Most marathon runners can appreciate this motivational tool: When you need a boost in morale, start running. That's what a few hundred soldiers will do Saturday when they hold the first Grandma's half-marathon in Iraq.
Jon LaCore and Steve Fosness, two soldiers who live in Duluth and are serving about 45 miles from Baghdad at Camp Taqaddum (also known as Camp TQ), came up with the idea for the race in January.
LaCore and Fosness trained last year to run Grandma's Marathon, but their tours were extended four months, meaning they'd serve until at least August and would miss the race.
Undeterred, they decided to run a half-marathon in Iraq on the same day as Grandma's. Word spread about their plan, and others thought it would be a good idea to hold a race to boost soldiers' morale.
"We will have been out here in Iraq for nearly 15 months by the time of the race," said Capt. Steven Timm, a chaplain. "We're tired of our lives being on hold."
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One of the soldiers contacted Grandma's organizers to see what help could be provided. Bob Gustafson, Grandma's public relations director, worked with the soldiers but said there wasn't much they could do, except provide their blessing by letting the soldiers call it a "Grandma's race."
Though it's technically not a sanctioned half-marathon, the soldiers were able design a logo using the race's name. The logo was sent to Grandma's, which then printed out 200 shirts.
Turns out, that won't be enough.
Within the first two days, 200 people signed up, said Sgt. Kerry Buckle, who is serving with the 2nd Combined Arms Battalion, 136th Infantry out of Moorhead and is helping organize the race. They're expecting up to 300 runners, including people from the Air Force, Marines, Navy and Army, Buckle said.
"A lot of people signed up just for a shirt," Buckle said. The first 200 who signed up will get those, Buckle said. The rest will get pins, also courtesy of Grandma's.
Buckle said excitement grew from the challenge of the event. While the base has seen a few 5Ks and 10Ks, this is the first time that there will be a half-marathon held in Camp TQ.
"We knew that it was about 12 miles around our base, and we actually took a military GPS tracker out and measured out 13.1 miles along the interior roads for the half-marathon," Timm said. "We thought about the full 26.2 miles, but the heat is too dangerous this time of year."
It can be so oppressive that LaCore said he often starts training at 3 or 4 in the morning.
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"Then it is only 90 degrees as opposed to 115 to 120 during the day," he said.
Even with an early morning start to the race, Buckle said the average temperature hovers around the high 80s to the low 90s. When runners start crossing the finish line, Buckle said it will be 110 degrees.
And there are other challenges, not the least of which will be running on a former Iraqi air base that Timm said is set in the middle of a "bleak, bleak desert" with mostly sand and dust and only a handful of trees, plus barriers that make it resemble a prison.
"As if it weren't prison-like enough," he said. "There aren't exactly running trails; you're running alongside the road next to convoys of trucks and Humvees, coughing diesel fumes, and hoping the wind stays down, or the blowing dust will choke you."
Timm said that while no one has been shot at, "There are a couple of places where runners aren't allowed because it's too close to the perimeter of the camp.
"We don't have to think about [that] at home," he said.
While there's been a buzz about the race on the base, LaCore said there hasn't been a lot of talk about who will finish first.
"We are all just hoping to finish," LaCore said.
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"There might be some Marines talking about who's going to finish first," Timm said. "But [with] my guys, it's just about crossing the finish line and saying, 'We ran Grandma's half-marathon, even in this place.' "
