FRIDAY FOTO (November 1, 2013)

Afghanistan Marathon

(Marine Corps Photo by Sgt. Bobby J. Yarbrough)

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner came to mind when we first saw this photo on the Defense Department website.

It shows Marine Lt. Col. Steve Schmid running the Marine Corps Marathon Forward at Camp Leatherneck in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province on October 27. The event coincided with the annual Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. (see below).

Schmid finished first overall with a time of 2:41:36. (That’s two hours, 41 minutes and 36 seconds).

Now, your 4GWAR editor has run the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington twice (in 2001 and 2002). But we can’t imagine running 26.2 miles in such an austere location — note the razorwire barrier on the left side of the photo. The photos and video from the Afghan version of the MCM make it look hot, dusty, sandy, hot and — frankly — boring, compared to the crowds and   monuments that are the hallmark of the Marine Corps Marathon in DC.

To see a slideshow of the road race in Afghanistan, click here,

Now here’s an interesting photo from this year’s race in Washington. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos is shown congratulating a competitor at the finish line. To see more photos, click here. They don’t really capture the mass of runners and spectators that turn out for the race. More than 30,000 ran in Washington. More than 300 ran in Afghanistan.

(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Clayton Filipowicz)