Washington, D.C. – First time marathoner, U.S. Army Specialist Augustus Maiyo, raced across the finish line and broke the ribbon of the 37th Marine Corps Marathon earning first place honors in the overall men’s marathon as well as in the Armed Forces Marathon competition with a time of 2:20:20.
The 2012 Armed Forces Marathon Championship is held in conjunction with the Marine Corps Marathon, featured runners from each branch of Service. SPC Maiyo (Fort Carson, CO) captured the overall marathon honors and shared the podium as Army CPT Kenneth Foster (Fort Carson, CO) placed second with a time of 2:22:39. Army men dominated the championship with all scoring runners placing in the top 12 of the overall Marine Corps Marathon. The defending champions earned team gold once again, with the Navy taking the silver.
“I’m proud to run with the U.S. Forces, it’s really exciting, I feel like I really accomplished something,” said Maiyo, a native of Kenya.
Maiyo’s teammater Foster admitted, “The conditions were ideal aside from the wind. The temperature was great and the crowd support was great, plus you’re running in the nation’s capital with all four military branches here, so it’s pretty significant,” he said.
U.S. Coast Guard LTJG Patrick Hernandez (TISCOM Alexandria, VA) joined Maiyo and Foster on the Armed Forces medal stand earning the bronze with a time of 2:25:25.
Men team placing: Army – 1st, Navy – 2nd, Marines – 3rd, Air Force – DNP.
U.S. Air Force Capt Elissa Ballas (Ramstein, Germany) earned the women’s Armed Forces Marathon gold with a time of 2:53:51, placing 7th overall in the Marine Corps Marathon women’s division. Veteran Air Force runner Brenda Schrank (Andrews AFB, MD) took silver with Army CPT Nicole Solana (Korea) earning bronze. Schrank and Solana both finished in the overall women’s top ten at 9th and 10th respectively.
The Air Force women defended their Armed Forces Marathon gold over the Army by less than seven minutes. The Air Force and Army had their top scorers all place in the top 11 of the Marine Corps Marathon women’s division.
Women team placing: Air Force – 1st, Army – 2nd, Marines – 3rd.
The Marine Corps Marathon has been the host of the Armed Forces Marathon Championship since 1998. The 2012 Marine Corps Marathon was the largest with 23,515 finishing featuring runners from every state and 54 countries.
“The Marine Corps Marathon is proud to have achieved record participation despite a looming storm as large as Hurricane Sandy,” said MCM Director Rick Nealis. “It just demonstrates the importance the runners place on this patriotic mission.”
The Marine Corps Marathon will host its 38th edition and the Armed Forces Championship on 27 October 2013.
Complete results:
“ARMY’S MAIYO WINS MARINE CORPS MARATHON - LEADS ARMY MEN TO ARMED FORCES TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP”
ARMED FORCES CHAMPIONSHIP INDIVIDUAL HONORS
WOMEN
Gold Medal – Capt Elissa Ballas (Air Force), Ramstein AFB, Germany 2:53:51
Silver Medal – Lt Col Brenda Schrank (Air Force), Andrews AFB, MD 2:59:06
Bronze Medal – CPT Nicole Solana (Army), Korea, 2:59:41
MEN
*Gold Medal – SPC Augustus Maiyo (Army),
Ft Carson, CO 2:20:20
**Silver Medal – CPT Kenneth Foster (Army), Ft Carson, CO 2:22:39
Bronze Medal – LTJG Patrick Fernandez (Navy), USCG, TISCOM Alexandria, VA 2:25:30
*1st place overall in MC Marathon
**2nd place overall in MC Marathon
ARMED FORCES CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM RESULTS
WOMEN
(Top two finishers counts towards team score)
1st Place – Air Force 5:52:55
Capt Elissa Ballas, Ramstein AFB, Germany 2:53:51
Lt Col Brenda Schrank, Andrews AFB, MD 2:59:06
1st Lt Caitlin Oviatt, Meridian, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, AK (3:08:52)
Maj Jaime Flood, MacDill AFB, FL (3:11:22)
2nd Place – Army 5:59:27
CPT Nicole Solana, Korea, 2:59:41
CPT Sara Day, North Carolina National Guard, 2:59:49
CPT Samatha Wood, Ft Carson, CO (3:04:30)
CPT Maria Urso, Massachusetts Army Reserves (3:12:44)
3rd Place –Marine Corps 6:25:45
Capt Maureen Carr, Marine Corps Reserves 3:11:55
Capt Angelica Valdes, MCB Quantico, VA 3:13:50
Cpl Tina Kunish, Camp LeJeune, NC (DNF)
Navy (Did Not Qualify)
CDR Suzanne Himes, U.S. Dept of State (DNF)
MEN
(Top four finishers counts towards team score)
1st Place - Army 9:44:24
SPC Augustus Maiyo, Ft Carson, CO 2:20:20
CPT Kenneth Foster, Ft Carson, CO 2:22:39
SPC Robert Cheseret, Ft Carson, CO 2:27:52
SPC Joseph Chirlee, Ft Carson, CO 2:33:33
SPC Kyle Heath, Ft Carson, CO (2:41:19)
1LT Chad Ware, Ft Huachuca, AZ (3:01:25)
2nd Place – Navy 10:21:02
LTJG Patrick Hernandez, USCG, TISCOX, Alexandria 2:25:25
PO2 Justin Turner, USS Nicholas, NB Norfolk, VA 2:31:08
CDR Conrad Orloff, Naval Operations Support Center, Orlando, FL 2:41:07
LCDR Matthew Thomas, 3000 Joint Staff Pentagon 2:43:18
ENS Scott Maxfield, Center of Information Dominance, Monterey, CA (2:48:26)
LT Jeffrey Tomaszewski, USS Nimits, San Diego, CO (2:48:58)
3rd Place – Marine Corps 11:01:14
Capt Sean Barrett, Henderson, VA 2:35:03
SSgt Michael Wood, Camp Pendleton, CA 2:44:44
Col Steven Peterson, MCB Quantico, VA 2:49:54
LtCol Jeff Blackwell, MCB Quantico, VA 2:51:33
Maj Joseph Galvin, Henderson Hall, VA (2:54:43)
Air Force (Did Not Qualify)
Capt Brian Dumm, U.S. Air Force Academy, CO 2:29:57
Maj James Bales, Peterson AFB, CO 2:41:05
LtCol Mark Cucuzzella, Andrews AFB, MD 2:48:30
1stLt Jacob Bradosky, Malstrom AFB, MT (DNF)
Information compiled by Mr Kenneth Polk, Armed Forces Sports