DRC Teams Up With Marine Platoon

Status Update on the Program and Legion 1 | Overview | Sponsoring a Marine | Other Ways to Help

Update on Legion 1

12/01/08 - Pictures from Legion 1's half marathon in Okinawa!

11/13/08 - Legion 1 ran their half marathon! Well, kind of. Event shirts and finisher medals are in the process of being shipped.

From 2nd Lieutenant Ryan Bintz: "We finally got a chance to complete the half. Of course, it was done in true Marine Corps fashion. We had to run on the second day of a two-day port stop. It was also the day after the Marine Corps Birthday. Therefore there was a slight hangover handicap for many of the runners. Because the liberty schedule and details were unknown prior to the actual day of liberty our plan was this: “tomorrow we will run a half marathon. Details to follow. Any questions?”. Running at our port would have been miserable so we made a trip back to Camp Hansen (Okinawa). The runners took off in the morning with a plan to take two different bus trips in order to make the hour+ transit to camp. I went with SSgt Romero in a duty vehicle under the assumption we would make it there first. The runners made good time but the Battalion duty vehicle was late and then got tasked out while on the way to pick us up. The runners waited for hours and finally went into Marine mode and decided they had a tasking statement and intent with an absence of leadership so they decided to push (as I would expect them to). The idea was to map the route with a vehicle odometer. The duty vehicle’s odometer was broke. There was no vehicle in Camp Hansen we could use and SSgt Romero didn’t have his GPS. It was storming so it probably wouldn’t have worked anyway. Therefore all they had was an estimated distance of the fence line. I eventually got to camp and started running the perimeter after they had started. To add some more friction it rained for the entire run.

To sum up, the Marines ran something around 13.1 miles with no plan, no water stops, no food, soaking wet, on short warning, on a darn-near empty base, with nothing at the end except protein bars from a convenient store, some fast-food, and beer.

One Marine stopped after cellulitis in his knee burst and the pus started draining down his leg. Another Marine with some berthing crud couldn’t stop throwing up so he stopped as well. Everyone else finished.

I don’t know how far I ran. I had to be keeping at least an 8.5 min pace and I ran for an hour and 55 minutes. According to what we told regarding the perimeter distance, my route was well over 13. I should be good.

Overall, a good deployment story. Thanks for the challenge and all the support. The first picture attempt with these computers fell through (seeing a logistical theme here?). I’ll try to remedy that. "

11/04/08 - From 2nd Lieutenant Ryan Bintz: "As for deployment news, we’re back on ship (obviously because of the email). The Philippines was a great time. It was unbelievably hot. Instead of setting up camp is the jungle that was everywhere we set up in a valley of sand made by a volcanic eruption is the early 90’s. Leave it to the Marine Corps to find a desert in the middle of the jungle. The local villagers set up a market outside the camp where we could buy food. We ate a lot of meat skewers: beef, chicken, pork, goat, and water buffalo. Other favorites were pansit noodles, cao piao (pronounced show pow), lumpia (egg rolls) and pork adobo. The most traumatic food was an egg pronounced “Balloot”. Instead of an un-fertilized chicken egg like we eat, it’s a fertilized and semi-incubated duck egg. All the Marines ate one just to prove to the PhilMars we could do it. We were training with Philippine Marines the whole time and we fell into a fun schedule. After the work day we met up with our Philippine counterpart Lt’s and went to the market where we had a dinner arranged from the night prior. We learned jungle survival and knife fighting form the PhilMars and they got to work with our weapons and technology which they found fascinating. After we got comfortable we started acting more native, living off native food rather than just trying it for fun, bathing in the river, washing our clothes in the river, etc.. We did some community relations work at the local school. While the support elements did the construction and medical we got to play with the kids. We taught some informal English classes, played chess, handed out candy and athletic supplies, and played basketball. The little kids just wanted to be carried around for some reason. I spent the majority of a day carrying one kid after another on my shoulders with the kid wearing my hat."

