2009
Wounded Warrior Project
Visiting SGT Walls during his stay at Walter Reed
On November 22nd, Julia and I will be headed out to Philadelphia for the Marathon / Half Marathon. Philly is where I ran my first marathon after coming home from my first deployment. I’m happy that I’ll be able to repeat the process as I return home from my second tour. Jules will be running in her second half-marathon.
When we sat down this year to select a charity to raise money for, we decided to check into the many military charities out there, given the military theme of the last year in both of our lives. Quickly, we knew who we were running for.
On April 19th, 2006, 15 months into my first deployment, my platoon was on a patrol outside of Ar-Ramadi when we found ourselves in a little fight. Two of my friends, Sgt Triplett and Sgt Walls, would receive Bronze Stars for their actions that day. Sgt Walls also got a free ticket to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he would spend more than a year recovering from his wounds.
I asked Sgt Walls about the charities that supported him during his stay and one of the many charities that helped him was the Wounded Warriors Project. So, while our race is dedicated to Ed, we also hope to raise money to ensure that WWP can continue to support wounded veterans.
In the end, 41 people donated $2045.00 in support of our run.
We also received some special messages along with our donations and would like to take a moment to share them:
In Honor of SGT Walls.
In Honor of all Wounded Service Members.
In Honor of all U.S. Service Members.
In Memory of LCpl Troy Nealey.
In Memory of MAJ James E Melka.
In Memory of LT Jean E Melka.
When we sat down this year to select a charity to raise money for, we decided to check into the many military charities out there, given the military theme of the last year in both of our lives. Quickly, we knew who we were running for.
On April 19th, 2006, 15 months into my first deployment, my platoon was on a patrol outside of Ar-Ramadi when we found ourselves in a little fight. Two of my friends, Sgt Triplett and Sgt Walls, would receive Bronze Stars for their actions that day. Sgt Walls also got a free ticket to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he would spend more than a year recovering from his wounds.
I asked Sgt Walls about the charities that supported him during his stay and one of the many charities that helped him was the Wounded Warriors Project. So, while our race is dedicated to Ed, we also hope to raise money to ensure that WWP can continue to support wounded veterans.
In the end, 41 people donated $2045.00 in support of our run.
We also received some special messages along with our donations and would like to take a moment to share them:
In Honor of SGT Walls.
In Honor of all Wounded Service Members.
In Honor of all U.S. Service Members.
In Memory of LCpl Troy Nealey.
In Memory of MAJ James E Melka.
In Memory of LT Jean E Melka.
Philadelphia Marathon
Me, Ed, and Jules Post Race
The weekend was a great one, as we were not only able to raise over $2000 for WWP in honor of Sgt Walls, but we were also able to spend the weekend with him and his wife. Both were great incentives to run faster, and combined with beautiful running weather, both Jules and I had great races.
Given my inability to train while I was in Iraq, I wasn't sure what kind of shape I was in for this race. Surprisingly, this marathon, which was my fourth, ended up as my fastest by almost a minute, as I ran a 2:56:25, which was good enough for 159th out of a crowd of 7473 people.
In Jules' second half marathon, she managed a 2:50:18, which bested her last time by 17 minutes and 17 seconds!
Given my inability to train while I was in Iraq, I wasn't sure what kind of shape I was in for this race. Surprisingly, this marathon, which was my fourth, ended up as my fastest by almost a minute, as I ran a 2:56:25, which was good enough for 159th out of a crowd of 7473 people.
In Jules' second half marathon, she managed a 2:50:18, which bested her last time by 17 minutes and 17 seconds!