Not an ultra but I bet is was one damn scary race

Question: Do guns pointed at you make you run faster... let's see. It is not an ultramarathon but it deserves a mention.

U.S. forces run marathon in Taliban stronghold

Emotional race timed to coincide with Honolulu Marathon

The Associated Press

TIRIN KOT, Afghanistan - A U.S. soldier burst into tears as he won Afghanistan’s first marathon Sunday. But he wasn’t crying for joy.

Lt. Mike Baskin said he was thinking about four comrades killed in recent fighting. Baskin, of Santiago, Calif., battled the country’s thin mountain air for more than three hours before crossing the finish line.

“I just thought about those four guys when I crossed, that they won’t be going home with us, and it kind of hit me,” he told an Associated Press reporter at the race.

Some 200 soldiers and civilians working for the U.S. military competed in the 26.2-mile race at Firebase Ripley, a remote military camp near Tirin Kot in central Uruzgan province.

The Afghan National Olympic Committee said the race was the first marathon in the history of this war-ravaged country.

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