Bragg teams gear up for
25th annual Army Ten-miler

by Reginald Rogers
Paraglide

	photos by Reginald Rogers/Paraglide More than 26,000 runners crossed the start line at the beginning of the 24th Annual Army Ten-Miler Oct. 5, 2008, at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. The first wave of runners (pictured) included competitive teams and individual runners, including members of the Fort Bragg teams.

This year, more than 30,000 runners, walkers and hand-crankers have registered for the Army’s premier Ten-mile race, which is scheduled for Saturday at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. and among those is the defending champion Fort Bragg Women’s team, and their male and master’s division counterparts.

In last year’s event, the Fort Bragg women’s team took first place overall in the military teams competition, earning them the coveted Commander’s Cup trophy, which is awarded to the top men’s and women’s active-duty open teams in the race. The Fort Bragg team, which was led by Angella Jackson, bested teams from Fort Lewis, Wash. and Fort Bliss, Texas to take the podium’s top spot with a collective time of 4:34.21.

The Fort Bragg Masters finished third overall and the men’s open team finished in fifth place during last year’s event.

This year’s race promises to be an even bigger event than last year’s, with a record 30,000 participants having registered for the event. More than 14,500 registered on April 4, which was the first day of registration.

Last year, the race featured more than 28,000 participants.

“We’re looking great,” said Jackson, who led last year’s team to the Commander’s Cup trophy and was a member of the Eighth U.S. Army’s winning team in 2007. “This year’s race puts a lot of pressure on us because we know we’re the ones to beat.”

According to Jackson’s teammate Michelle Ripka, the team has put in numerous miles and hours in training for this year’s race. Jackson and Jamie Dobson are two of three returning members from last year’s team.

“The only time that we could really get together was at 6 a.m.,” said Ripka, a self-proclaimed military brat, who said she has been running since her high school days and even ran cross-country collegiately. “It is very hard to bring together eight active-duty Soldiers every morning. For the most part, we’ve had about five or six of us, Monday through Friday. If not, we’re running on our own.”

Ripka is no stranger to this weekend’s race as she has participated in the Army Ten-Miler eight times in an individual effort and as a member of Team Hawaii.

Vanessa Najera, who is making her return to competitive running after a brief hiatus, said she looks forward to Sunday’s race. She stopped running briefly to have a son, but said she welcomes the challenge the Army Ten-Miler presents.

“This will be my first time coming back to running competitively after two-years,” said the lieutenant, who’s also an El Paso native. “I’m definitely looking forward to it, mostly because I view it as my way of coming back to running. From here I plan to continue racing. Right now, it’s an entry point, a way to mark where I’m at because with the exception of the Army birthday race, I haven’t raced 10 miles since college,” said Najera.

The Army Ten-Miler is the Army’s premier event and the world’s largest 10-mile race. It features numerous festivities and is well known for its Hooah Tent Zone, which is located in the Pentagon staging area and features the spirit and pride of Army commands, installations, units, and agencies. This year’s Hooah Tent Zone sold out all 53 of its tents within seven hours of opening the bidding.

“They have to make you feel special sometime,” said Dobson, who joked with her teammates Monday. “Every other sport seems more special than running, but running is more mental and it takes so much more out of you that every now and then, when they get something big together like this, it makes you feel special and you appreciate and enjoy it.”

Another newcomer to the team is Waltrip, who started running when she joined the Army more than a year ago. She participated in the Army Birthday Ten-Miler and qualified for the post team.
“I came here and thought I’d run the 10-miler for fun and I actually qualified for the Army Ten-Miler team and I love it,” explained the Phelan, Calif. native.

“It was a great event last year and people may say that the target is on us because we won last year and I will say, because we’re Fort Bragg people are always going to be looking out for us,” Dobson said. “I noticed that last year, a lot of people that I didn’t even know were rooting for me, ‘go Bragg, go Bragg.’ When you’re out there, regardless of whether we’re the returning champions or not, people are going to try and defeat us because we’re Fort Bragg,” she said.

“Because it’s the capital of the Army,” added Jackson.

One of the women’s team’s brightest and quietest newcomers is Nicole Smith, who took first place in Fort Bragg’s Army Birthday Ten-Miler in April. Smith said she looks forward to Sunday’s race as well.

According to Jackson, the Masters’ team will be a strong contender for taking first place this year.

“They are looking quite impressive,” she said. “Jon Yerby and the rest of the team are looking really strong. I think they could take it this year.”