QUANTICO, Va. -- To say Petty Officer Third Class Travis Haley loves running could be an understatement. Haley, a corpsman with the Maryland-based Chemical Biological Incident Response Force, Marine Forces North is a distance runner and is putting his abilities to the test in an effort to raise money for the Wounded Warriors Project.
While the idea of service members running marathons for charity is not uncommon, Haley is pushing the idea even farther with the goal of running five, 26 mile marathons and one 50 mile ultra marathon in the span of less than two months; a goal he began Oct. 2 and plans to finish Nov. 20.
Warm-Up
Growing up in Marshfield, Wisc., Haley wasn’t born a runner; his first love was baseball. He played baseball throughout high school and college and never considered joining the track team. Later, Haley went to work as a roofer, a job that constantly had him on the road traveling from job to job. Without a regular team to play with and baseball equipment being too much of a hassle to constantly load up and transport, Haley took to running as the easiest way to stay fit.
“The easiest way for me to stay in shape was by running,” he said. “To run, all you need is a pair of shoes. Running made me feel less cramped in places and was a good way for me to get outdoors. It was a great way to take in whatever city I was currently in.”
Even though baseball was behind him; Haley still had a competitive spirit with him. This spirit naturally led him to wanting to run faster, with the goal of completing his first marathon.
“I originally only wanted to run one marathon and that was it,” he said. “My goal was never to run multiple marathons.”
Haley, 30, ran his first half marathon in 2003 at the age of 23, which Haley describes as ‘testing the waters.’ The very next year, He ran his first full marathon and left the goal of only running one marathon completely behind him. Haley was now hooked on running marathons and began training for bigger and more prominent challenges, such as the annual Boston Marathon.
“I’ve always enjoyed the challenge of running, you never get to a point where you can’t get any better,” said Haley, who now sees marathons as progressively harder ways of challenging his mental and physical abilities. “I like running, I’m just real bad at stopping.”
Petty Officer Second Class Bryan Brockmeier, also a hospital corpsman with CBIRF, elaborated on Haley’s love of marathons and running.
“When he talks to me about these marathons, he says they are almost addicting to run,” he said. “I personally don’t think running 26 miles is fun, but for him it is.”
A Steady Flow of Motrin and Ice
After completing his first couple marathons, Haley began to entertain the notion of running a marathon for charity. After turning 30, He decided the time was right to put his plan into motion.
“I always wanted to do something special and I couldn’t think of anything more valuable than raising money for Wounded Warriors. I had just turned 30 and also felt I was now prepared for an ultra marathon, it felt like the stars had aligned and the perfect time was now.”
Haley began a disciplined regimen to prepare for his upcoming challenge of five marathons and one ultra marathon. Prior to marathon training, Haley was simply running 20-25 miles a week on average. Now, Tuesdays and Thursdays were distance runs of eight and six miles respectively, Wednesdays were sprint days and Saturdays and Sundays were timed runs two to three hours long.
Haley ran his first of five marathons Oct 2 in West Virginia and recently completed his 5th marathon Oct 31, which also happened to be the annual Marine Corps Marathon.
Haley said that running in the marathon with Marines motivated him to push himself harder than he normally does and he found himself feeling the effects around mile 19 of the 26.2 mile marathon.
“Around mile 19, I slammed some Powerade and everything hurt, more than the other marathons. My pride got the better of me,” Haley said, shrugging off the memory of pain with a simple explanation. “It was the Marine Corps Marathon, my pride was involved.”
Shrugging off the pain is something he is particularly good at. Haley himself says he is not the fastest runner on the block, clocking in at 19 minutes and 42 seconds on a three mile run, but Haley is a distance runner and enjoys the challenge of pushing and battling his own limitations, mile by mile.
“The runs have taken a toll on me,” Haley said in a ‘no-big-deal’ manner while sipping on water after the Marine Corps Marathon. “I go home after a race and I try not to lie down because I probably won’t get up again. I’ve been living on a steady flow of Motrin and ice, and I’m now down to seven toe nails.”
But, his physical ailments are just merely the price he has to pay to accomplish a goal important to himself.
Motivation
Driving Haley during these marathons has been his goal of raising money for the Wounded Warriors Project, something he feels very passionately about.
“I chose to run all these marathons to gain people’s attention. Veterans are very important to me. I have friends and family in all branches of the military. Nothing is more heartbreaking for me than to hear about a returning veteran suffering from some sort of mental or physical injury and then receive neglect from their government or community.”
Brockmeier said that raising money for Wounded Warriors has been Haley’s number one focus instead of any sort of praise or attention.
“He doesn’t do these things to get credit for himself, he doesn’t brag. From day one he was always talking with me about raising money and running for charity and then he started adding more races once he found one. We all think he’s crazy for running all these marathons, but everyone in our command supports him.”
Haley’s last race is the JFK 50 Mile ultra marathon in Hagerstown, Md., and is scheduled for Nov. 20.
For more information, or to donate, visit Haley’s Web site at http://wwpproudsupporter.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=308932&supid=305671738