AETC wins inaugural marathon major command trophy Published Nov. 5, 2007 By Kathleen A.K. Lopez Air Force Materiel Command Public Affairs WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFPN) -- Air Education and Training Command, headquartered at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, is the Air Force's first recipient of the USAF Marathon MAJCOM Challenge Commander's Trophy. The announcement was made Nov. 2 at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., by Gen. Bruce Carlson, commander of Air Force Materiel Command, headquartered at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. Michael W. Wynne, secretary of the Air Force, and Gen. Duncan J. McNabb, the Air Force vice chief of staff, presented Gen. William Looney III, AETC commander, the traveling trophy. In addition to acknowledging all of the major commands for supporting the USAF Marathon competition, Gen. Carlson reiterated the participation goal for the marathon. "(It) is 10,000," he said. "We are well on our way because of your support. The presentation was made before a crowd of more than 100 people, including the generals' fellow commanders of the Air Force's other major commands and senior Defense Department officials. The leaders were at Academy to attend Fall CORONA, a thrice-annually held conference enabling senior Air Force military and civilian leaders to gather for frank, open discussion about the service. "I am very proud of the men and women of AETC, and hope to improve upon our performance and participation for next year," General Looney said. The MAJCOM Challenge is a service-wide competition, initiated at the 11th annual USAF Marathon, run on Sept. 15. The competition was formed to serve as incentive for MAJCOM leaders to encourage participation in this nationally-recognized fitness event, said Molly Louden, marathon director. The challenge is open to active-duty and activated Air Guard and Reserve service members. The competition is based on a point system which factors in both participation and performance in both the full- and half-marathon events and determines which major command in the Air Force has the best long-distance runners, Ms. Louden said. As all Airmen know, running is a cornerstone in the Air Force "Fit to Fight" culture. All 10 of the service major commands participated in the MAJCOM Challenge, with 438 service members completing the full-marathon, and 462 completing the half-marathon -- 900 runners, total, or, 17,527.8 miles run or walked! The trophy will continue to be awarded annually during the Fall CORONA to the commander of the winning major command, she said. The 12th annual USAF Marathon is scheduled for Sept. 20, 2008. The full- and half-marathon races begin and end at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, in Dayton, Ohio. New to the 2008 USAF Marathon will be the addition of a 10K race, which also will start and finish on the museum grounds. The course takes runners through historical sites on Wright-Patterson AFB, such as Huffman Prairie, where the founding fathers of modern-day flight, Orville and Wilbur Wright, first learned to fly. The course was recertified this year, and now incorporates the streets of neighboring downtown Fairborn, Ohio, and Wright State University, enabling the public better access to the course to cheer on racers. For more on the USAF Marathon, log onto http://www.usafmarathon.com. (Capt. Matthew W. Dolan, AFMC aide-de-camp to the commander, contributed to this article.) MAJCOM Challenge Commander's Trophy at-a-glance: Place Command Full-marathon Half-marathon Total runners 1st AETC 90 75 165 2nd AFMC 85 156 241 3rd AMC 71 78 149 4th AFSPC 24 31 55 5th ACC 101 82 183 6th AFSOC 16 8 24 7th PACAF 22 3 25 8th AFRC 14 12 26 9th USAFE 14 7 21 10th ANG 1 10 11 Comment on this story (comments may be published on Air Force Link) View the comments/letters page