RICHMOND, Va. –
Around 35,000 runners crossed the start line of the 34th Army Ten Miler Oct. 7, 2018, at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The race is the third largest 10 miler in the world. Several Virginia National Guard Soldiers and Airmen ran the race, both as teams and as individuals, and one team, Team Jamestown, placed 3rd in the National Guard Mixed Division.
Team Jamestown included Soldiers from units within the 329th Regional Support Group, including the 229th Military Police Company, the 3647th Maintenance Company and the Contingency Contracting Teams, as well as a Soldier from 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. Capt. Matthew Negard, assigned to the 329th RSG, helped organize the team.
“We filled the team with eight Soldiers within the week of putting out the notice to anyone interested,” Negard said. He’s put together a team for the Army Ten Miler since 2013 and ran his first ATM in 2003.
“Growing up, my father, retired Col. Michael Negard, was an avid runner,” Negard explained. “In 2003, my family and I moved to Washington, D.C, where my dad was stationed at the Pentagon. That year we ran the Army Ten Miler together as a family. It was my first one and I was instantly hooked on running.”
This year’s race was Negard’s ninth time running the ATM and he earned his team’s fastest time at 1:16:23.
Another Soldier on the team, Spc. Shaina English, ran the ATM for the third time this year, coming in at 1:45:44. She said her husband talked her into running the race after the birth of their daughter three years ago.
“I like the excitement and environment,” English said of the race. “I want us to see it as a family tradition.”
She said all the team members went out to run their own race and to do their best, but that being on a team allowed them to come together as over a common interest.
Both Negard and English plan to continue running the Army Ten Miler and Negard said he has plans to put together a team for next year’s race with Master Sgt. Ramon Abreu-Perez, one of the state’s master fitness trainers, and wants to win first place in the National Guard Division.