Fun Run?

Kandahar, Afghanistan

Flak jackets were clearly not necessary for this race!  Some went "all out"...

Yesterday I ran a 10K race - 6.2 miles in the Kandahar heat - in honor of a fallen soldier named Chance Phelps.  By my estimation there were over 200 of us who congregated at the Kandahar boardwalk.  It wasn't the most pictoresque of races, and there was the whole "Ghaacggk!" sensation of poo pond stink and dried particulate dust in the back of one's throat to deal with.  Still, it almost felt like being at home...  minus the beer truck at the end, as is so common with races at home.  The old cliche "we all won" didn't feel so cliche yesterday.  Chance Phelps, I trust you were smiling down on us yesterday.