Four men, a marathon, an island

  • Published
  • By Karen Abeyasekere
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
CANCALE, France --  Like four musketeers, it was "all for one and one for all" when four leaders from RAF Mildenhall got together May 29, and ran for the hills - or to be more precise, a small rocky island in France.

Col. Chad Manske, 100th Air Refueling Wing commander, Lt. Col Don Robertson, 100th Security Forces Squadron commander, Lt. Col. Matt Greene, 100th Civil Engineer Squadron commander, and Lt. Col Chris Bennett, 100th ARW chief of safety, proved they really were "Team Mildenhall" when they ran the Mont St. Michel marathon, which started in Brittany and finished in Normandy, France.

Mont St. Michel is a small rocky island about 1 km from the north coast of France, at the mouth of the Couesnon River in Normandy, and is connected by a causeway to the mainland..

The race was Colonel Bennett's 24th marathon (his sixth completed in under three hours), Colonel Greene's third, and the first for Colonels Manske and Robertson.

Their official finish (chip) times were: Colonel Bennett, 2:57:20; Colonel Manske, 3:39:24; Colonel Robertson, 3:45:28, and Colonel Greene, 4:09:14. Of the 5,000 runners, they were among the 3,500 who finished.

According to Colonels Bennett and Robertson, the idea came about while they were in the Tudor Bar at Middleton Hall.

"I think the genesis of the Mont St. Michel idea was part of a natural progression," said Colonel Robertson. "(Colonel Bennett) and I also ran the 'Hell Runner, Hell up North" event (at Delamere Forest Park, Cheshire, England) in November, as well the Spartan Race (in Cambridge) last September, with Chief Master Sgt. Chris Powell (100th ARW command chief) and Col. Bill DeMarco (100th Operations Group commander).

"So, like many great ideas, we were at the Tudor Bar discussing what's next, when (Colonel Bennett) came up with the MSM idea," the 100th SFS commander said. "Unfortunately, like many other 'good' ideas, it seemed like the thing to do -- so we started training."

Colonel Manske said running a marathon has been lifelong dream of his.

"Like Colonel Robertson, I ran a great half marathon, running alongside the 3 hour and 15 minute pacer, and finishing the first half in about 1:36," the base commander said. "I was thinking, 'If I can stay with this pack, I'll have an excellent race time at the end.' That was short-sighted, seeing that my training program hadn't prepared me to run a marathon at that pace, but to run one under 3:30.

"Needless to say, the last half of the race I steadily fell off the pace, as my legs were not prepared to carry that pace for another 13.1 miles."

Colonel Manske said he finished the last half of the race in 2:03, but made a common rookie mistake of getting caught up in the crowd, which dumped a disproportionate amount of adrenaline into his system, leaving him short of his goal.

Before the race, the base leadership had their families take some "before" photos of them, and then loaded their gear into their vehicles.

But doing this resulted in an unintended consequence, according to Colonel Robertson.

"It meant (Colonel Greene) and I got separated from Colonel Manske and Colonel Bennett," he said. "So, of the 5,000 runners we started at the rear of the pack, and it took us five minutes to even reach the start line. During the first couple of miles I became very concerned, because we (Colonel Greene and I) were boxed in at the rear, running at about an 11 minute-mile pace.

"Eventually, the crowds started spreading apart and we were able to find our strides," said Colonel Robertson. "At the end, I was busting my butt just to go fast enough to come in at 3:45 ... I thought I was good, but, when we got close enough to see the clock it read 3:50.

"I was pretty upset, but suddenly I heard my son, Eli, yelling and cheering me on! As I crossed the finish line, I remembered it had taken five minutes to reach the start - so I'd achieved my goal after all, as well as completing my first marathon!" the 100th SFS commander said.

The race began on the western edge of the Bay of Mont St. Michel in the city of Cancale, and followed the coastline for the majority of the race. The marathon course took "Team Mildenhall" and the rest of the runners on a coastal road, through small villages and along a few cycle paths and a short stretch of gravel trail.

The chief of safety, the most experienced marathon runner in the group, said that the final mile of the race was on the causeway leading out to the Mont, and finished just prior to the structure itself.

"From our vantage point at the start, we were able to see the Mont (which was many miles away) and throughout the race, we had a view of it as we slowly approached the finish."

"I found it tough-going in the final miles, but the mark of a well-executed marathon is to run 20 miles and be positioned to run a fast 10-K to the finish," he said. "I managed to do that, and overall ran 'negative splits,' which means my second half was faster than my first half. I ran the first half in 1:31:51, and the second half in 1:25:29.

"It's tough to go out slower than goal pace and have everybody pass you in the early miles of a race, but the reward comes when you're passing people left and right in the later miles, when they're all fading fast, and you're finishing strong!" he said, adding at about 24 miles they made a turn into the 'home stretch,' and headed north towards Mont St. Michel.

"The crowds lining the course in the final couple of miles were very encouraging, and knowing my family was waiting at the end was very motivating," Colonel Bennett said.

He explained that it was getting fairly warm near the end of the race, and it was a sunny day with no cloud cover to keep them cool. There was only a light south-westerly breeze to help them out.

"I like to take an ice bath after a race like this, but my hotel only had a shower, so I opted for wading in the bay after the race -- but the water wasn't very cold. The cold water helps reduce delayed-onset muscle soreness caused by lactic acid build-up, and inflammation in the legs. The next day was pretty tough for me, but I went on a (very slow!) 30 minute jog - which was more like a pathetic shuffle!

"But it meant I kept up my streak of running every day in 2011," he said.

Colonel Greene said though this was his third marathon, he ran the other two more than 18 years ago.

"Obviously, I'd forgotten any lessons I learned during those two races," he said. "Like Colonel Manske and Colonel Robertson, I ran the first half of the marathon at a pace entirely too fast to sustain, which caused me to hit the wall and finish with a time of 4:09.

"I'm a bit disappointed - since I felt capable of running a 3:45 -- although I guess I shouldn't be, considering I was unable to complete nearly half of my 16-week training program, due to work conflicts and a knee injury," the 100th CES commander said. "But I'm glad to have finished the race, and to have run it with three fellow 100th ARW comrades-in-arms."

Colonel Manske agreed that they'd all had a great time, and as they started to feel the after-effects of the race, with their limbs aching, they were reminded of a phrase they'd heard of before -- 'Pain is temporary; victory is permanent.'

"And in victory, we all celebrated the completion of a marathon!" he said.