About 19 runners from the 14th CSH met at 5:45 am to ride to Camp Victory for the Oklahoma City Memorial Shadow Marathon. The full marathon started at 6 am while the half (our run) at 7 am.
At 9:02 am on April 19, 1995, 168 people died (including 19 children) and 500 others were injured in the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City.
At a ceremony to
commemerate the 15th anniversary of the attack, Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett said the day of the bombing is recalled with reverence,
“not because we can’t forget but because we choose to remember. “We have chosen strength, we have chosen optimism, we have chosen freedom, we have chosen to move forward together with a level of unity that is unmatched in any American city.”
Some 300 strong started our run of 13.1 miles on a gorgeous day--not a cloud in sight. The last 5 miles were warm and shadowless here in Iraq with temps climbing into the 80s by 7 am. MAJ Tai Bolaji, director of Hospital Pharmacy for the 14th and clinic neighbor, and I pose for a post-run snapshot.
My goal on this
OKC Memorial run was a sub 1:40 and I barely made it... 1:39. It was definitely a hot one today!
