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Here's a great article I found at www.northwestnavigator.com: -- Approximately 2,000 people, alongside Sailors and Marines, competed in the 2008 Whidbey Island Marathon/Half-Marathon, April 13. Almost 1,500 people finished the 13.1-mile half-marathon, which began on Heller Street in Oak Harbor, and about 400 people finished the 26.2-mile full marathon. Both races finished at Wildcat Memorial Stadium in Oak Harbor. The Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island Marathon Club and Average Joe’s Training Club of Oak Harbor had 22 participants with four competing in the full marathon and 18 in the half. “I think they were pretty well-prepared because we did the course a couple of times prior, so they knew they could do the distance, it was just a matter of working on the time,” said Brad Sandefur, Fitness Instructor of NAS Whidbey Island Gym and Fitness Center. Marine Aviation Training Support Group (MATSG) 53 took the opportunity to raise money for the Wounded Marine Fund and had approximately 30 active duty and spouses participating. “This is just kind of the next step to try to raise more money for that fund, we got some donations and people raised money by running today,” said Col. William Flannery, MATSG-53 commanding officer. “It worked out pretty well. We probably raised somewhere between $3,000 and $3,500 for the fund. It was a lot of fun and I think the Marines enjoyed it as well.” More than 400 volunteers helped with the preparation for the event of which about 40 were from NAS Whidbey Island. “I’ve been involved with this for about three months and spent at least a couple of hundred hours getting volunteers,” said Dena Royal, volunteer coordinator. “A lot of (NAS Whidbey Island volunteers) showed up and offered to help. We really appreciate it and couldn’t have done it without them.” Hospital Corpsman 1st Class (AW) Ray Halbig, Navy Operational Support Center Whidbey Island, was reenlisted by Lt. Cmdr. Philip King, of NAS Whidbey Island Religious Ministries, upon their completion of the race. “I decided to reenlist here for the challenge of doing it right after the run and running with the reenlisting officer felt good,” said Halbig. “It really pushed me today; it’s a special day.” Although the event is only one day, there are people working behind the scenes year-round to make this event possible. “It’s a year-round project, crunch time comes about a week prior. It usually ends up being about 16-17 hour days. We run on fumes for about the last week,” said Tom Kaiser, of the marathon staff. “The runners are what make this, the volunteers are what make it, us as owners and the people that actually put it on, we do very little to really make things happen. It’s everybody that participates that pulls everything together.” The event featured Dean Karnazes, the author of “Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All Night Runner,” who participated in the marathon as well as signed pictures and bib numbers for other participants at the end of the race. The winners of the marathon were Aaron Coe for males with a time of 2:43:37 and Annie Theissen for females with a time of 3:04:04. The half-marathon top finishers were Christine Knight-Hauger with a time of 1:27:58 for females and Jim Elwell for males with a time of 1:22:51. http://www.northwestnavigator.com/index.php/navigator/regionalnews/sailors_marines_take_part_in_whidbey_island_marathon/