The Boston Marathon has been a Patriots Day tradition in New England since 1897. Now it has become a way of celebrating American patriotism in Iraq, too.
This past Saturday, 150 members of the U.S. Armed Forces competed in the second Iraq/Boston Marathon at Base Camp Adder, the former Tallil Airbase in southern Iraq. Runners wore Boston Marathon bib numbers and finishers received Boston Marathon medals. Winners were crowned with olive wreathes, just as the champions will be today in the 110th Boston Marathon.
Capt. Heidi Mon of Littleton, 35, ran her seventh marathon Saturday in Iraq.
“I can’t say enough about how much I love my country,” said Mon, who ran track and cross country at Arapahoe High School. “I couldn’t be prouder to serve over here, so being able to run a marathon here just pulls at my heartstrings.”
Mon is part of a training group that gets its workout schedules and other guidance from Major John Ruibal of Greeley, 42, who ran his 23rd marathon in 3 hours, 7 minutes, 27 seconds.
“You can’t believe the emotion everyone has gone through,” Ruibal said. “Everybody is just really stoked. We’re in the military, we’re here where our country wants us to be to complete this mission, Patriots Day and giving Iraqis back their freedom – it just doesn’t get any better than that.”
In addition to the 150 marathoners, 150 four-person relay teams competed as well. The out-and- back course turned around near the 4,000-year-old Ziggurat of Ur, a temple tower dating to ancient Mesopotamia.
The Outdoor Life Network will include the race in today’s coverage of the Boston Marathon.
“Boston in general is synonymous with patriotism,” Boston Marathon spokesman Jack Fleming said. “Those several hundred men and women over in Iraq, it’s bringing us to them and it’s bringing them to us.”
Mon, who has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Denver, is stationed at Camp Victory near Baghdad with her husband, an operations officer.
“Even though there’s no military history in my family, I’ve always been pulled to it,” Mon said. “Always loved my country. I can’t think of a more noble way to serve my country.”
Mon has a personal best in the marathon of 3 hours, 43 minutes and ran Saturday’s race in 4:21:39.
She did two 22-mile runs during her training build-up, with a high week of 55 miles.
“Running has always been a way for me to clear my head and keep my stress level down, and it’s a great way to stay in shape,” Mon said. “Running with this group really increased my camaraderie. I really enjoy running with these folks.”
Ruibal ran track and cross country at Greeley West. He ran his first marathon in 1991 in New York when he was 27.
“It was an awesome experience,” Ruibal said. “Probably like any other marathon, when I crossed the finish line the first time I said, ‘I’m probably never going to do this again because it hurt too much.’ After a couple of weeks you figure: ‘That was pretty neat. Let me see if I can do this again.”‘
Ruibal finds it especially rewarding to help others through their first marathons, watching them progress from, “I don’t know if I can really do this,” to “Yeah, I think I am going to be able to do it.” Last week he said he could hardly wait to see the faces of those runners when they crossed the finish line.
The tie-in with Boston made it even more special.
“That is so cool,” Ruibal said. “To be able to walk away from here with a Boston medal and a Boston finisher’s T-shirt, they’ll remember this for the rest of their lives. That’s how special this is.”
