Travis Airman to run in Air Force Marathon

  • Published
  • By Nick DeCicco
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  After failing his physical fitness test a few years ago, Master Sgt. Ron Ennis decided it was time to shape up.

Sergeant Ennis knew the unfortunate reality of the situation: If he didn't ditch the flab, the Air Force was going to ditch him.

So Sergeant Ennis got himself to a gym and began transforming himself from couch potato into fit specimen.

In the process, he made 60 pounds disappear, shrinking from 220 pounds to 160.
"The biggest reason I started to lose weight was to not fail my PT test and it just snowballed from there," he said.

The key for Sergeant Ennis was running. His efforts to get into shape started when he began to go to the gym and work on the treadmill. He worked on getting up to an hour on it, then literally took that show on the road, hitting the pavement in the outdoors.

He hasn't stopped running. Sergeant Ennis' path has now progressed to competition as he was selected to represent Air Mobility Command at the Air Force Marathon next weekend at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

The marathon marks Sergeant Ennis' third during the last year, following appearances at the California International in December 2007 and the San Diego Marathon on June 1.

Eight members were selected to represent each major command. The MAJCOMs compete against each other for the top Air Force prize.

This is the first time Sergeant Ennis made the team. A servicemember qualifies based on his or her previous run times.

Sergeant Ennis, who began preparing for next weekend's Air Force marathon in July, runs more than 50 miles per week as part of his training. He said his goal for the competition is to finish in a personal best time of three and a half hours, putting him closer to his long-term goal of 3 hours, 20 minutes.

If he can hit that mark before the age of 45, he would qualify for the Boston Marathon, a race in which Sergeant Ennis dreams of competing.

"It's an elite race for all marathoners, one you have to qualify for," he said.

Sergeant Ennis began training for marathon running in August 2005 when he was stationed at Mildenhall, Air Base in England. It took a while to work up the stamina to be able to run large distances, he said.

He's wanted to compete in the Air Force marathon since August 2006. At that time, however, he was relocated to Travis. Though he was interested again last year, a deployment overseas kept him out of the competition. It also helped him lose the final 20 pounds, he said.

Years after failing a PT test, fitness is now a key part of the sergeant's regimen. His desk is blanketed in reminders that he's a runner: several papers contain motivational quotes about running and his calendar features a couple jogging on the side of the road near a beautiful beach scene.

As part of his preparation for the Air Force Marathon race, Sergeant Ennis is going to "taper" off before the competition next week, running only three miles a day three times so he's fresh for the race come Saturday.

The marathon will take place Sept. 20. Events include the marathon, wheelchair marathon, half marathon, individual 10K and team 10K. The marathon is held in September to commemorate the founding of the Air Force as its own military service on Sept. 18, 1947.