Story and photos by Amy Newcomb
GUIDON staff

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Only minutes before the sun crested the horizon, 24 runners took off from the starting line at the Piney Valley Golf Course during the third annual Commander’s Cup 10k run Friday. The course took the runners over the bridge and past Training Area 250, where the turn around point was located.

The first two runners to cross the finish line were part of the 35th Engineer Battalion team, who took home the championship trophy. The five-person team had the fastest combination of their four best times, finishing with a cumulative score of 2:45:30.

Brian Sylvester, 35th Eng. Bn., had the best time for the competition, coming in at 39:52. He said at 36 years old, his secret is living a healthy lifestyle.

“I think I did all right. Last year I ran 60 to 70 miles a week, but now I pretty much do Crossfit and Insanity, so I have been keeping away from the running, only doing about 25 miles a week,” Sylvester said.

“For this race, the hills were a little tough. The last hill of the race was a real pounder — I kind of destroyed my pace a little bit, but I maintained,” he added

The second-place runner, Mark Zastany, 35th Eng. Bn., had a time of 40:43, and said although he didn’t really prepare for the race, he has been running each morning.

“I showed up this morning and tried to do the best I could, and it was pretty good overall,” Zastany said. “I really liked the route — it was a change of pace. We are used to running around Garrison, so it was really nice to run by the river and actually see the sun coming up — it was a little bit more motivation to run and compete against other units.”

The Medical Activity Department came in second place with a cumulative score of 2:51:35, with Jackie Chen crossing the finish line in third place with a time of 40:52.

Third place went to the 701st Military Police Battalion, with a cumulative score of 2:53:36. The 701st MP Bn. runners said they had very little preparation time prior to the race because they knew only a few days prior to the event who was going to run, but they were happy with how they did.

The course was challenging, according to Curtis Schroeder, 701st MP Bn.

“I haven’t run a 10k since I was a captain, so it was tough, but we, as MPs, stay physically fit all the time,” Schroeder said with a smile. “I think we did pretty well.”
“Based on our notification to execution time … and it’s 60 degrees outside. The weather was very nice and forgiving,” added Todd Jones, 701st MP Bn.