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Tinker’s Ponder, Morrison stepping it out in Air Force Marathon

  • Published
  • By John Stuart
  • Tinker Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  It may seem like a strange notion, but for one Tinker endurance runner, hoofing all 26.2 miles of the Air Force Marathon this Saturday won't be anything new.

Such is the case for Danny Ponder, a civilian at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center Aerospace Sustainment Directorate. The super-runner, along with Tinker's John Morrison will make the trip to Wright -Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, the host of the annual marathon.

While every race is a chance to push the limits of his body, the Air Force Marathon is nothing out of the ordinary for Ponder. Saturday's run will be his 14th time to run in it.

"I am one of the few runners left who has completed every Air Force Marathon since 1997," Ponder said.

Nineteen ninety seven was the year of the first marathon, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Air Force. Since then the event has grown in size to more than 10,000 mostly civilian runners in 2009, and continues to be held on Sept. 18. This year the race will commemorate the Air Force's 63rd anniversary. The 2010 marathon is also the first time the marathon has sold out. The course winds through Wright-Patterson, highlighting several historic places.

But Ponder, who has more than 25 marathons and numerous ultra-distance events up to 100 kilometers under his feet, not much training went in to the marathon. Unless you count what he did last week.

For Ponder the marathon will almost be a cool down of sorts, following his participation in the Sept. 11 Wisconsin Ironman triathlon. The Air Force Marathon would seem a comparative stroll in the park following his tri-event competition a week prior.

Several other Tinker employees made the trek with Ponder and Morrison, as moral support. With this troupe, Tinker should have an upstanding representation at the race, although Ponder isn't shooting for a particular time.

"Ironman training will help me get to the finish line. I have no time goals this year other than to finish," Ponder said -- a harder task than it sounds.

"Running is my release, my drug where I always need more," Ponder said. "I am running junkie."

Saturday's race should, if anything, prove him right.

Check the Sept. 24 issue for race results.