Welcome to my journey

     The purpose of this blog is to document and share my experience of training for my third attempt to complete a 100 mile run with a non-profit organization I co-founded with my Marine Corps brothers called Always Brothers.  www.alwaysbrothers.org www.facebook.com/alwaysbrothers.  I am 39 years old, not really a runner, and am rebuilding my body and habits to complete my next 100 mile run to take place in Seattle, next August.

                                                              Background of Always Brothers

          Always Brothers was created in 2010 by a group of enlisted Marines who served primarily on Presidential Guard duty at Camp David and the White House Communications Agency in the early and mid-1990s.  Among the founding members are two firefighters, four police officers, a lawyer, a business owner, a high school teacher, English professor and an IT Professional, who live all across the country. The organization formed after the initial members learned about the death of a fellow Camp David Marine, Captain Tyler Swisher, from Mariemont, OH.  After serving at Camp David, Tyler became a Commissioned Officer, rising to the rank of Captain, and led his men into battle in Iraq.  He died as a result of a roadside bomb attack in Iraq on October 21, 2005. Tyler left behind a wife and three children.

 

 

100 Miles for Swisher

        Always Brothers formed with the initial purpose of honoring Capt. Swisher with a 100 Mile Run from the base of Camp David, MD to Tyler’s grave at Arlington National Cemetery and to raise money for the education funds of his three children.  The “100 Miles for Swisher” run took place on August 11^th and 12^th, 2011 and was completed in 27 hours. One Marine ran the entire distance, and everyone exceeded their personal expectations of running distannces of 85, 80, 75, 70 and 50 miles.  I ran 85 miles and believe I could have run the entire route had I not made the poor choice of eating a hamburger at mile 60!  Always Brothers raised approximately $20,000 through personal donations from the members’ network of friends and family. 

100 Miles for Lima Company

            Nine months later, we continued our mission to honor Tyler and other fallen Marines by running 100 Miles from Tyler’s hometown of Mariemont, OH (a Cincinnati suburb) to Columbus, the hometown of Lima Co., 3^rd Battalion, 25^th Marines—a reserve unit that lost 22 Marines and a Navy Corpsman on their deployment to Iraq in 2005.   The fallen members of Lima Company left behind 15 children, including some who were born during the deployment, thereby never having had the opportunity to have been held by their fathers.  The “100 Miles for Lima Company” run took place over Memorial Day Weekend, 2012, in record heat.  The number of members running grew from 12 Marines the previous year to 24 Marines, in addition to the relay teams that were formed by the families and friends of some of the Lima Marines to run in their honor.  The run took 27 hours with two members completing the entire route and several logging distances of over 50 miles. The effort also brought in over $83,000 in donations for the education funds of the 15 children who lost their fathers.  I ran 75 of those miles.  I dehydrated at mile 30 or so, jumped in a meat-wagon, and with some challenges finally was able to get two bags of an IV to rehydrate.  I jumped back on the trail, ran another 30 miles, stopped for a bit and finished the run to log the entire 75.

 

 

Basis of the Seattle Run—“100 Miles for One Mind”

            During the Lima Company run, the members of Always Brothers determined that the group’s 2013 run would take place in the Pacific Northwest and would honor the fallen troops from the State of Washington with the beneficiary to be determined.  After researching the fallen Marines from Washington, Always Brothers learned about the death of a Marine named Sgt. William Wold from Camas, Washington.  Sgt. Wold served on Presidential Guard duty at Camp David approximately 10 years after the founding members of Always Brothers served in the same duty. Following his tour at Camp David, Sgt. Wold deployed with an infantry unit from Camp Pendleton to Iraq in 2003 where he and his unit were involved in extensive combat operations.  After Sgt. Wold’s tour was complete and his enlistment ended, he returned home to Camas, where he had difficulty integrating back into civilian life.  Consequently, he chose to re-enlist into the Marine Corps to be with others “like him.” Unfortunately, Sgt. Wold’s integration into the Marine Corps was also a challenge apparently as a result of post traumatic stress. He was eventually admitted to Balboa Naval Hospital where he received some treatment and was later released to his private barracks.  He was found dead in his room on the Marine Corps’ 231^st birthday, November 10, 2006.

            Sgt. Wold not only shares the Marine Corps bond with the members of Always Brothers, but the brotherhood is even more significant because of the common duty as a Presidential Guard.  The Marines that serve on Presidential Guard account for less than 1% of the Marine Corps and undergo extensive psychological testing and background investigations in order to be qualified to carry a weapon next to the President of the United States and his family at the most secure place on earth.  Sgt. Wold’s story is, however, an unfortunate example of the need for further research of the proper treatment of post traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury, which is why Always Brothers elected to raise money for One Mind for Research.

                                                CIRCLING BACK TO THE BLOG

      So, I am going to share my experience of training for 100 Miles for One Mind while I am spearheading the effort to organize, market and get sponsors for the run.  I am 39, 220 lbs, and am NOT a runner, despite the several hundred if not thousand plus miles I've run since October 2010 when this all began.