Area runner goes distance for troops

  • Published
  • By Karen Guendel and Capt. Geoff Buteau
  • 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. --  Many runners enter the Boston Marathon to achieve personal goals such as getting in shape or setting a personal best time. But Michelle Martini, a Boston College junior from Lexington, Mass., crossed the finish line to show her appreciation for deployed troops.

Ms. Martini collected sponsorship pledges for her participation in the April 20 Boston Marathon, raising more than $2,500 for Hanscom's Troop Care Support Drive.

"My brother, Brian, is a Green Beret in the Army, so choosing the care package drive was an obvious choice for me," she said.

Miss Martini first became familiar with Hanscom's care package drive when she helped assemble boxes for deployed troops during the summer of 2008. "It was so much fun to put together the care packages, knowing that a deserving soldier overseas would receive it unexpectedly," she said.

But as Ms. Martini learned, without money for shipping supplies and postage, the packages would never make it to the troops.

According to 1st Lt. Colleen Carey, the Troop Care Support Drive lead, which is part of the Company Grade Officer Council, at the time, many people are eager to donate the goods that go into a care package, "but then we don't have any money to ship it and it stays in storage until we finally get a check."

Ms. Martini saw a way to solve this problem. "It costs $15 in postage to send one package overseas," she said. "My original goal was to raise enough money to send 50 packages. I sent out donation letters to my friends and family, and ended up raising enough money to send more than 170 packages."

Her gift has already financed the packing and shipping for the whole of Hanscom's most recent drive, said 2nd Lt. Ben Heruska, CGOC treasurer. In total, the latest drive reached 80 deployed servicemembers, including several Hanscom Airmen.

Wearing a T-shirt reading, "in support of the troops," Miss Martini completed the 26.2 mile race in just over four hours. Although this was her first marathon, it will not be her last, she said.

"Some people say that running the marathon is a great experience but they would never do it again. I actually loved running in it, and would definitely do it again."

She also said she plans to stay involved with Hanscom's care package drive. "All in all, running the marathon was something I really enjoyed, and a small sacrifice in comparison to what our troops do every day."