Heritage of Air Power Racing Series

One week from today I will be on the road headed to Lafayette, LA to meet up with my Brother as we complete a goal we set together many months ago... to complete the CajunMan Sprint Triathlon which consists of a 800 yard open water swim, 20 mile bike ride and 3.1 mile run. Both of us committed to begin training for the event which in the past has made contributions to the American Brain Tumor Society and we decided it would be a great thing to do together to honor our Dad who we lost a little more than a year ago to brain cancer. What started out as simply a diversionary goal will become a reality next week... more to follow but suffice to say that at this point I am exceptionally proud of how hard both of us have prepared for this event. Goal is to complete the triathlon... secondary is time!

Several weeks ago I signed up for an event being sponsored by the Air Command and Staff College here at Maxwell AFB... the Heritage of Air Power Racing Series (HAP). The Series consists of four races to be held at Maxwell throughout the instructional year. The races, which will grow in length as the series progresses, are: the Mitchell Mile on Sept. 3, the Quesada 5 kilometer on Nov. 19, the LeMay 10K on Feb. 5, and the Tunner 10-Miler on April 2. Each race is named based on iconic Airmen in the school's curriculum and each race course will include a storyboard about the Airman being celebrated. The Mitchell Mile is named in tribute to Billy Mitchell, an early air power advocate. The Quesada 5K honors Elwood R. “Pete” Quesada, a World War II air victory architect and an aviation pioneer who took part in an early inflight refueling flight, according to his Air Force heritage biography. The LeMay 10K is the namesake of Curtis LeMay, the Strategic Air Command chief during the Cold War and the fifth chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force. The Tunner 10-Miler is the namesake of airlift authority William H. Tunner, who commanded well known airlifts such as the World War II “Hump” operation, the Berlin Airlift and the Korean Airlift. The acronym for the race series is itself significant. HAP pays homage to Hap Arnold who, according to his official Air Force biography, was the commander of the Army Air Forces in World War II, and also “the first and only general of the Air Force, a five-star rank bestowed by an act of Congress.”

Today we completed the Mitchell Mile and I ran it in 7 mins and 12 seconds... something I am exceptionally proud of considering just a few short months ago I would have been in the 10 minute plus category.

Unless you are the lead dog, the view is always the same!