ASSOCIATED PRESS First Lt. Mike Baskin of Santiago, Calif., won Afghanistan's first marathon yesterday in Tirin Kot.

Army marathoners
race through
a danger zone

U.S. soldiers finish a run that
mirrors the Honolulu race

Army Capt. Ivan Hurlburt finished yesterday's Honolulu Marathon, but he wasn't even in Hawaii.

Instead, he ran the 26-mile race in Afghanistan -- 7,500 miles from the islands -- along with 184 other soldiers and civilians, who finished their run about three hours before the Honolulu Marathon was kicked off in Hawaii.

Hurlburt, a Hawaii-based soldier, was the driving force in setting up the Honolulu Marathon at Firebase Ripley, a remote camp near Tirin Kot in central Uruzgan province. Honolulu Marathon spokesman Pat Bigold said the race went smoothly -- as did its Hawaii counterpart. There were only small injuries reported in the Hawaii race, and traffic problems were minor, he said.

A Schofield Barracks soldier, 1st Lt. Mike Baskin, won the Afghan marathon after running in the thin mountain air for more than three hours. He burst into tears at the finish line, remembering four comrades killed in recent fighting.

"I just thought about those four guys when I crossed, that they won't be going home with us, and it kind of hit me," Baskin told the Associated Press.

Baskin and Hurlburt are from the same unit, the 25th Infantry Division's 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment.

They are operating in one of Afghanistan's most hostile areas. The unit suffered its latest casualties when a bomb ripped through a patrol near Deh Rawood, another town in Uruzgan, on Nov. 24, killing two soldiers. A similar attack killed two other soldiers in October.

About 16 members of the battalion are Honolulu Marathon veterans.

Officials said the idea to hold the race was started after one soldier said he would have liked to go back to or the marathon.

"We're able to do something for these military people ... who are defending us, supporting us," said Mike Burns, president of ChampionChip USA Computer Services, the Michigan company that has recorded finish times at the Honolulu Marathon for 18 years.

"It's just a small thing that we're able to do to reconnect them with home."

Yesterday's marathon is believed to be the first held in Afghanistan.

ASSOCIATED PRESS Some 200 soldiers and civilians working for the U.S. military began a marathon race yesterday at Firebase Ripley, a remote camp near Tirin Kot in central Uruzgan province, Afghanistan, facing high altitude and a bumpy track as well as the threat of attack.

Troops from across the country participated -- flown in by helicopter for the occasion. At least one Afghan also ran, but did not finish the race, the Associated Press said.

Before the marathon's start, the assembled runners cheered as two military jets thundered low over the base, which lies 4,500 feet above sea level.

Runners wore microchips on their shoes bearing the Honolulu Marathon logo to record their progress and finish times, which were then posted on the marathon's Web site (www. honolulumarathon.org).

Hurlburt had run the race four times before going into yesterday's competition, which his wife said he finished -- despite the area's high altitude, a bumpy track and the threat of an attack.

The competitors, shorn of their guns and flak jackets, ran around a circuit in shorts and T-shirts under cloudy skies and in temperatures of about 55 degrees. Wooden palm trees dotted the course, and a sign designated a small hill as "Diamond Head," the highest point in the Honolulu course.

Foxholes were put in along the track for runners to jump into in case of a rocket or mortar attack. Runners were also protected by fellow soldiers, including those in guard towers.

"The conditions are not necessarily the best for training for the marathon," said Hurlburt's wife, Anita, who lives in Honolulu.

"But the results are really unimportant. When it comes to this, the fact that he was able to create this and he was able to pull this through and he was able to organize this ... it's been amazing."

Hurlburt said she spoke to her husband after he finished the race, and he said the participants were happy to have the opportunity to run.

"It was a definitely a big thing," she said. "I never thought it would get here."

Hurlburt's unit left eight months ago for a one-year deployment in Afghanistan.

After yesterday's race, finishers in Afghanistan were presented with the same medals, certificates and black T-shirts as Honolulu runners. Their times are to be recorded and listed in the same booklet.