Wisconsin Guard Marathon Team runner-up at national meet

June 9, 2010 - Five of the seven Wisconsin National Guard members to take part in a National Guard marathon last month qualified for this year's All-Guard team - a first for Wisconsin.

Attending the National Guard-Lincoln Track Club Marathon in Lincoln, Neb. on May 1 were: Capt. Mike Western of Waverly (Iowa), 128th Air Control Squadron; Capt. Seth Kaste of Sun Prairie, 128th Air Control Squadron; Staff Sgt. Jason Kirch of Prairie du Sac, 106th Engineer Detachment; Tech. Sgt. Melanie Peters of Windsor, 115th Fighter Wing; Tech. Sgt. Mike Zeigle of Sun Prairie, team captain, 115th Fighter Wing; Master Sgt. LeRoy DePas of Kaukauna, 115th Fighter Wing; and Spc. Nathan Lee of Eau Claire, 106th Engineer Detachment.

Forty-seven states and territories sent Guard teams to this year's race, the National Guard marathon championships and the qualifying race to select the All-Guard Marathon Team. Western, Kirch, Kaste, Zeigle, and Peters all qualified for this year's All-Guard team, which competes in race events throughout the country and participates in recruiting and retention activities.

Western was the top Wisconsin finisher with a time of 2:53:33. Kirch came in at 3:02:48, followed by Kaste at 3:05:16. The combined finish times of Western, Kirch and Kaste put the Wisconsin team in second place overall out of the 47 states and territories competing. Wisconsin won the event in 1988.

Peters finished fourth in the 35-39 age group at 3:34:32; Lee finished in 4:17:00, and Ziegle took first place in the 55-59 age group with a time of 3:07:07. DePas competed in the half-marathon event.

At the same time a parallel event, also sponsored by the Lincoln Track Club, took place at Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo. National Guard runners in that race were also eligible to qualify for this year's All-Guard Team using their finishing times at that race.

Western, Kaste and Kirch are carrying on a tradition of running together as a team. Western and Kaste ran together on their high school team in Cadott, Wis. In college, Western, Kaste and Kirch ran as members of the University of Wisconsin-Stout team.