Meaningful Medals for Marines

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The Turkey Trot 10K and Mile on Saturday, November 17, is a feathery fest of fun for the family… now that’s a mouth full. It’s the perfect event to squeeze in a few extra calorie-burning miles before the holiday feast. Runners wear their wildest Thanksgiving-themed costumes and compete for the prized frozen turkeys and pumpkin pies, courtesy of Wegmans.

Also participating in the Turkey Trot are the Always Faithful – the Distinguished Participant runners. True to the Marine value of Semper Fidelis, these individuals consistently registered to #RunWithTheMarines throughout the year to qualify for the esteemed recognition of a Distinguished Participant.

This journey of distinction is not an easy path. Runners travel from all over the United States to earn this coveted medal for a year long quest. Produced in partnership with Always Advancing and presented by VA Runner, local running specialty store, the Distinguished Participant medal will be awarded at the completion of Turkey Trot to runners who have participated in Historic Half Weekend in May; Run Amuck or Belleau Wood 8K in June; Quantico Tri or Quantico 12K in August; and finally the Turkey Trot.

Four Events = One Awesome Medal

Four reasons to run a fourth event in 2018 from four Marines:

• CWO2 (Ret.) JP Duckett shares, “It is the closest connection I have with my brothers and sisters. I still get to get out and accept the challenge. You get to be around the Marines, your friends and workout at the same time.” CWO2 (Ret.) Duckett continued his enthusiasm for running MCM events by participating in the 2018 Marine Corps Marathon. He ran the 26.2 miles in 4:19:58 with an American flag for the charity, Run for the Fallen. His passion for running and the Marine Corps doesn’t stop there, he also ran with the Commandant on the Marine Corps Birthday.
• “I like that it’s local and that there’s a common goal at the end. Also the terrain around here is challenging and they aren’t your standard distances.” GySgt David Ulrich boasts, “This just brings you together with people who share the same interest as you.”
• GySgt Tobin Teruya is ready to take on the Turkey Trot 10K now that he is stationed at Marine Corps Base Quantico. For the first MCM Series Event, he was stationed in Louisiana and flew here for the Devil Dog Double to make sure he could still grasp that Semper Fidelis medal at the end of the year. “I love running races with the Marine Corps mostly because of the pride I have being a Marine. The races are fun and challenging and it gives me the opportunity to incorporate these races into my training because I run for Ainsley’s Angels.”
• As a runner since middle school, Cpl Ashley Boardman aims to run the Turkey Trot 10K to capture her second Distinguished Participation medal. “It makes you proud that you’ve gotten here and run all these events. They are all my favorite!”

Run with purpose and finish with pride, Marines! More than 290 runners will earn the Distinguished Participant medal in 2018.

Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center is proud to be the exclusive healthcare sponsor of the 2018 MCM Event Series and looks forward to meeting the Turkey Trot 10K and Mile participants at the Sentara tent in the finish area. To learn more about local Sentara Healthcare services, visit Sentara.com or call 1-800-SENTARA.

My Health. My Community. #MySentara.

Thanks for visiting this archived blog. The content and details are specific only for the event year highlighted in this article. For current information, please visit the event page within the MCM website.