RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
Teams from Randolph, Lackland and Vance Air Force bases took top honors in Saturday's triathlon, the annual Rambler 120 Team Challenge, that was held at the Randolph Recreation Park at Canyon Lake, Texas.
More than 300 participants on 48 teams were pitted against each other in four events: a 22-mile bike ride, six-mile run, two-mile raft paddle and a mystery event of disc golf.
At the venue, Gen. Stephen Lorenz, commander of Air Education and Training Command, commented on the fortitude and resilience each competing team member displays.
"An event like this showcases the excellence our Airmen exhibit every day," General Lorenz said. "Pushing themselves to the limit is just something our people do every day, never giving up ... always victorious."
Once the pain of victory subsided, some team members talked about the difficulty of the Rambler 120.
"The hardest part of the race was pushing our bodies past the point of exhaustion," said Carlo Franco, a technical sergeant with the 37th Training Wing Plans and Programs office at Lackland. "Working together as a team and encouraging each other to push that much harder helped us overcome the pain. We couldn't have done it without the positive attitudes of every person on our team."
Winners were:
X-treme (four-person teams, no substitutions) Coed Division
Gold - "Team 195," from Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, with a time of 3:04:31 (Tim Hanson, Tim Wodtke, Jeff Richards and Sue Richards)
Silver - "Gatekeepers," from Randolph, with a time of 3:29:37 (Jennifer Ferrer, Thomas Deering, Carlos Ferrer and John Poast)
Bronze - "Ascii-Use Me," from Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, with a time of 3:42:58 (Michael Jimenez, Melissa Osti, Kris Merritt and David Merritt)
X-treme Male Division
Gold - "Flesh Peddlers," from Randolph, with a time of 2:19:47 (Tim Moser, Drew Martin, Bill Relyea and Steve Frank)
Silver - "Continuous Motion," from Randolph, with a time of 2:22:11 (Gregg Kopeck, Doug Hamlin, Ralph Humphrey and Nick Seibel)
Bronze - "SOALA (Staff Officers Acting Like Athletes)," from Randolph, with a time of 2:39:29 (Lance Campbell, Matthew Zimmerman, Jeffrey Anderson and Steven Anderson)
Relay (up to eight members on a team, substitutions allowed) Coed Division
Gold - "Fairly Odd Parents," from the San Antonio area, with a time of 2:46:35 (Lori Souza, Christine Ryktarsyk, Rick Souza, Wendy Feagler, Roger Feagler, Jeff Corban, Linda Robinson and Mark Robinson)
Silver - "Taj Titans," from Randolph, with a time of 3:00:00 (Jo Dible, Jacqueline Van Ovost, Brian Killough, James Stewart, George Chappel, Jr., Chris Kaufman, Roy Tate and Erik Ranke)
Bronze - "Orange Crush," from Randolph, with a time of 3:04:00 (Dathan Jones, David Dentino, Joseph May Jr., David Fain, Jessica Woods, Patrick Grolemund, Mark Correll and Mike Freeman)
Relay Female Division
Gold - "Sweaty Housewives," from Randolph, with a time of 3:19:52 (Amy Clark, Mari Heyburn, Tracy Lake, Priscilla Przybyslawski, Margaret Poast, Gina Lockard, Charlene Wolters and Lexie Rickards)
Relay Male Division
Gold - "Monkey Power," from Lackland, with a time of 2:22:50 (Carlo Franco, Joseph Ersinghaus, Timothy Herbert, David Nolen, Tyler Seeholzer, Daniel Reed, Keith Marshall and Douglas McCobb)
Silver - "Geri Atrix," from the San Antonio area, with a time of 2:29:25 (George Heagerty, Roy Kygar, Dennis Krzrysowski, Tom Bain, Brandon Reynolds, David McClintic, Dan Joder and Kevin Barton)
Bronze - "Team Vance," from Vance Air Force Base, Okla., with a time of 2:29:55 (Mark Nowland, Neil Woods, Todd Dyer, Jason Smith, Joseph Markowski, Mark Fraser, Alan Calfee and Zach Thuli)