Marathon Heroes’ story

‘HOO-RA!’

35th U.S. MARINE CORPS MARATHON

by Pte Jaco van Gass

Sunday 31st October 2010, 0700 in the beautiful city of Washington DC. Watching the sunrise as we wait at the start, our team of five is confident but the inevitable anxiety is making itself known.  We have a long way to go and are all desperate to get started.  We stand to attention for the US national anthem, the supporting crowd cheers and with a final salute it’s time to start the race.

Our journey began on the previous Thursday at Heathrow Airport, where the team (Capt Mike Kerrigan, Cpl Peter McCoombe, Cpl Tom Neathway, Pte Kierhan Dry and Pte Jaco van Gass) formed up.  All but Mike had been wounded in Afghanistan and therefore the team had a special interest in raising awareness and funds for the Parachute Regiment Charity.  Already having raised over £5000 and with the story having appeared in the national press, there were expectations to be met.  We needed to perform.  Being ‘diffy’ 2 arms, 2 legs, and an eye, along with multiple gunshot and shrapnel wounds was, being Paras, insufficient challenge, so each man (less Tom on a hand-bike) also carried a 40lb pack plus Toms legs.   It wasn’t all hardship though, since British Airways had contributed a generous upgrade to business class with a couple of bottles of champagne thrown in.  We therefore landed in Washington in good order.

Having slept off the long flight and champagne we head to the runners expo to register and collect our goody bags and bib numbers for race day. This massive event, with hundreds of stands selling every conceivable running aid, energy gel and clothing was like an Aladdin’s cave to the team who blagged an obscene amount of shiny new kit whilst enjoying the American support for injured servicemen.

The Washington Marathon demands that all runners must cross the Memorial Bridge (at mile 18) within 4 hours.  For anyone who does not make this, the race is over.  While this would normally not present a problem, we lost valuable minutes replacing the chain on Tom’s bike which had a habit of coming off when going uphill. Needless to say, we crossed the bridge with more than an hour to spare.  The tremendous support from the crowd played an enormous part in spurring us on.  ‘Thank you for your service’ rang in our ears and made light work of an otherwise demanding event.  The cheerleaders along the route also helped!

After making the bridge our pace had to slow to accommodate injuries that were now causing significant discomfort.  With gritted teeth we crossed the finish line, to a standing ovation from the significant crowd.  Having received another medal to add to the collection we returned to our hotel to rest before enjoying a tour of the city the following day.

The Parachute Regiment Charity has raised significant funds to ensure that injured Para Reg soldiers are looked after throughout their lives. Our thanks go out to Stephen Cooper – the Director of the Charity who put it all together and Stephen Cain the essential ‘man on the ground’ in the US. Finally, a big thank you to all who donated and supported us, in particular our American cousins at Credit Suisse who paid for our flights and British Airways for making the journey hassle free and comfortable!