9/27/08 - Thanks to the efforts of DRC members and the local community, we have raised $2,200 for our marine platoon we've dubbed "Legion 1".

9/26/08 - After opening it to his company, 2nd Lt Ryan Bintz reports that we're at 40 to 45 participants in the remote location DRC Half. Legion 1 has been deployed to sea. Due to their duties, it looks like they will not be able to run the DRC Half on November 2, but they are planning to participate November 4 or 5.

Since they are at sea, it will take a bit longer for packages to get to them, especially the larger packages. 2nd Lt. Ryan Bintz's father, Dave Bintz, who is a DRC Training Coach, said, "From the experience of being at sea myself, I know I was extremely happy just getting cards and letters. Another easy thing to send are magazines of course."

Thank you to everyone who is personally sponsoring a Marine and giving him a taste of home with your communications.

8/23/08 - It was featured on the NBC5 Local News on Friday, August 22. See the video here or here's a brief text version of the news story... And it was also featured in a Dallas Morning News article on Saturday, August 23! Read the story here...

Overview

Before "Legion 1" (or more properly, 1st Platoon, Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division) deploys this July to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit in Okinawa, their platoon leader asked about the possibility of becoming "Running Mates" with the Dallas Running Club.

2nd Lieutenant Ryan Bintz had heard so much about the DRC and its support of the community that he believed it would be a great opportunity for his platoon to establish a state-side connection for the men of Legion 1 while away from home. They will be gone for at least six months, training, traveling, and missing home. Conceptually, each marine in Legion 1 could have a running mate within the DRC that can be his state-side training colleague. LT Bintz calls his platoon "a running platoon," one that prides itself on its ability to move fast on foot and get the job done, much like the members of the DRC.

Club member Brittany Baker has volunteered to serve as the communication link between Legion 1 and the DRC. Presently, planning is in place for the Marines to participate, remotely, in the DRC Half Marathon, held on November 2. They will look into the possibility of measuring out a 13.1 mile course wherever they are on the date of the DRC Half, start their participants off at exactly the same time the race starts here in Dallas, and then "radio in" the results as soon as possible. The DRC will be providing bibs, technical event shirts by New Balance, and finisher medals to the Marine competitors. In recognition of the sacrifice being made by these men, member Brittany Baker will be seeking volunteers to contribute on behalf of each marine in Legion 1.

For DRC members participating in the Fall Training Program, the famous (or infamous) hill training exercise known as "Ryans" will have a personal aspect. The "Ryan" drills are named after 2nd LT Ryan Bintz, USMC, who just happens to be the younger son of Coach Dave. It is an opportunity for DRC trainees to enjoy the experience of Marine Corps discipline.

3 Mile Physical Fitness Test Results

Legion 1 just recently completed their 3 mile PFT (Physical Fitness Test). The names and results are posted below. As you can see, this is a highly competitive group of young men, dedicated to running fast and defending our freedom, but not necessarily in that order. If you are interested in sponsoring a member of Legion 1, please contact Brittany.

Sponsoring a Marine

Here's exactly where your money goes when you donate to help:

• DRC Half entry - covers the cost of the event technical shirt, racing bib, and finisher medal (Legion 1 will participate in the DRC Half remotely, from where they are stationed)
• Shipping costs for DRC Half items and other donated supplies to get them overseas to the marines
• Buying needed supplies

To sponsor a Marine, click here to donate money for us to provide the above items to "Legion 1".

Other Ways to Help

Legion 1 gave us a list of supplies they would love to get from home. Please help us provide for them.

• Sport Gels (GU, Powergel, Clif Shots)
• Socks
• Cookies, candy, snacks that have individually packaged servings so a container can be shared among a unit
• Phone Cards so they can call family and friends at home
• As the holidays (like Thanksgiving, Christmas) approach, anything that reminds them of home can help a lot

To donate, contact club member Brittany Baker.

Last revised July 15, 2008