LAAFB Marathon Team Runs in 12th Annual Air Force Marathon

Published Sept. 25, 2008
By Alicia Garges
SMC Public Affairs

Los Angeles Air Force Base -- Nine runners from Los Angeles AFB competed in the 12th Annual Air Force Marathon held at Wright-Patterson AFB, Sept. 20. All LAAFB runners finished in the top half of the field of nearly 1,800 runners who completed the grueling 26.2-mile marathon.

Sponsored by LAAFB Services and Nike, the base sent an eight-person team to race. The team's top place finisher was Maj. Lance Ranere who finished the race in 3 hours 26 minutes, placing 139th overall. He was quickly followed by Maj. Mike Reed who posted a time of 3:29 for 163rd place. Other team members are: Col. Lee Rosen (3:35, 206th place), Maj. Bob Frank (3:36, 214th place), Maj. Bill Schum (3:43, 288th place), Capt. David Wisnieski (3:47, 326th place), Capt. Kelly Rakes (4:04, 533rd place) and Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Donald Wilson (4:10, 630th place). SMC Executive Director Douglas Loverro competed as an individual and posted a time of 4:21, finishing in 775th place.

The race was won by 19-year-old Nathan Peters, a sophomore at the University of Michigan with a time of 2:30:47. Amy Klein, a school teacher from Lexington, Ky., was the top women's finisher. Her time was 3:06:22. This year's top finishing military team was from Schriever AFB, Colo.

The week before marathon, the Wright-Patterson area was hit hard by the remnants of Hurricane Ike. Crews from the base worked all week to clear the course. On race day, skies were clear.

Despite the previous week's weather, this year's Air Force Marathon had a record number of entries.