Alamo Shape

Run Like a Girl

A free service of AlamoShape, join our gals who walk and/or run every Friday morning at 6:00 a.m., Saturday at 10:15 a.m. and Sunday at 6:30 a.m.  We have brand new walkers and runners every time so there will be someone to travel with you no matter your speed/experience.  Some of them have run countless marathons including the daunting Bataan Death March, the Rock n' Roll Marathons in San Antonio and soon in Phoenix, as well as other regional NM runs through the mountains and other gnarly paths! They've placed in the top 5 percent in their age groups several times, with runners from 20 to 60 years of age. Others are just beginning to walk a 1/2 mile route and building up their endurance.  Build friendships and enjoy our beautiful weather here in Alamogordo!

From Amanda, our running coach:
Our gals had the honor of walking/running in the 2008 Bataan Event.  Join them this year! March 29th is just around the corner ladies!  If you've decided that you would like to attempt the challenge of completing a marathon, here's your chance to participate in a truly historical event and have a fantastic support group along the way!

 
Of course I will have more information to come, but for now, we just need to get moving.  Please, check out www.bataanmarch.com to see what this is all about. I’ve made a suggested training schedule that you can contact me about.

From Heidi L.:
One of our AlamoShape Marchers (See her wonderful slide show above!): I want you to know that we are so glad that we chose to participate in the Bataan Memorial Death March yesterday.  I can't put into words how it made us feel.  To talk with the survivors, to see the amputees make the march, to see all kinds of people - young and old, to realize that there were participants there from all 50 states and also other countries (not sure how many they named, but I would bet it was ~ 12 - 15).  Amanda did well and her Dad and I are very proud of her.  The AlamoShape team is a group of very special people and we thank you for allowing us to be a part of it.  (BTW, I think you may have to make Scott an honorary member of the club because, for one, it helped me to have him there to help keep me going.)

From our Sarah:
Coming in at 7:03:27, yours truly finished in 179th place out of 460 Female Light Civilians!!!  Okay, didn't exactly set the world on fire, but that's not exactly your normal marathon either.  And a HUGE congrats to my friend Amanda, finishing 21st!!  Want more information on exactly how we (and my other friends from the Aerobics Club) tortured ourselves??  Check out www.bataanmarch.com .  Thanks everybody for all your love and support, look for a much shorter time next year (yeah, I'll do it again, crazy, I know).
Love, Sarah
Talk to Amanda in class, or e-mail her at: acl_eleven@hotmail.com  for more information.

From Amanda:
The main purpose of creating our "group" is so that we can all go out there in support of each other.  We support each other at the Aerobics Club everyday as we reach our fitness goals and this can be another HUGE accomplishment that we can do together. 
 
The march is a marathon (26.2 miles) but the main goal is for everyone to finish...run, walk, whatever.  There will be many who walk the entire thing.  There is also a 15 mile march if 26.2 sounds too long.  If you go to the website and look at the results archives, people took anywhere from 3 hrs 37 mins to 13 hrs 42 mins in last year's women's civilian light category.
 
Here's what it's all about:

The Bataan Memorial Death March honors a special group of World War II heroes. These brave soldiers were responsible for the defense of the islands of Luzon, Corregidor and the harbor defense forts of the Philippines.
The conditions they encountered and the aftermath of the battle were unique. They fought in a malaria-infested region, surviving on half or quarter rations with little or no medical help. They fought with outdated equipment and virtually no air power.    
On April 9, 1942, tens of thousands of American and Filipino soldiers were surrendered to Japanese forces. The Americans were Army, Army Air Corps, Navy and Marines. Among those seized were members of the 200th Coast Artillery, New Mexico National Guard.
They were marched for days in the scorching heat through the Philippine jungles. Thousands died. Those who survived faced the hardships of a prisoner of war camp. Others were wounded or killed when unmarked enemy ships transporting prisoners of war to Japan were sunk by U.S. air and naval forces.

All of the info can be found at www.bataanmarch.com  
 
The event is on March 30.  Entry fees are $50 per individual or $200 per 5-person team.  Teams must finish together, we can discuss whether to sign up as teams, individuals, or both. 
 
Here's the link for the training program from runner's world, they have all kinds of good info. on their site.  It's a 16 week program, yikes, that's now!!!   http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-244-255-6946-0,00.html

Talk the Walk!

Let us know why you are joining the Bataan March!

Why I'm participating in the Baatan Death March Memorial Event
I've decided to walk in the Baatan Memorial Death March to honor the memory of my younger brother's godfather.  I am striving to complete the 15.2 mile memorial walk along with my husband, Scott.
 
MSgt Glenn Milton was a U.S. Army Ordnance Corp career solider.  He was serving in the Philippine Islands during World War II at the time the Japanese captured the islands.  MSgt Milton was a survivor of the Baatan Death March.  He was held as a prisoner in Japan until the end of the war.  He carried shrapnel in his chest, back, and arms for the remander of his life, suffering constant pain - which later led him to take his own life in order to relieve that pain - the pain doctors claimed he wasn't having.
 
MSgt Milton was a native of Oklahoma - a mild, soft-spoken, gentle man.  He married after the war and was a wonderful father to his two sons, John and James.  We grew to know MSgt and Mrs Milton and their sons when my father was stationed in Okinawa.  My younger brother, Jeffrey, was born while we were on Okinawa and MSgt and Mrs Milton were chosen to become his godparents.  MSgt Milton was a wonderful father, husband, and caring friend to all who knew him and is still missed to this day.  I will walk in his honor.
 
Heidi Launer