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Committed to caring in CAF: Running a marathon and taking your life from a '7 to an 11'

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Neil Samson
  • Air Mobility Command Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  The origin of the marathon starts with the traditional story on the Athenian herald Pheidippides, who was sent to Sparta to request help when the massive Persian army landed at Marathon, Greece.

He ran more than 40 kilometers, about 25 miles, from the battlefield near Marathon to Athens to announce the Greek victory over Persia in the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, but collapsed and died from exhaustion. Hence the traditional Olympic event still ran today -- the marathon -- which is a running race that covers 42 kilometers, or 26.2 miles.

Three AMC team members followed that same 26.2-mile path during the Air Force Marathon on Sept. 15 at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. They recently discussed how to take a person can take their overall well-being rating from a "7" to an "11" on a 1 to 10 scale, even if running a marathon may not be your ultimate fitness goal.

As fellow runners and training partners, they also offered their personal insights on running and how fitness leads to a lifetime of overall comprehensive fitness, even for those pursue these fitness endeavors late in life.

"The most important thing to remember is it's never too late to start running," said Chief Master Sgt. Tami Spellman, 375th Security Forces Squadron security forces manager individual mobilization augmentee. "I was not always a runner, and I started in early 2000 when the Air Force was transferring from the cycle ergonometric test to the 1.5-mile run.

"I started small and I worked myself up to where I was running three or four miles a day and not having any running or racing experience, I ran a 5K road race and I had fun," Spellman added. "It then got to the point where running a 5K road race was easy. I started looking forward to the next goal, running further distances, and it happened naturally where I comfortably completed a number of half marathons."

Master Sgt. Scott Bridgeman, 458th Airlift Squadron, had different origins in running.

"I have been a runner for most of my adult life," said Bridgeman. "It just came naturally to aspire to run a marathon."

For others, running has been imprinted in their memory as a form of punishment.

"I was a baseball player more than 20 years ago and running was always viewed as a form of forced punishment from our coach when we had a bad game or made mistakes on the field," said Mr. Ken Sorg, AMC A1S Community Services branch chief.

"A friend re-introduced me to running more than three years ago and I hated it," said Sorg. "It wasn't until I started increasing the mileages with this friend that I realized certain aspects of running were enjoyable."

All of them train with a Scott AFB running group known as the "Road Warriors." They train for various running events collectively which in turn creates daily mental and physical happiness, they say.

Spellman said her daily mental and physical state is rated at "11" on a 1 to 10 scale and this has been the foundation to achieving her goals, not just in running.

Bridgeman also said his mental and physical state is an "11" because of the confidence he gains from training for and participating in different running events.

Sorg had a slightly lower endorsement to his mental and physical state.

"My mental and physical state is actually a 10 and it is directly as a result of running," said Sorg. "It got me through tough times for the past years and it was a healthy outlet."

Whether you wish to run a marathon or not, Spellman, Bridgeman and Sorg emphasize the benefit of running to goals not related to physical fitness.

"I wouldn't recommend a marathon to everyone, but I would recommend setting goals toward something of a 'marathon' caliber," said Bridgeman.

"It's important to find something that you are passionate about and find the pinnacle of your life's passion and to excel at it," said Spellman. "Your ambition can be riding a bicycle, weight lifting or dancing.

"Excelling at something you enjoy can provide the basis to pursuing military promotions and higher education," Spellman said.

"There is also so much more to doing a marathon than running," Bridgeman said. "There is preparation, your diet, your rest and everything in your life revolves around preparing for this one goal."

"Not only is running therapy, but it provides you a piece of mind because you understand your tolerance levels," Sorg added. "The mind tricks you use to get you through those last miles -- that helps builds a toolbox for tools you are going to use for more things than running -- running is more than just a physical tool."

"Pursue your life's passion and never back away from it," said Bridgeman. "Once you put in the hard work and the effort, the momentum (as a result of your physical fitness) carries over into all your facets of life to include your relationship with family, friends and co-workers. It sets a good example."

(Note: This is the 18th in a series of 24 stories for 2011 by Air Mobility Command Public Affairs highlighting the Comprehensive Airman Fitness culture through a "commitment of caring." Comprehensive Airman Fitness, or CAF, is built on "four pillars" of fitness -- physical, social, mental and spiritual fitness -- and five "Cs" -- caring, committing, communicating, connecting and celebrating. "Comprehensive Airman Fitness reflects our commitment to developing a holistic approach to caring for our people that equips, enables and empowers everyone to grow more physically, socially, mentally and spiritually fit," Gen. Raymond E. Johns, Jr., AMC commander said in June 2010 while addressing CAF to AMC wing commanders. "It's not another program, but rather, a means to enhance mission effectiveness by intentionally investing in one another.")