2012 Okinawa Marathon

U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Matthew Molloy, 18th Wing commander, and other runners participate in the 2012 Okinawa Marathon on Kadena Air Base, Japan, Feb. 20, 2012. More than 11,000 runners participated in the 2012 Okinawa Marathon, including more than 250 military personnel from bases around the island. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Justin Veazie/Released)

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2012 Okinawa Marathon

Kadena Air Base volunteers cheer on the 2012 Okinawa Marathon runners as they head towards Gate 5 on Kadena Air Base, Japan, Feb. 20, 2012. More than 200 base volunteers handed out water and cheered on participants before they made their way out Gate 5 toward the final stretch of the marathon. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Justin Veazie/Released)

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2012 Okinawa Marathon

Participants of the 2012 Okinawa Marathon run through a cheering crowd on Kadena Air Base, Japan, Feb. 20, 2012. More than 200 base volunteers handed out water and cheered on participants before they made their way out Gate 5 toward the final stretch of the marathon. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Justin Veazie/Released)

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2012 Okinawa Marathon

U.S. Air Force Col. Corey Martin, 18th Wing vice commander, and other runners participate in the 2012 Okinawa Marathon on Kadena Air Base, Japan, Feb. 20, 2012. More than 11,000 runners participated in the 2012 Okinawa Marathon, including more than 250 military personnel from bases across the island. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Justin Veazie/Released)

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Kadena provides road, runners, volunteers for 2012 Okinawa Marathon

Published Feb. 21, 2012
By 18th Wing Public Affairs

KADENA AIR BASE, Japan -- Team Kadena supported the 2012 Okinawa Marathon, Feb. 19, by providing 2.8 kilometers of the 42 kilometer marathon route, and hundreds of volunteers to support the more than 11,000 runners. This is the 20th year in a row Kadena has supported the Okinawa Marathon.

More than 200 military members, civilians, their family members, and private organizations at Kadena supported the event by volunteering to hand out water and cheer on participants as they ran through the base. Included were 20 students from the Amelia Earhart Intermediate School who performed Eisa dancing near Gate 2.

Brig. Gen. Matt Molloy, 18th Wing commander, Col. Corey Martin, 18th Wing vice commander, and more than 250 other military members from bases across the island joined the runners in this year's marathon and especially enjoyed the support from the base on their way to the finish.

"Thank you to the Defenders writ large and to all the wonderful volunteers who made the Kadena Air Base marathon entry a special moment," Molloy said, "you can't imagine how my spirits lifted as I breached the gate. Well done!"