Life has sped up in Camp Pannonia, Afghanistan for those who entered the half marathon running race. The local circumstances delimited the possibilities, so the entrants covered the half marathon distance by running the so-called “camp lap” (630 meters with 10 meters of height difference) several times.
Of course, life did not stop for the others in the camp for the duration of the race. They received helicopters or went on patrolling. For all that, there was a great number of spectators present at the event.
The organizers of the competition, Sgt. Andrea Kisnémet and WO Zsolt Fehér, are known as “great runners” in the contingent. Whenever they can, they do a workout every day and go running around the camp. Five people entered the race in the individual category, while four teams entered the double and the triple categories each.
L/Sgt. Tamás Bódis won the individual competition: he likes to enter marathon running races in Hungary too. He completed the distance of 21,097 meters in 1 hour 26 minutes. The double race was won by SFC Mátyás Sznopka and Lt. Ede Énekes. Among the three-member teams, it was Lt. Mátyás Ferencz, Sgt. Károly Borók and Corp. Róbert Varkoly who came in first.
“To keep fit is important for everyone, and it is especially so for the soldiers, both in the area of operations and at home. The physical standards require soldiers to stay fit all the time, which is best achieved by running. Running moves all muscles and increases lung capacity. Those who choose the long distance will be able to steel their will too”, Col. Dr. Romulusz Ruszin, the commander of the PRT told us.
Photo: Capt. Roland Kálinger
