U.S. Soldiers Run in First Afghan Marathon

[Khephra]

TIRIN KOT, Afghanistan -- A U.S. soldier burst into tears as he won Afghanistan's first marathon Sunday. But he wasn't crying for joy.

Lt. Mike Baskin said he was thinking about four comrades killed in recent fighting. Baskin, of Santiago, Calif., battled the country's thin mountain air for more than three hours before crossing the finish line.

"I just thought about those four guys when I crossed, that they won't be going home with us, and it kind of hit me," he told an Associated Press reporter at the race.

Some 200 soldiers and civilians working for the U.S. military competed in the 26.2-mile race at Firebase Ripley, a remote military camp near Tirin Kot in central Uruzgan province.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-afghan-marathon,0,7663650.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines

[Guarionex]

1. fitting....

that a U.S. soldier wins an AFGHAN marathon...

puts a real good face on colonialism...doesn't it?

Yes...that's what the Afghans want...marathons...

[daleo]

2. I doubt if many Afghans bothered with this race

"Some 200 soldiers and civilians working for the U.S. military competed in the 26.2-mile race at Firebase Ripley, a remote military camp near Tirin Kot in central Uruzgan province..."

How do we know Russians didn't do this sort of thing as well?