Sports
Reta defends his championship in annual Army Ten-Miler
Stars and Stripes
October 24, 2010
Alene Reta, a native of Ethiopia now living in Manhattan, crosses the finish line as the winner of the Army 10 Miler for the second year in a row. Holding the finish tape at left is Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Alene Reta, a native of Ethiopia now living in Manhattan, crosses the finish line as the winner of the Army 10 Miler for the second year in a row. Holding the finish tape at left is Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
(Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
(Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
(Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
(Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
(Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Alene Reta, a native of Ethiopia now living in Manhattan, heads for his second consecutive victory in the Army Ten-Miler. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
(Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Eventual winner Alene Reta, left, passes Capt. Ivan Castro, second from right, and his running partners during Sunday's Army 10 Miler on the streets of Washington. Running with Castro, who was blinded in combat in Iraq in September, 2006, are his friend Staff Sgt. Ruben Hernandez, right, and his commanding officer, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Bryan of the Special Operations Recruiting Battalion at Fort Bragg, N.C. Castro, who will also run in next week's Marine Corps Marathon, finished in 1:25:44. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
(Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Wounded Warrior runners Bruce Gannaway (19993) and Eric Wolf (3345) watch as Alene Reta and Tesfaye Sendeku open up a lead on the rest of the field. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Mark Hurst (19998) and other Wounded Warriors run through the streets of Washington, D.C. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Eventual Army 10 Miler winner Alene Reta, right, leads the field across the Memorial Bridge into Washington, D.C., on Sunday. In the background is Arlington National Cemetery. Close behind Reta are eventual runner-up Tesfaye Sendeku, Joseph Chirlee (41) and All-Army Team member Robert Cheseret (11). (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Joseph Chirlee (41) and Alene Reta (39) lead the field in the early stages of the Ten-Miler. Reta soon pulled ahead to a lead he would never give up, while Chirlee finished eighth. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
(Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
The field of 30,000 runners crosses the starting line. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
(Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Wounded warriors and wheelchair competitors break from the starting line. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
(Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
A parachutist from the Army's Golden Knights descends toward the starting area. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Runners are directed to their part of the starting area in the pre-dawn hours before Sunday's Army Ten Miler at the Pentagon. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
A Tae Kwan Do demonstration by troops from the 2nd Infantry Division in South Korea was one of the many post-race attractions in the Pentagon parking lot. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Lt. Col. Jeffrey Bryan, Capt. Ivan Castro and Staff Sgt. Ruben Hernandez pose for a photo after the race. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
(Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
(Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
(Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Rohan Knight of St. Albans, N.Y., is assisted after finishing the race. Knight was timed in 1:14.21. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
(Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
(Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Lise Willingham of Earlysville, Va., and Chris Samley of Charlottesville, Va., finish with a burst of speed. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Jacobo Hernendez of Los Lunas, N.M. (3946), Sean Kincaid of Okemos, Mich. (1494), and Kyle Guglielmo of Virginia Beach, Va., sprint toward the finish line. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
John Ruibal of McDonough, Ga., and Brian Lein of Peachtree City, Ga., celebrate at the finish line. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
(Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Aziza Abate of Ellicott City, Md., breaks the tape to win the women's race in a time of 55:54. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Daniel Welsh of the IMCOM-E/USAREUR team finished 55th in a time of 55:30. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
IMCOM-E/USAREUR's Kyle Greenberg finished 52nd in a time of 55:16. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Keith Matiskella of the IMCOM-E/USAREUR team approaches the finish line in 20th place, with a time of 51:28. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
John Mickowski of Colorado Springs, Colo., tries to catch his breath after crossing the finish line in 10th place at Sunday's Army 10 Miler at the Pentagon. Mickowski's time was 49:40. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
2010 race resultsARLINGTON, Va. — For the second year in a row, Alene Reta won the Army Ten-Miler on Sunday, finishing with an time of 47 minutes, 10 seconds.
“Today is very nice weather,” said Reta, who is originally from Ethiopia and now lives in Manhattan. “It’s very good, and I like the warm weather. I run well always, so I am happy, you know, just I won this Army Ten-Miler, defending champion last year. I keep the championship.”
Reta said he started out fast but slowed down during the last couple miles. He credited his training for giving him the discipline to push through to the end.
The first finisher in the women's race was 25-year-old Aziza Abate of Ellicott City, Md., with a time of 55:54.
Second place in the women’s competition went to Army Capt. Kelly B. Calway with a time of 57:20.
“I feel great. I feel fantastic,” said Calway, who is stationed at Fort Carson, Colo. “It is everything I dreamed of and more.”
She added that her husband is in Afghanistan right now, but he was cheering for her from afar. “I heard him during the race,” she said.
Calway said the last hill was difficult, but she was inspired to keep going by one of her friends who recently lost his legs in Afghanistan.
“I was running for him,” she said. “My legs were hurting, but not nearly as much as he was. I was thinking about him during that race, and every time I thought it sucked, I pushed harder.”
About 30,000 people participated in Sunday’s race in Washington, D.C., including Staff Sgt. Alicia Anderson of U.S. Army Europe’s female team.
“I’m here to support the troops,” said Anderson, who is stationed at Grafenwoehr, Germany. “I think this is a great event. … All this money goes back to supporting our troops: MWR, wounded warriors, so I’m out here for that.”
Capt. Adolph Dubose is currently in the United States, but the U.S. Army Africa team allowed him to run with them because he was stationed in Vicenza, Italy, for about three years.
“It’s a really beautiful race — great opportunity for camaraderie,” he said. “I saw people I haven’t seen for 10 years here at this event, so it’s a nice way to bring the Army together.”
Spc. Charles Shaffer was one of the first wounded warriors to cross the finish line on Sunday. He was wounded in Iraq on Sept. 1, 2008.
Shaffer used to love to run before he lost his right leg. Now he is able to take part in races using a hand bike. Next week, he’ll take part in the Marine Corps Marathon.
“If you want to stay in the military, you have to be fit.” he said.
This story was updated at 7:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday.