Jonathan Vann
Staff Writer
For the second year in a row, members of the Cameron University ROTC program put together a team to participate the annual Oklahoma City Marathon on April 30.
Since the inaugural race in 2001, the marathon has been a tribute to the individuals who lost their lives in the the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building on April 19, 1995.
MS IV cadet and team captain Robert McCoy said he extremely grateful for the heightened support the ROTC program has given the event.
“Right now, we have sixteen members for the marathon team,” he said, “which is up drastically from last year [when] the program had only six participants.”
For the past three weeks, the marathon team has endured a rigorous training regimen to prepare for the race. The team trains six days a week with hour-long runs and other runs of up to 20 miles at a time.
MS III cadet Joshua Garcia said that this routine keeps everyone on the team on track.
“The training regimen is really good,” said Garcia. “Mr. McCoy is definitely the team pusher, but everybody pushes you in the group.”
He also said that one of his main goals is to run the full marathon since he never ran 26.2 miles before in his life.
MS III cadet Nick Meaux did the half marathon with the team last year. He said this year provides him with the perfect opportunity to fulfill a life-long goal.
“For me, I am hoping to accomplish a full marathon at least once in my lifetime,” said Meaux. “This is kind of a bucket list thing for me, and I am trying to do it in under four hours, which is normal time for someone running their first marathon.”
He also said that he is looking forward to representing Cameron University and its R.O.T.C. program.
A member of last year’s marathon squad, McCoy had different hopes for the race and his fellow cadets who run in it.
“My overall goal is to unify this team and to challenge them to limits that they did not know were possible,” he said. “I would really like them to see them grow into themselves and just be able to see that growth continue into other areas of their lives.”