| Deployed troops, friends and Families conduct memorial race |
37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Rear) WESTERVILLE, Ohio—Family members of deployed troops from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, recently participated in the first of what is intended to be an annual Armed Forces Run in Westerville. The same day, their deployed Soldiers in Kuwait conducted their own race. Premier Sports, along with Discover Card and Fleet Feet Sports, hosted the Memorial Day event, which consisted of five-mile, five-kilometer and one-mile run/walk events. A $1,000 purse was distributed to the top 10 finishers of the five-mile race. The race started at 9 a.m. in Westerville. Because of an eight-hour time difference, along with extreme seasonal temperatures in Kuwait, the troops began their race 11 hours earlier at 6 a.m. Kuwait time. Although the group of spouses, children, and parents decided to participate in the race at the last minute, the Gahanna-based Creative Graphics Inc. was able to make enough T-shirts for the 30-40 participants the weekend before the race. Columbus Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 9857 paid for the shirts. The Armed Forces Run charged $15 to participate in the events, with the proceeds benefitting The Greater Powell Veterans Memorial, unveiled on Memorial Day following the city’s 10 a.m. parade. The memorial is composed of five black granite monoliths, honoring each of the five military branches, black granite benches for each branch of service and a brick walkway. Each individual bricks is engraved with a Powell-area veteran’s name and nature of service, and can be purchased through the memorial’s website. For more information about the Armed Forces Honor Run, visit www.premierraces.com/races/memorialday.html. To learn more about the Greater Powell Veterans memorial, you can visit www.greaterpowellveteransmemorial.org/.
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