THE MARINE CORPS MARATHON, FORWARD!

Picture this:

25 OCT 08 - Al Asad - The night before the Marine Corps Marathon in Iraq:
A first time marathoner is finishing some final preps before the big day. Camel Bak is filled. Running shoes are broken out. PowerBar is placed for consumption upon waking. He goes to bed to rest for tomorrow's challenge.


26 OCT 08
He wakes up, downs said PowerBar, dons his gear and steps outside....

...into a deluge of rain. In the middle of the desert. Who knew?

After trudging a bit through the flooding roads, he arrives at the starting line and meets his runningmates. With 300 able-bodied runners, he waits for the starting gun, and then the stampede of Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen rumble out after the gunshot.

He maneuvers into and around (mostly into) mud and rain runoff, and heads to the turnaround point for the first of two long laps. He lumbers up a hill with his brothers and sisters towards the aid station. He's greeted by smiles and Gatorade. He's loving the energy.

At the aid station, he's informed that the marathon has been called due to flooding. Apparently, some of the other aid stations and vehicles started to float away. One poor soul fell face first into a pond of mud and rain.

Not slowing down, the band of merry men and women continue the second half of the lap. Our shoes sound like we're running on a road made of fish. Everwhere we look though, we only see smiles through the rain.

We finish a 1/2 marathon here in Al Asad...maybe the good Lord needed us to get back to more pressing matters.

You just can't make this stuff up.

Take care everyone...this marathon continues.

SEMPER FORTIS,

BEAR