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Sailor's passion pushes full speed ahead

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Travis Edwards
  • 376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
TRANSIT CENTER AT MANAS, Kyrgyzstan --  What is passion?

Passion is putting up with only sleeping a few hours a night. It's living off of peanut butter sandwiches and cheese crackers. It's having the fortitude to push past your own body's limits for the sake of the race.

She knows passion.

You could spot this Sailor taking first place in almost every running-based event here; or maybe in the fitness center, working out for hours, using a unique routine, activating nearly every muscle group. Known for having great speed and strength, she was seen wearing a bright, yellow-orange, Navy shirt running around the base or in the forest blazing up the running trail.

She isn't just in it for the healthy lifestyle; she said she's staying in shape for her next adventure race.

This non-stop, multi-day, multi-sport competition encompasses running, mountain biking, trekking, land navigation and a host of other sport-related events.

Lt. Cmdr. Melissa Coombes, Navy Central Command Forward Headquarters Manas/Qatar assistant officer in charge, can run for days -- for fun. Literally, for days at a time, she has raced anywhere from 24 hours to seven days; from the mountains of West Virginia to the sweltering heat of South Africa.

"It's fun; I enjoy doing it," said Coombes, a reservist out of Spokane, Wash. "Once I get started, my stubbornness kicks in and I won't give up."

Coombes started her love of racing when she was 19. She began with orienteering, which is a fast-paced sport that requires navigational skills; participants are given a map and compass to navigate to points in a diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain.

Just two short years later, her love of orienteering blossomed into a life-long craving for adventure racing.

Her passion for racing has taken her to more than 10 countries around the world where she has completed more than 50 different races, to include a race in South Africa.

"When I raced in Africa, we had a three-person team. It was a blast; it was a seven-day event and a started really slow because I wasn't feeling my best," she said. "But I didn't let me beat myself; half way through, I started feeling better."

She explained how some of the designated stopping areas had native dancers, as well as food and spirits waiting to entertain incoming racers.

"It was a blast!" she said smiling. "I remember seeing the kids running with us, asking to ride the bikes we were on, what an experience." Her stubbornness kicked in toward the end of the race while biking. She ended up tethering her two male teammates to her bike and hauling them past finish line.

Coombes and her team took first place in that event. She currently holds about 30 first-place victories in orienteering and adventure races.

But, when she isn't running, this 34 year old is an associate at a law firm where she says her employers there are accommodating to her love of competition.

"My firm is super supportive," said the former Navy helicopter pilot. "My team and I were going to race in an Adventure Race World Championship in Costa Rica last December. My firm was all about giving me the time to go, and was thrilled for me."

However, Coombes received order to mobilize and deploy to the Transit Center at Manas and then to Qatar, where she is now, tracking Navy individual augmentees in and out of Afghanistan.

"Even though I'm not actively out completing races, I'm still keeping up with my fitness," she said. "My workout routine ebbs and flows depending on work constraints and opportunities where I live.


"In San Diego, I used to run just over an hour, five days a week and I would go for long runs on the weekends. In Pensacola, (Fla.,) I raced road bikes on a team and spent the weekends training with the team on long rides or racing around the area. I fit in runs whenever I could on trails, and had a six-mile course around my neighborhood," she explained.

However, while deployed, the one thing she said that has been consistent is training 23 times a week; mostly body weight and core exercises like pull-ups, push-ups, dips and handstands. "It changes all the time. I bore easily, so I like to switch it up," Coombes said.

The next event on Coombes' list is an orienteering World Championship in South Dakota scheduled for the fall.

If anyone is looking into getting into orienteering or adventure racing, Coombes recommends a quick search on the internet for your local or regional area. "It really is a challenge. It takes perseverance, persistence and a whole lot of determination to finish your first one. Stick to it and don't doubt yourself, when you start doubting yourself is when you can start seeing yourself quit - never quit."