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Tyndall Airman heads to races

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Rachelle Elsea
  • 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  A Team Tyndall Airman was recently selected to represent the Air Education and Training Command in the 14th Annual Air Force Marathon, Sept. 18.

Airman 1st Class Henry Duvall, 325th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron F-22 Raptor assistant dedicated crew chief, will compete in the half marathon at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

Airman Duvall is the only member from Tyndall selected to be part of the AETC team. He will be just one of more than 10,000 total runners participating in various categories based on age and running level.

"My training is different for each event, but for the Air Force half marathon, I have been running around 25 to 45 miles a week with a mixture of long runs and speed work," said Airman Duvall. "Long runs are usually around 10 to 15 miles long, which wouldn't be possible without my girlfriend riding her bike alongside me and giving me water and cheering me on."

"The speed work usually consists of around eight miles at intervals of one minute slow, three minutes fast, or a straight five miles at around a six minute mile pace," he noted.

Airman Duvall is training with a goal to improve his race time and represent AETC with pride.

"My best half marathon time is a one hour, 26 minutes and my goal time for this race is a one hour, 24 minutes which was placing in my age group last year," said Airman Duvall. "But the winner ran it in one hour, eight minutes last year, so I have a ways to go. I look forward to the finish line and I am hoping I at least place in the top three in my age group."

Airman Duvall is a rookie to the running world, but has found great success since starting the hobby.

"I started running just before I came into the military which was around June of 2008," Airman Duvall said. "I started running just to get in shape for the military and had no idea it would end up becoming a hobby that would change my life."
 
"I use running as a huge stress reliever and I also use it as a way to travel. I go all over the place competing in different running events and triathlons," he added.

He has competed in ten races so far and has seen improvement each time, which motivated him to apply for the AETC team.

"I submitted a package for the event and I guess I was lucky," said Airman Duvall. "I didn't think I was fast enough to get the sponsorship from AETC, but you never know until you try."

Hearing that he made the team brought on a series of reactions, from excitement to stress.

"When I first found out about it I was super excited," Airman Duvall said. "And it was huge motivation to train harder than I ever have in my life, knowing that all of AETC is counting on me. It's actually kind of nerve racking with that much pressure."

The first official U.S. Air Force marathon was held September 20, 1997, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Air Force. It is traditionally held the third Saturday in September each year and draws thousands of runners from across the Air Force.