town's center square, and Al down the street served up coffee and donuts. 

Al summed up the community attitude towards the marathon, "We're so happy to have the Air Force Marathon downtown here. We're doing what we can to make it bigger and better. If we can make it a big thing for Wright-Patterson, it'll be good for Fairborn." 

Emcee for the event, retired Senior Master Sgt. Chris Stanley gave a special thanks to the "1,500 to 2,000 volunteers." Add to that a number of workers such as Michael McIntosh, a security guard for Merchant Security Service who had been there since 4:30 a.m. directing traffic. They had all played a major role in making the 2007 Air Force Marathon a success.