TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --
The
Team Tinker Marathon Team will head to Ohio next month to compete in the 2016
Air Force Marathon.
Fifteen
runners will travel to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, for the Sept. 17
race. Team captain Crystal Salierno is a runner and cyclist who is the lead
team organizer.
“I’ve
been here about three years and it took me about three years to try to get the
team started with all the hoops to go through,” she said.
The
runners are civilian and military and hail from base organizations including
the 72nd Air Base Wing, the 552nd Air Control Wing, the Oklahoma City Air
Logistics Complex and the Air Force Sustainment Center.
Tinker’s
Network 56, the private organization for junior noncommissioned officers, is
sponsoring the team. The four-day trip expenses, including over $1,000 for
entry fees alone, are projected to be $4,000, Salierno said. For donation
information, contact Salierno at DSN 884-7313.
Salierno,
nominated for Air Force Athlete of the year in 2014, has run 18 marathons. Team
members began group training with runs starting last May.
“We
have a variety of runners on the team,” she said. “We have a few people where
it’s their first marathon. We have a few people who’ve run a couple, and then
we have some who haven’t run a marathon.”
Although
Tinker runners in the past have organized joint trips to the Air Force
Marathon, Salierno and other team members created this team with permanence in
mind.
“I
want it to continue,” Salierno said. “This is our first year, but I definitely
want it to keep going.”
Marathon
team members
Crystal
Salierno, Shaun Thomas, Griffin Rowell, Marshall Brace, Denzel Neal, Michael Risky,
Robert Parr, Daniel Ly, Hank
Reyes, Stephanie Roose, Kristie
Chung, Jason Meermans, Chelsea Aspelund, Vance Kendrick, Natalie Weber and Dominic
Salierno.
Also
Natalie Weber was picked by ACC to compete as a MAJCOM runner in the marathon.