Story and photo by Tim Hipps
Special to GUIDON

DES MOINES, Iowa — Staff Sgt. John Nunn won the 20-kilometer race walk at the 2010 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Nunn, 32, a race walker in the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program who trains in San Diego, won the race in 1 hour, 29 minutes and 21.60 seconds.

Defending champion Tim Seaman of the New York Athletic Club finished second in 1:33:10.21, followed by Patrick Stroupe in 1:34:53.20.

Nunn and Seaman moved ahead of the lead pack around the eight-kilometer mark. Seaman dropped off the pace a couple kilometers later, and Nunn walked the second half of the race by himself to claim his first national crown.

“I guess the humidity got to everybody else,” said Nunn, a 2004 Olympian. “I just stayed strong.”

Nunn’s was the strongest performance among several WCAP Soldiers who competed in the national track and field championships at Drake Stadium.

First Lt. John Mickowski finished 11th in the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:52.89. Spc. Robert Cheseret was 11th in the 10,000 meters in 29:48.43, followed by Maj. Dan Browne in 16th place with a 29:54.64 clocking.

(Editor’s note: Hipps writes for Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command Public Affairs.)