The annual Fort Worth Cowtown race, one of the largest multi-event road races in the country, was also held at the Kabul International Airport, Afghanistan, as members of the NATO Air Training Command – Afghanistan and ISAF Joint Command completed a satellite half marathon race Feb 25. The race drew more than 130 runners, representing 18 different countries, out during a cold and sunny morning.
Our guest blogger this week, U.S. Air Force Maj James Boddy, Jr., is deployed to Afghanistan from his home base in Texas. He organized a Cowtown marathon in Kabul. Here’s his story:
Maj. James Boddy, race coordinator and participant of the annual Fort Worth Cowtown race, at work in the U.S. Air Force.
I have been a runner ever since I was in high school. A friend of mine asked me to join him on a run just before school started that fall so he could get ready for the upcoming cross-country season. Since then, I haven’t looked back, just forward. I take it step-by-step, running mile after mile.
Ever since that first run, I have felt at ease, relaxed and ready to take on the world by running pretty much every day. I am able to relieve stress when I go on my daily run. Running gives me the time to fully think through what is going on with me, my family, friends and work. In other words, it allows me to do some problem solving through prayer while out on the road and think through plans about everyday things and even big issues that I face with family and work.
Maj. Boddy runs the annual Fort Worth Cowtown race, one of the largest multi-event road races in the United States, at the Kabul International Airport. Photo by Mass Communications Specialist 3rd Class Jared E. Walker.
I have been running for so long that if I take more than one day off per week, I feel a little deprived and seem on edge more than normal. “Go run,” my wife Barbara tells me occasionally, if she senses that I am off-kilter. (That doesn’t happen very often though, because I usually run about 330 days each year.) Barbara runs, too — mostly 5Ks but also a few 10Ks and half-marathons. Sometimes gets frustrated with me because I always run, wherever we are. But she knows it is a part of me and supports me whenever she is able to work it into her schedule.
Members of the NATO Air Training Command - Afghanistan and ISAF Joint Command run the annual Fort Worth Cowtown race, one of the largest multi-event road races in the United States, at the Kabul International Airport, Afghanistan Feb 25. Photo by Mass Communications Specialist 3rd Class Jared E. Walker.
So far, I’ve run 36 marathons and a number of half-marathons, 10Ks and 5Ks. I have run marathons in about 26 states (and another in Rome, Italy, while on a short military assignment). One marathon, the Fort Worth Cowtown Marathon in Texas, stands at out in my mind as one that I really enjoyed and I have been planning to run it again because the people there were so friendly and it was so well organized. (Most marathons are like that).
But I couldn’t run it this year in Texas because I’m in Kabul on a year-long deployment. Before the upcoming Cowtown Marathon, I noticed that the base where I’m assigned hadn’t held a race in several months. So I and a few coworkers discussed the idea of holding one here in Afghanistan at the same time as the one in Texas.
Members of the NATO Air Training Command - Afghanistan and ISAF Joint Command run the annual Fort Worth Cowtown race at the Kabul International Airport, Afghanistan. Photo by Capt. Rob Leese.
I sent an email to the Race Director, Heidi Swartz, and she eagerly supported my idea to host a race at our base. I have been so pleased to see support for our deployed airmen, sailors, soldiers and Marines in all areas, not just sports activities like the race I worked to organize.
On race day, even with a big snow storm the previous week, we had over 130 participants from over 18 different nations. More than 30 volunteers here in Kabul (along with the Fort Worth staff) provided us with the materials — official race t-shirts, medals, race bibs, snacks and various items used for cheering — that contributed to making the event a success.
I had been training for the event and was skeptical how things would go with me both competing and organizing. Fortunately, I was able convey my plan to several key people about how it should work and they executed the plan beautifully. I had control over the planning until I finished making all the pre-race announcements and warnings. After that, all the volunteers took over.
Maj. Boddy (2nd from the left) poses in a photo with the top five finishers at the Kabul International Airport, Afghanistan. Photo by Mass Communications Specialist 3rd Class Jared E. Walker.
I have only received thanks and kudos for putting on the race from participants and supporters, but I attribute my success to the support from the Cowtown staff back in the U.S. plus all the professionals I work with everyday here in Kabul who stepped up and volunteered to make it successful.
My training prior to the race paid off, even with some sleepless nights working out the details of the race, because I even won the race, in pretty good time! I was pleased on both accounts — the race was a success and I got another great run.
Maj. Boddy displays his medal after placing first with a time of 1:21:36 for the Fort Worth Cowtown marathon held in Kabul.
Members of the NATO Air Training Command - Afghanistan and ISAF Joint Command run the annual Fort Worth Cowtown race, one of the largest multi-event road races in the United States, at the Kabul International Airport, Afghanistan, Feb 25. Photo by Capt. Rob Leese.
Tags: Afghanistan, Air Force, Cowtown, Fort Worth, jog, Kabul, marathon, race, run, running
