Despite the chilly start to the day, with the temperature hovering around the freezing point, hundreds of Marines from around the National Capital Region turned out for Friday’s field meet to benefit the Navy and Marine Corps Relief Society.

Eighteen teams competed in seven events at Butler stadium, including flag football, tug of war, tire flipping, “dizzy izzy,” a “running of the ranks” relay race, a HMMWV pull and a series of team physical fitness events conducted while carrying a log (referred to as log PT).

Marine Corps Community Services provided a hot meal free of charge to all participants, and the USO provided snacks and drinks throughout the day. Music played throughout the day to keep the participants motivated throughout the day, and corpsmen were on standby to deal with injuries, though fortunately there were few.

The final event of the day, and the one most enthusiastically watched, was the tug of war. Teams battled it out on a large patch of muddy ground created next to the track, and not a single participant walked away clean. After a round in which his team emerged victorious, a mud-covered Gunnery Sgt. Eric Frederick, from Marine Corps Intelligence Activity, quoting a line from Gladiator, yelled out, “Are you not entertained?”

The Marines of MCIA won the meet, the team from The Basic School came in second, and the team from Marine Security Augmentation Unit came in third. Approximately $2,000 was raised for NMCRS.

— Writer: ebaker@quanticosentryonline.com