After the participation of thousands of runners and triathletes at the Race on the Base event at the Joint Forces Training Base in February, the event actually went international in late April
After the participation of thousands of runners and triathletes at the Race on the Base event at the Joint Forces Training Base in February, the event actually went international in late April
The City of Los Alamitos reported that on April 26 soldiers in a Regional Support Command-Capital, part of the NATO Training Mission in Afghanistan, participated in a Race on the Base 10K Shadow Run, sponsored by Trident University.
The event came about after communications between the city of Los Alamitos and Major Eric Peterson. The military base was interested in putting together a shadow run to coincide with the Race on the Base. Once Trident University stepped forward to sponsor the shadow run, the city was able to ship shirts and bids to the military base for the soldiers.
“The City of Los Alamitos and the Recreation and Community Services Department were very excited to provide the soldiers in Afghanistan the opportunity to participate in the Southland Credit Union Los Alamitos Race on the Base,” Los Alamitos Director of Recreation and Community Services, Corey Lakin said.
However, military duties delayed the bases’ ability to stage their 10K run until April 26.
Approximately 110 U.S. soldiers, eight Australian soldiers, 10 Romanian soldiers and two Canadian soldiers participated in the run. It was composed of many small teams of advisors to the Afghan army and police. Branches of military represented included the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.
The military base sent a picture of the participants, along with an American flag that was carried on a combat mission the day prior to the run and flew over the camp during the race. That flag is now en route to the City of Los Alamitos as a thank you for allowing the camp to participate in the run.
“It is a thrill to see the photos of the 110 soldiers representing four branches of the armed services in the United States and three other countries in the Race on the Base shirts and wearing the race bibs,” Lakin said.
