Army Ten-Miler team zeroes in fitness at JBER HAWC

  • Published
  • By Sgt. Eric-James Estrada
  • 4-25 IBCT Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  Soldiers with U.S. Army Alaska learned more about their physical fitness during a running analysis recently at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson for the upcoming Army Ten-Miler in Washington, D.C.

The 14-member USARAK Army Ten-Miler team went through VO2 max, or maximum oxygen uptake, and gait assessments at the Health and Wellness Center on JBER to learn about themselves as runners and how to adjust their training to stay competitive.

The fitness tests administered by the HAWC are targeted toward improving the way people run and their overall fitness regimen, which extends beyond physical fitness and readiness, improving overall fitness.

The VO2 max is one factor used to determine an athlete's capacity to perform sustained exercise and is linked to aerobic endurance.  A gait analysis assesses the way a person walks or runs in order to highlight biomechanical abnormalities.

"This goes well beyond the operation our team is doing, and it's a way for us to take this data and put it to use in our everyday life," said Army Maj. Brian Mayer, the signal officer for U.S. Army Alaska's 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, and captain of the USARAK Ten-Miler team.

Mayer, a four-time Ten-Miler veteran, added the efficiency in running is more than putting shoes on and going out and running.

"It's hitting the hills, and it's working with the [HAWC] to continually assess, and through assessment comes improvement."

The HAWC's mission is to ensure all service members are fit for duty by providing a wide range of services such as health education, fitness assessments, exercise prescriptions, and prevention and intervention programs.

"This analysis gives us a chance to look at stuff that isn't really physiology," said John Limon, exercise physiologist for the HAWC.

"His mechanics, his head, shoulders, knees and toes, [they are all] all tightening up."

Limon added that having the ability to process more oxygen per minute means you are able to use an energy system which doesn't make the muscles burn.

"To have this type of equipment available is a tremendous asset," Mayer said.

Mayer said he hopes the added help from the HAWC will help him and his team at the race.

Sponsored by the U.S. Army Military District of Washington, the Army Ten-Miler is the second-largest 10-mile race in the United States and is hosted every October in Washington, D.C.

This year, the race is scheduled to include other events - like a youth run, a youth activity fair and a pre-race pasta dinner.

Representing USARAK at the Army Ten-Miler race are:

Army Staff Sgt. Sterling Yazzie, Pfc. Hunter Phares and Pfc. Chad Miller of the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division; Army 2nd Lt. Daryl Brown, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 1/25 SBCT; Army Maj. Timothy Brower, Alaska National Guard; Air Force Maj. Ron Oliver, 3rd Air Support Operations Squadron; Army Maj. Brian Mayer, 4/25 IBCT (Airborne); Army Master Sgt. William Wisecup, USARAK Aviation Task Force; Army 1st Lt. Elizabeth Hayward and Pfc. Chelsea Scheuerman of USA MEDDAC-AK; Army Capt. Nick Shamrell, U.S. Army Garrison; Army Staff Sgt. Robert Hibbert, 109th Transportation Company, 17th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 2nd Engineer Brigade; Spc. Keith Robinet, 84th Engineer Support Company (Airborne), 6th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Engineer Brigade; and Sgt. Malcolm Smith, 425th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4/25 IBCT (Airborne).