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Navy Lieutenant Finishes Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon In A Bomb Suit

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What Navy Lieutenant Daniel Glenn did just to raise funds for the EOD Warrior Foundation was inspiring. Instead of wearing a regular marathoner’s loadout --- runner's attire and shoes, he decided to do the Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon in an 85-pound EOD bomb disposal suit.

That’s no joke really, running in an 85-pound  Bomb Suit for 21 Kilometers/13.1 Miles is grueling. Many airsoft players are not be able to run a full kilometer’s distance with an M249 AEG (including me). But for Lt. Glenn, raising US$10,000 for the foundation, the effort was worth it.

According to him, finishing the half-marathon was not a race, but an endurance event. He describes his run as being more a “forced march” rather than an actual run, given the weight he was carrying. He sometimes needs to take small steps to go up inclines and sometimes need to remove parts of the suit so that ice packs would be applied as the suit does not have air conditioning.

For those who have not been trained wearing a bomb disposal suit, wearing one would make them get off it within 10 minutes. Lt. Glenn not only has to carry a heavy load, but also be disciplined enough to control his body temperature so that he would not overheat. He had a team with him accompanying him to apply the ice packs to keep him cool.

He went over the time limit expected for most runners to complete, but officials and spectators let him finish the race course, even if they were anticipating that he would not be able to finish it. But then, people and officials began dedicating support to him such a medical support to ensure that he gets out of the race as a finisher or not, in good shape.

After reaching the finish line, he was not done yet. He got off the bomb suit and dropped to do some pushups. A good number of Marines also dropped down to accompany him and did pushups too.

As to how tough it is for Lt Glenn, the Navy Times reports this:

And after he crossed the finish line he was asked what was tougher for him — finishing an Ironman triathlon or this race.

“Are you kidding? This was WAY harder than the Ironman,” Glenn recalls saying. “This definitely ranks up there as one of the most difficult things that I’ve ever done.”

The Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon took place in Fredericksburg, Virginia last May 15, 2016. Lt. Glenn also wants the Guinness Book of Records to recognize is feat. Video below is from Navy Times:

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