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Team Dover doctor runs Boston Marathon

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Brian Maguire
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  Every year, Airmen around the Air Force run one and a half miles for their annual fitness test. 

For one Team Dover Airman, that distance is not far enough. 

Maj. Marie McIntee, 436th Aerospace Medicine Squadron flight surgeon, ran in her fifth Boston Marathon April 21, finishing the 26-mile course in 3 hours, 39 minutes, 18 seconds. 

"I don't like running fast, I like running long!" said Major McIntee. "But if I can get away from the Med Group long enough, I like running the Warrior Runs." 

Running wasn't always at the top of the major's priorities. She didn't start running until after college. 

"I started running as an adult in my thirties to get out of the house, have time away from my small children and do something good for myself," Major McIntee said. 

When she started running, the major mainly ran 5Ks, before moving on to longer distances. There was an aura about the marathon distance that intrigued her, she said. 

The first marathon she participated in, the Marine Corps Marathon, took her more than five hours to complete. About a week after deciding never to run another marathon, she decided she could have run faster, and began training for the next Marine Corps Marathon, she said. 

"Then the mystique of qualifying for the Boston Marathon became the carrot," Major McIntee said. "It took me years to get to the point of qualifying. The key was to maintain fitness over the course of the year and not start a training program from scratch every fall." 

Qualifying for the Boston Marathon was not an easy task, she said. 

"I was very excited the first time I qualified for Boston -- it took seven tries!" said Major McIntee. "Since then, I've been excited to be trained well enough to continue qualifying." 

Her desire to continue qualifying, and maintaining the level of training necessary to run a marathon stems in part from her job. As a doctor, she sees what happens to people who don't take care of themselves. She is a fitness enthusiast for many reasons, and tries to share that with her patients, she said. 

"I tell my patients they must make time for themselves," she said. "In doing so, they'll pass the Air Force fitness requirements easily. More importantly they'll feel better, be healthier and be in a better position to help their families and the Air Force." 

Major McIntee's commitment to training and physical fitness is displayed in everything she does. With the conclusion of the 2008 Boston Marathon, the major has run 17 marathons. 

"Major McIntee is an inspiration to all of us in the 436th Medical Group," said Col. James Cocklin, 436th Aerospace Medicine Squadron commander. "We are very proud of her accomplishments as an athlete and a medical officer."