Incirlik promotes fitness, hosts triathlon Published Sept. 7, 2010 By Senior Airman Sara Csurilla 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey -- Gen. Roger Brady, U.S. Air Forces in Europe commander, wrote in a recent commentary, "Our fitness and health are important. Continue to make running, a good diet, situps, pushups and other physical activity part of your normal routine." More than 55 Incirlik Airmen and civilians gauged their fitness running, biking and swimming as they competed in a triathlon here Aug. 21. The 39th Force Support Squadron hosted the triathlon to provide team Incirlik an event designed to promote fitness through fun activities. "We hold at least one special event a month for fitness, and we try to vary the types of events to keep people interested and give them different physical challenges," said Ernie Fasoldt, wing fitness director. "We had so much fun and positive feedback from last year we just had to do it again!" This was the second triathlon Incirlik hosted that changes the order of events from a traditional triathlon and has the participants swimming to a finish instead of running. The average temperature the week before the triathlon was 100 degrees and reached as high as 106 degrees the day before. To prevent prolonged exposure to the heat, the first phase, a five-kilometer run, started at 6 a.m. As the runners crossed the five-kilometer mark, they jumped on their bicycles and biked a 20-kilometer lap around the perimeter of the flight line. After biking, the participants finished the event swimming 225 meters. "Although only the running portion is an exact match with the semi-annual fitness assessment, participants can't help but make fitness gains as they condition and train for an event of this length," said Mr. Fasoldt. "This was a really well run event, even better than last year," said Bradley Williams, 39th Maintenance Squadron and men's 30-and-under triathlon winner. "I've been training for a marathon and I think all the run training is really what helped me with this race. It was a lot of fun." Mr. Fasoldt said all the feedback they have received about this year's event had been positive and wanted to give a "big thanks" to all the volunteers and participants who made it a success. The following is a list of winners in their respective categories: Team winners: 1st Place - Norm and Garcia Edwards 1hour 2 minutes and 30 seconds 2nd Place - Jamie Cornett and Lindsey and Michael Cornett 1:09:58 3rd Place - Luke and Katie Marron 1:12:54 Women's 30 & over category winners: 1st place - Elissa Ballas 1:01:34 2nd place - Kristina Mullins 1:18:29 3rd place - Julianna Recksiek 1:27:45 Men's 30 & over category winners: 1st place - Chad Rauls 1:04:40 3rd place - Jason Livingston 1:05:53 2nd place - James Cote 1:11:03 Women's under 30 Category winners: 1st place - Kristen Franke 1:20:31 3rd place - Angeliqlee Paramore 1:40:58 2nd place - Marlo Greer 1:42:46 Men's under 30 Category winners: 1st place - Brad Williams 51:51 3rd place - Berlin Aniciette 1:02:02 2nd place - Jordan Pollock 1:08:44