Five years later

Monday, October 21, 2013 · Mike Davis

Sorry this is later, but I wanted the day to play out before writing. Hope you enjoy this... Five years ago a group of us got together and put together a small event called the "Pease Relay" and much to our surprise we actually got 8 teams to participate. The Pease Relay is an eight leg 26 mile relay race that starts on Pease Air National Guard Base, runs through Newington Village and finishes on the base. Runners are mostly comprised of New Hampshire National Guardsman, active duty Air Force members, family and sometimes other Department of Defense employees. As the race director I have been blessed to have been able to work with many people that have been dedicated to putting on a first class event that would mirror any race put on the in the community. This race is not about raising money for a charity, but instead our goal has been simple; provide an event that brings military members and their families out to have fun and run! There have been many challenges over the first four years because of military conflicts but overall we have been successful in conducting a first class relay race event. The goal from day one has been to bring out military members and their families and promote healthy competition. I am not only the Pease Relay race director but I also represent my squadron as a runner as well and today would be no different as I would be running the first leg. For my squadron it's not about winning the race as we are still a back of the pack team, but it is more about the competition with whoever is nearest us. Yes more teams passed us than we passed, but we finished ahead of 6 teams so for us that was a pretty good day. I like winning as much as the next person, but this event is special just for the participation and camaraderie. Pride in running for your squadron is like none other and this year was no different, most everyone puts a little more kick in their step when they run for a team. As I said, year one we had 8 teams of and 64 runners. Five years later we celebrated a huge milestone in the Pease Relay race existence with 16 teams, 120 runners, numerous volunteers and many others out cheering the runners on! Sixteen teams is actually down from last years numbers but considering all that the government has put us through, we were thrilled to have a race of this size. Two weeks ago many people questioned me as to if we would even have the race due to all the government shutdown so I quickly polled the squadrons and it was apparent that no matter the shutdown, they wanted this race to go on! Truly a proud time in my career. The Pease Relay race will be one of my fondest accomplishments in a 30 plus year career and I am so grateful for all those that have helped make this vision a reality year after year. My wife Kathleen has been there from day 1 and while this race often drives her crazy she makes it happen. Just an example of one of the selfless people that care enough to make a difference. Having been part of putting a race together year after year for five years gives me great respect for those that help to bring races to all of us. It's not nearly as easy as some might think, but after it is done there's a sense of great satisfaction. Not because this is my race, but this particular race is truly something to be proud of and be apart of. If you ever want to share in this event please give myself or my wife a holler and we would love to have your help as a volunteer! Have a great week!