Chief's challenge generates Airman's pride

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Andria J. Allmond
  • 512th Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  During a temporary duty assignment to Warner Robins Air Force Base, Ga., I met "that" guy. You know who he is. He's that individual in the shop who makes everyone else look as physically fit as Jabba-the-Hut on a stair-stepper. 

Over the next few months, a challenge made by this seasoned sergeant would reinvent my views on challenging myself, overcoming obstacles and instilling me with a renewed sense of pride. 

Chief Master Sgt. Gregory Koenig, from the 367th Training Support Squadron at Hill AFB, Utah, drank his electrolyte-laden-liquids, spent lunch at the gym instead of the dining facility and talked training tips instead of office gossip. This guy was "fit to fight." 

Now, I on the other hand, was not as fit. 

My workouts consisted of a few miles on the treadmill, as long as it didn't ruin my eye make-up. At lunch, I was a regular in the fried-food line of the D-Fac. Also, coming from a family of freakishly-skinny people, running really far without being chased seemed highly unnecessary. 

That all ended with a simple challenge from the fit freedom-fighter. 

"You're going to run the Air Force Marathon, Airman Allmond." 

"Uh, I guess so Chief. Yeah, why not?" 

From that point, there was no turning back. I had accepted the challenge and over the next couple of months, I trained. 

Pride kept me running when I wanted to give up. It was the sense of pride that filled every step I took. Pride was my mantra against the roadblocks life threw in my path to the finish line. 

Like many, I am tired after working an 8-to-10-hour day. The last thing I felt like doing was going for an eight-mile run. This was especially true in Georgia's summertime humidity and down the wind-tunneled side-streets of my hometown Philadelphia. 

But instead of concentrating on my fatigue or other difficulties, I put on my shoes and ran. After a while, the things that seemed so demanding turned out not to be. 

I wasn't as tired as I'd thought. Georgia was hot, but the sweat and challenge of it was invigorating; in Philly, running into the unrelenting wind made me stronger. 

However, when I returned from my TDY and regained all of my family responsibilities, finding time to train was tricky. At first, I wasn't sure how I was going to make dinner after work, help my daughter with her homework, clean up after my family, get myself ready for work the next day and still train. 

I found a way to do it. Sometimes this meant preparing dinners the night before, teaching my daughter how to find homework-help on the internet, getting up at 5 a.m. to run before work and calling on my family to help out a little more around the house. Still, I ran. 

After crossing the finish line of the half-marathon at the Air Force Marathon on Sept. 20 in Wright Patterson, Ohio, I knew it was pride that my accomplishment possible. And, all of this stemmed from accepting a challenge and then figuring out how to accomplish it. 

"So, how did you do, Airman Allmond." 

"I did good chief, but next year I'm gonna win my age group." 

I guess I better start running.