YOUNGSTOWN AIR RESERVE STATION, Ohio -- 910th Security Forces Staff Sgt. Richard Lape was selected to represent Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) in the 20th edition of the Air Force Marathon at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio Sept. 17, 2016. From a pool of more than 80 applicants, AFRC selects four members to run the half marathon and three for the full marathon.
Lape said that AFRC chooses team members based on the fitness selection form (Air Force form 303) and information provided by runners on their history of races run and finishing times.
Lape comes from a family of runners. His father and seven of his nine siblings were avid participants in the sport. Lape began running when he was 13 in the seventh grade. In High School, Lape was a three time school record holder, top five all-time fastest cross country runner in the school’s history and member of the All-Ohio Track and Field Team in 2007.
“After High School, I attended Youngstown State University on an athletic scholarship, where I was a six time conference placer in Track and Field, a school record holder in the 4x800 meter relay and a three time conference placer in cross country,” said Lape.
In 2012, Lape competed in his first Air Force marathon, finishing in three hours, 10 minutes and 41 seconds, placing 63rd out of 3,300 runners.
“I’m doing a fourteen-week training plan for this race, with distances getting progressively longer each week,” said Lape. “As long as you get in a long run and speed work out, you’ll be good.”
Lape said that once a week he performs a speed workout that includes lots of hills. Lape also competes in local road races ranging from 5,000 meters (5k) to 10,000 meters (10k).
According to the official event website, the first official Air Force Marathon was held on September 20, 1997, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Air Force. The course on the Wright Patterson Air Force Base takes runners everywhere from the flight line to the Huffman Prairie Flying Field and the Wright Brothers Memorial Monument.