Incirlik Airman excels at AF marathon

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Erica Stewart
  • 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey --  Sammy Wanjiru, the 21-year-old 2008 Olympic men's marathon gold medalist, spent six years training his mind and muscles in order to succeed among the ranks of the world's most gifted endurance runners. 

Airman 1st Class Kurt Fisher, 39th Communications Squadron ground radio technician, only needed a fraction of that time to place in the top 10 percent of finishing runners during the Air Force marathon on Sept. 20. 

At 20 years-old, Airman Fisher was one of United States Air Force in Europe's fastest half-marathon applicants for the 12th Annual Air Force Marathon at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. 

"I had never even run a marathon before this year's Air Force marathon," Airman Fisher said. "In fact, I sent in an online application for the half marathon and USAFE responded with an offer for a slot on the full marathon team." 

In order to qualify for either the half or full marathon USAFE teams, the applicant must first and have completed a marathon since Jan. 1, 2006, in a time faster than approximately 3:45:00. 

"Even though I'd only finished the half marathon the year before in 1:24:34, I figured I could handle it and accepted their invitation to run the full marathon." 

According to www.runnersworld.com, the average time for a half-marathon is approximately two hours, catapulting Airman Fisher into an above-average category without any real training. 

The same Web site suggests that training for a full marathon should be approximately 5 months, but Airman Fisher had only a month to prepare. 

"I only had around four weeks between the time I was asked to join the USAFE team and the actual race date, so I didn't really follow any sort of training plan," Airman Fisher stated. "I would run around 30 miles Monday through Thursday with a longer run, up to 26 miles, on Saturdays. If I would have known then what I know now, I probably would have trained harder." 

Airman Fisher finished the marathon a time of 3:27:53, placing 146 out of 1798 runners and in the top 10 percent of his age group. 

He credits his respectable time to those long Saturday runs as well as reverse psychology. 

"The Air Force has given me a good 'cardio basis' with their physical training requirements and my workcenter also helped by razzing me on, telling me I wouldn't make it and I could run faster than I was," Airman Fisher said. "I kept that in mind during the race, which spurred me to go faster when I would think about quitting." 

After crossing the finish line an hour after the race's first place contestant. the young Airman values experience over glory. 

"I'd do it again in a heartbeat, just because now I can say 'I've finished a marathon,'" said the Team Incirlik ground radio specialist. "On a scale of one to 10, my pain level was at a 20 after the race," said Airman Fisher "I couldn't move for days!" 

Through all the pain, Airman Fisher looks at the experience with reverence and thanks the Air Force for giving him the tools to face the impossible. 

"The Air Force has taught me to never settle for anything but the best that I can do, set physical goals, to push myself beyond what I think possible," he said. 

For more information on half and full marathons at Incirlik, please contact the Fitness Center at 676-6086.