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Sergeant runs to represent his service

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Carolyn Viss
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  While Airmen all over the world run to stay "fi t to fi ght," one sergeant here runs, on average, more than 40 miles a week to represent his country.
 
Born and raised in Barbourville, Ky., Tech. Sgt. Donnie Gray, 379th Expeditionary Communications Squadron voice network systems specialist, joined the Air Force to better himself - and has done just that. Now 39, he has run on semi-collegiate Air Force, NATO, and U.S. Air Forces Europe teams during his 11 years in the Air Force.
 
"I've always wanted to do my best and be my best," Sergeant Gray said. After running in high school 20 years ago, he "had a dream of competing at a higher level" so started pushing his body "past the pain to the endorphin level" to give him that edge. 

He joined a running club at his first duty station, Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., where he met his wife, Blanca. In the high, mountainous altitude, his running career began to bloom. Balancing a military career and a family, he became the No. 1 runner for Pacific Air Forces at Yokota Air Base, Japan, from 2000 to 2004. He wanted to compete against the best, just to see how good he could become.
 
"No one in any other branch beat me in any of the 5k and 10k races I ran [at Yokota]," Sergeant Gray said, his Southern drawl echoing with the joy of the memory. "I began running international races off base, placing in the top 10 percent out of hundreds of thousands of participants," with a half marathon time of 1:16. 

Now deployed to Southwest Asia, Sergeant Gray's best race time for a 5k here was 16:08 in February, and no American here has beat his time during AEF 1-2.
 
To keep in good shape, Sergeant Gray trains six days a week, eating home-cooked meals of chicken, fish, and rice. Even on this, his first deployment, with longer work hours and frequent dust storms, he has kept up his running "addiction."
 
For him, it's not a matter of just training for the next marathon - it's a lifestyle he maintains. He and his wife now include their 4-year-old daughter, Bonita, and their 1-year-old, Isabella, when they hit the trails or the track, making workout time family bonding time.
 
"I want to set an example to all Airmen," said the 12-time marathon runner. "The process of maintaining fitness and discipline is a lifelong process."
 
Even though he has had "some bad races," Sergeant Gray said he always keeps in mind that he's "a great athlete," and that mental strength keeps him focused. "When I run, I don't listen to music," he said. "I am a very determined, self motivated person. I already have music in my head: of who I want to be, what I want to do and what I want to achieve ... and I think about how good God's been to me."
 
Sergeant Gray hopes to finish the Air Force marathon in September at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and set a new personal best for himself: to run a full marathon in less than three hours for the first time.
 
"I feel like running balances my body out," Sergeant Gray said. "But more than that, I do this for my country - to represent the U.S. Air Force. Even if it's not a military competition, I put my name on the list with my rank and 'USAF,' so that when they announce me, they say, 'Air Force [Sergeant] Donnie Gray.' It makes me proud to represent the military by doing my absolute best."