National Guardsman helped organize 2009 "shadow" marathon in Iraq
LOS ANGELES -- February 12, 2010 -- Lt. Jeremy Arnett of the 56th Stryker Brigade of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard thought it would be a good idea to run a marathon in the stifling heat of the Iraqi desert last year. He turned out to be right.
Arnett helped to organize the Camp Taji Memorial Day Marathon and Half-Marathon in and around the Army's main camp in Al-Taji, Iraq, shadowing the 24th edition of the Los Angeles Marathon, also held on Memorial Day in 2009. More than 500 men and women participated in the event, held from 5 a.m.-10 a.m. in 99-degree heat, as a fund-raiser for the 56th Stryker Brigade Fallen Soldiers Fund.
During a pre-race teleconference, LA MARATHON LLC President Russ Pillar invited Arnett and all other participants in the Camp Taji event to be the race's guest at a future edition and Arnett, will, in fact, run in the Honda LA Marathon presented by K-Swiss on Sunday, March 21.
"It was an honor to support Lt. Arnett and all of the runners at Camp Taji with shirts, medals and supplies last year and we're absolutely thrilled to have Lt. Arnett with us for the 25th running of the Honda LA Marathon and the first on the Stadium-to-the-Sea course," said Marathon director of community relations Ginger Williams. "Of course, we expect it to be a little cooler on March 21 than it was in Al-Taji last year."
LA MARATHON LLC will be providing Arnett with free entry into the race and paying for his hotel stay near the finish line in Santa Monica for this year's race. Williams added that "our offer of free entry still stands for all of the servicemen and servicewomen who participated in last year's Camp Taji Memorial Day races. We would be privileged to have them with us for a future race."
Arnett may be the ultimate long-distance marathon runner, participating in the Camp Taji event in 2009 that was about 6,150 miles from his unit's home in Annville, Pennsylvania and now traveling about 2,550 miles to Los Angeles to compete in the 2010 Honda LA Marathon. But he's all about going the distance.
"Jeremy shared with me that one of his running idols was [ultra-marathoner] Dean Karnazes," noted Williams. Karnazes is the world-renowned ultra-marathoner who has completed more than 100 career marathons and stunned the crowd at the 2009 Marathon's Run/Ex/09 Expo by finishing a 100-mile run from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles on the floor of the show on the day before the race! He then added the 26.2-mile on for good measure on Memorial Day in 4:04:39. He'll be in this year's event as well and will meet Arnett prior to race day.
While last year's Camp Taji race was run on a loop course for security reasons, the 2010 Honda LA Marathon will debut the sensational new Stadium to the Sea route that will begin at Dodger Stadium, cross through downtown Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills and most appropriately for Arnett, the Veterans Administration grounds in West Los Angeles, before finishing on Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica, just steps from the Pacific Ocean.
Registration for the 2010 Honda LA Marathon presented by K-Swiss will be capped at 25,000 entrants and is filling up quickly with a sell-out expected well prior to race day. Registration information is available online at LAMarathon.com or via telephone at (310) 271-7200.
About LA MARATHON LLC:
We inspire athletes and connect communities. With thousands of volunteers, tens of thousands of participants and hundreds of thousands of spectators, the Honda Los Angeles Marathon presented by K-Swiss is one of the largest organized road races in the country. For more information, visit LAMarathon.com.
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