Schultz couple runs half a world apart

Being able to bond with family back home can boost the morale of any Soldier. For SGT James Schultz and his wife, Lori, running half the world apart brought them together.

“The idea that we could both run a ten miler on the same day was very inspirational to us,” said SGT Schultz of Hastings, MN from the 834th Aviation Support Battalion.

SGT Schultz participated in the Army 10 Miler in Joint Base Balad (JBB), Iraq on Oct. 5. He ran with 880 other participants and finished the race just under one hour 30 minutes.

Lori ran the Medtronic TC 10 Mile in Minneapolis, MN on the same day, however, eight hours later due to the time change. She ran with 5,542 other participants and finished her race just under two hours.

In order to motivate one another for each other’s race, the couple talked on the phone before and after each race.

“Even though we are on the other side of the world,” SGT Schultz said. “it kind of brought us together.”

To show her support at her race for SGT Schultz in Iraq, Lori wrote ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) 08-09’ on a strip of hot pink duct tape put on the back of her shirt.

“I had several people ask me about it, some former OIF participants and some people just asked what OIF meant,” Lori said. “Almost everyone said ‘tell your Soldiers thank you for their service.’ That was the best part!”

The couple’s daughter, SPC Heidi Schultz, is also touring in JBB with her father. She accompanied SGT Schultz to his race to take pictures for Lori and cheer on the runners. Although she had participated in the Twin Cities Marathon held in Minneapolis, MN in 2000, she did not participate in this event. It was mom’s turn to run a race with dad, and this was Lori’s first race.

“[It] was important to me that I did this,” Lori said.

By SPC Jodi Krause, 834th ASB Public Affairs Representative
5 Oct., 2008