Cool Running

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Rey Ramon
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  Antarctica. The word alone invites shivers and images of its vast, icy wilderness are enough to send most in search of coffee and mittens.

Others, like Staff Sgt. Michaellouie Reyes from Kadena's 18th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, want to go for a jog, a long one - 26.2 miles, to be exact.

On Jan. 17, Sergeant Reyes completed the McMurdo Station Ice Marathon in minus 5- degree temperatures, not including the wind chill factor. Out of the 15 participants that ran the full marathon, he came in 12th place with a time of four hours and 57 minutes.

"It was difficult to run a full marathon here," he said, no doubt understating the case. "Especially with the clothes I had to wear."

The sergeant, deployed to McMurdo Station as part of the 18th AES' standard rotation, was not expecting to run a marathon while in Antarctica, but he caught wind of the race from a co-worker during his first week there and couldn't shake the bug, his unpreparedness notwithstanding.

"I noticed some of the runners had special clothing just for the run," said the sergeant, who wore his issued thermal underwear, a face mask, an Air Force PT shirt and regular shorts, along with special socks given to all of the participants to keep their feet dry.

Sergeant Reyes was deployed for 43 days to Antarctica's largest installation, built on the bare, volcanic rock of Hut Point Peninsula on Ross Island, the solid ground farthest south that is accessible by ship. As he described it, the area where the marathon was held was flat terrain; beneath their feet was frozen ocean.

"The whole time I was looking down because the trail was uneven with either thick snow or slippery ice," said Sergeant Reyes.

All participants were constantly aware of what they were running on to avoid injuries, he added.

The marathon course was an out-and-back loop: 13 miles from Scott Base, a New Zealand installation, to the Air Force runway called Pegasus near McMurdo Station, the National Science Foundation's logistics hub in Antarctica, and then back.

The marathon had three aid stations for runners to rehydrate and though one of them offered electrolyte replacement drinks, none offered hot chocolate.

"It was important for me to utilize all of them and plan ahead," he said. Despite a well-devised plan of action, Sergeant Reyes said the marathon was very taxing to his body, causing him to slow down from muscle cramps on the last quarter-mile.

"What kept me going was the thought of how this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" he said. "I thought, 'Whatever happens I have to finish this.'"