Sports
Participants of the El Paso Marathon wait at the starting line while Mike Coulter, El Paso Marathon race director, makes final preparations before the race March 7 at the Union Plaza. Photo by Natalie M. Hinojos, special to The Monitor.
Natalie M. Hinojos
Special to The Monitor
More than 2,000 people were greeted by the crisp, cool morning air as they assembled Sunday before taking to the streets for the fourth annual El Paso Marathon. Participants stretched their legs, set their iPods to “running music” and geared up for a day of running.
“This was a dream of Luis Talavera four years ago,” said Mike Coulter, El Paso Marathon race director. “He is our founder, he had this dream of, ‘Why don’t we have a full marathon in El Paso?’ So he put the idea out to a couple of people and from there we made it happen.”
Coulter decided to start a $20 donation fee to support the Soldiers who ran the El Paso half-marathon Feb. 27 at Contingency Operating Base Adder, near Nasiriyah, Iraq.
“We sent them technical T-shirts, start- and finish-line banners, safety pins, bibs and when they get back we’re going to give them finisher medals,” said Coulter. “There was a cost to have them run that race, and we’re helping covering that cost. It also gets people involved and recognize the sacrifice the Soldiers make.”
Master Sgt. William Williams, a U.S. Sergeants Major Academy student, heads for the finish line at the last turn of the Spira half-Marathon race wearing a sombrero March 7. Photo by Natalie M. Hinojos, special to The Monitor.
Soldiers from Fort Bliss signed up to participate in the event and were stationed at each mile marker, directing runners to their destination. Many of them participated in the marathon themselves.
“I met some unknown friends who motivated me to keep going, which is a great feeling,” said Master Sgt. Dionne Alexander-Washington, U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy student. “Maybe the most I’ve done was 11.5 [miles] and that was a week and a half ago.”
Some of the Soldiers had personal goals for the race, but also wanted to be involved with the community.
“I wanted to do this to see how I was going to do on the Bataan Memorial Death March two Sundays from now and I wanted to see how it was going to be on a course like this,” said Master Sgt. William Williams, USASMA student. “I met my goal a little under, too, and as far as the Death March I’m shooting for anything from five to six hours. I don’t want to make it a literal death march.”
Williams and other like-minded individuals also donned sombreros to participate in the second annual Sombrero and Zarape Challenge during the marathon. The first male and female runners in the Spira half-marathon and the El Paso Marathon to reach the finish line wearing sombreros and zarapes won $100 gift cards for Crave Restaurant.
Runners ran through two states and three cities: El Paso, Santa Teresa, N.M., and Sunland Park, N.M., to finish the marathon.
UTEP ROTC cadets make the last turn during the Spira half-marathon race March 7. Photo by Natalie M. Hinojos, special to The Monitor.
“We brought out about 100 Sergeants Major Academy volunteers to help around the turn points for the organization,” said Raul Hernandez, special projects and activity coordinator for USASMA. “It’s part of the greater El Paso community and supports our involvement within the community.”
All told, the race went smoothly, except for a few complications along the routes. According to the El Paso Marathon’s Web site, about 80 people were misdirected short of the half marathon turnaround by police, an act that shortened the course about one mile. Marathon organizers compensated for the mix-up by creating another event, the half-Marathon Short Course, to acknowledge the participants’ performance based on how they finished in that category.
“What you see today we have grown this event 105 percent from Day One,” said Coulter. “It’s grown every year, and we expect for it to get even bigger, and you see more and more of the community involved in this.”