Marines


Record Breaking Win at Quantico Tri
29 Aug 2018

The Quantico 12K presented by Pohanka Nissan and the Quantico Tri were held concurrently this morning at the "Crossroads of the Marine Corps" in the unique setting of Officer Candidates School (OCS). The 12K was dominated by Matt O'Neil, 23, of Woodbridge.

 

O'Neil broke the course record by nearly three minutes with a finish time of

40:17 and finished ahead of second place by six minutes. This incredible runner is no stranger to the MCM Event Series, as he also won first place in June 2018 at the Belleau Wood 8K. O'Neil is training for the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) in October and describes his back-to-back MCM Event Series wins as, "a step in the right direction. I went out at the pace I wanted to but I still have a lot more miles to go for the marathon. This is my first time ever doing this type of distance and it was a lot of fun, I really enjoyed it and I would do it again."

 

Marine Corps Maj. Kevin Soeder, 41, of Stafford earned first place today in the Quantico Tri with a time of 1:06:28. This is Maj. Soeder's second Quantico Tri first place win, as he also stood on the podium in 2014.

"I am feeling good, it was a great experience and all of the support was wonderful. I look forward to coming back next year." The Quantico Tri course featured a start near OCS with a 750 meter open water swim in the Potomac River, a transition to a 20K cycle tour of Marine Corps Base Quantico, and concluded with a 5K run. Highlights from other top finishers:

 

*       "The hills were fun and I just ran as hard as I could," said

Quantico 12K second place finisher, Adam Lowe, 36, of Mechanicsville, MD (46:05). On the heels of Lowe was Gary Bush, 39, of La Plata, MD, who is training for the MCM and came in with a time of 46:35.

 

*       Quantico 12K females were led by Sandra Pahl, 40, Dumfries, with

a time of 55:11. The United States Naval Academy alumni also won the Devil Dog Double in May. Second place went to Jenna Scholz, 33, of Alexandria, with a time of 56:19. Scholz' athleticism is in peak performance after having twins last year and winning the Semper 5ive in May. Third place went to Heather Albright, 35, from Stafford, with a time of 57:15.

 

*       Marine Corps Maj. Kenneth Parisi, 41, from Montclair, earned

second place today in the Quantico Tri with a time of 1:07:51. Maj. Parisi was followed by FBI Agent, Scott Foster, 42, from McLean who won third place with 1:08:14.

 

*        Former United States Naval Academy swimmer and Marine Corps Maj.

Jamie Ash, 33, from Woodbridge, led all females in the Quantico Tri with 1:15:32. In second place was Lola Lahi, 47, of Washington, D.C., with 1:15:45.

Lahi is a competitive triathlete and was one of the first athletes in the water this morning. The third female finisher was Beth Stockel, 41, of Springfield, with 1:18:11.

 

Both events combined to welcome 1,193 participants to the finish (617 in Quantico 12K and 576 in Quantico Tri) with hundreds more in attendance cheering on the athletes. MCINCR-MCBQ’s Commanding Officer Col. William C. Bentley III competed in the Tri and shared, "I really appreciate all of the work that went into this event. This is a terrific venue and I look forward to next year."

 

Other notes from today's events include:

 

*       Today's youngest athlete in the Tri was Grace Meier, 11, from

Quantico, who ran with her father, Marine Corps Maj. Shawn Meier, 36.

Maj. Meier shares, "She had support the whole way through," as the entire family and both sets of grandparents cheered at the finish line.

 

*       A group of five runners from the Staff Noncommissioned Officer

Academy participated in the Quantico 12K. "Unit cohesion and camaraderie; we’re all buddies and we all work together," shared Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Sam Baird on why they ran together.

 

*       Boy Scouts of America Troop 581 rewarded runners by grilling and

distributing hot dogs.

 

*       Runners were treated to a feast of post-event nourishment options

including watermelon, bananas, hot dogs, Dole fruit cups, Jelly Belly, Wegmans granola bars, Bai water and Bodyarmor.

 

Unofficial results are available at www.marinemarathon.com <http://www.marinemarathon.com/> <http://www.marinemarathon.com <http://www.marinemarathon.com/> > . Runners may continue their commitment to #RunWithTheMarines by participating in the MCM Kids Run on Oct. 27; MCM10K on Oct. 28; and the Turkey Trot on Nov. 17.


Marine Corps Base Quantico