Story and photos by Lt. Col. Hank McIntire
Click here for additional photos of Utah Guard runners.
Click here for photos of the awards ceremony.
LINCOLN, Neb. — It was a blend of the old and the new as five members of the Utah National Guard marathon team competed here May 4 for spots on the All-Guard team.
The race, known for the last several years as the Lincoln-National Guard Marathon, is jointly sponsored by the Lincoln Track Club and the National Guard.
Two team members, Maj. DeAnne Trauba and Lt. Col. Eric Petersen, each have more than a dozen Lincoln races under their belts, qualifying each time for All-Guard honors. With them were three “sophomores,” Capt. Cody Adamson, Capt. Lex Grimley and Sgt. Andrea Graff, running their second Lincoln after making the All-Guard team here a year ago.
Graff, of St. George, and a member of the 213th Forward Support Company, has three years in the Guard and served a combat tour in Iraq in 2011 with the 2-222nd Field Artillery. She not only has Trauba and Petersen to help her learn the ropes, but her father, Col. George Graff, is also a mentor as a longtime member of both the Utah Guard and the All-Guard marathon team.
“I feel a whole lot of pressure, like I have to do good,” chuckled Graff.“Ninety percent of my decision to enlist was the fact that my dad was in the Guard and on the marathon team. I loved coming to the events with him and being around the runners and soldiers.”
Competing at this level was also a draw for Adamson and Grimley to join the Utah team.
“I do marathons anyway,” said Adamson, a Lehi resident and executive officer for the 144th Area Support Medical Company. He deployed to Iraq in 2003-2004 with the 1457th Engineer Battalion. “Competing with the Guard seemed like a lot of fun, and I like racing and traveling.”
“I had never heard of the marathon team,” admitted Grimley, of Saratoga Springs, a medical officer with the 300th Military Intelligence Brigade, who served in Iraq in 2003-2005 with the 142nd Military Intelligence Battalion. “I got an e-mail last year. They heard I was a runner and asked me to run.”
Petersen, of Holladay, is a judge advocate with the 204th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade. He returned just weeks ago from a yearlong deployment to Kosovo. Early on, his commander there asked him to help train 45 soldiers of Multi-National Battle Group East to run in the Athens (Greece) Marathon. Petersen competed himself and saw 39 of his trainees meet their time goals in the race.
“It was a challenge to find time to exercise in Kosovo,” said Petersen, “I don’t feel quite as prepared for this race as in years past.”
And Trauba, deputy state surgeon for the Utah Guard and a Draper resident, also had some hurdles to clear before coming to Lincoln, nursing a sore Achilles tendon, and there was the small matter of running the Boston Marathon just two weeks ago.
“I haven’t been able to train the way I normally do, with my injury—no speed and no hills,” she explained. “I didn’t want to push too hard at Boston, knowing I was coming straight to Lincoln.”
But setbacks aside, each of the five Utah athletes were here, ready to give it their best. They joined the other 12,500 marathoners and half-marathoners on race morning in gusty winds and warm temperatures. They snaked their way on the fairly flat course through the greater Lincoln area, finishing at the 50-yard line of Memorial Stadium, the football home of the five-time, national champion Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Grimley crossed the finish line first in 3:04, followed by Peterson with a 3:15 time. Adamson came in with a 3:46, and Graff and Trauba finished in 3:51 and 4:02, respectively.
While each runner had hopes to make the All-Guard team, the competition was fierce, and Grimley was the only Utah Guardmember selected. For the coming year he will represent the National Guard at selected marathons or half-marathons throughout the U.S.
For the other four members of the team, there are many positives to pull from their efforts at Lincoln.
“From a team standpoint, Lincoln is great for morale and esprit de corps,”said Petersen. “It brings our Utah team closer together.”
There is also the personal benefit of staying marathon ready, competing locally and looking ahead to next year.
“I enjoy running,” said Trauba. “It helps me focus and balance my life.”
“Just training all year long has kept me more fit,” added Graff.
“I can help other soldiers in my unit who struggle with running,” observed Adamson. “It helps me be a better leader and mentor.”
They will all be back in Lincoln next year, looking to make the All-Guard once again. And for now, Grimley will carry the torch for the other four as he competes nationally.
“There’s nothing better than getting out and representing the National Guard and your individual state,” Grimley said. “You want to perform well, but in the end it doesn’t really matter because there’s a brotherhood in all of this.”
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