Former Marine Sgt. Soles set a Guinness World Record on Halloween when the 6-foot-2 combat veteran ran the entire 26.2-mile Marine Corps Marathon wearing a gas mask. The gas mask creates oxygen resistance levels in the body between 20 to 30 percent. His official time was 4 hours, 29 minutes and 2 seconds when he crossed the finish line.
Soles is the founder Team X-T.R.E.M.E., (Train, Rehabilitate, Empower, Motivate, Endure), a non-profit group drawing attention to troops recovering and living with injuries (www.teamxtremerunning.org).
He dedicated the marathon to Marine Cpl. John Michael Peck, 24, who had both arms and legs amputated after injuries suffered in May when he stepped on pressure plate bomb while on patrol in southern Afghanistan. Peck is going through rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in the District, and was waiting for Soles at the finish line Sunday.
What makes Peck’s story so inspiring for Soles, is that Peck had chosen to re-enlist again after already being injured in Iraq 2007. He had suffered traumatic brain injury and recovered. As for the bombing in Afghanistan, Peck told Soles, “Thank God I was the only one injured in the bombing.”
What do you hope the American people learn from what you’re doing and what your organization stands for?
Sometimes people try to make the war a political issue and they forget about the troops that are out there doing what they are supposed to do. You don’t have to support the war to support our wounded veterans. As far as I checked, there is no draft they volunteered and that’s what makes them so special. They deserve the respect and compensation to live their lives as whole men women, who have made the ultimate sacrifice to fight for everything we stand for as a nation. These are our true living and breathing American heroes and they need to be recognized as that.
What prompted you to start Team X-T.R.E.M.E.?
I ran my first 10k in June, 2009 after I had lost my mother that winter to cancer. I needed to do something and I just decided to run with a gas mask to push myself even harder. When I ran with the mask I was inspired by all the attention I was getting. I wanted to channel that to something that was important to me and that was wounded-veterans. I come from a military family and honestly I felt like there was not enough focus on our injured veterans.
Why the mask?
We accept these challenges not for fame or fortune but to represent those that face challenges far greater than running 26 miles in a gas mask. We do it to represent and honor our wounded brothers and sisters in arms that would do the same for us. … The mask symbolizes perseverance in the face of insurmountable odds and overcoming mental and physical obstacles. The challenges and obstacles we accept in the mask last for hours. … Our wounded veterans endure theirs for a lifetime.
How long did you train for Sunday’s marathon?
All in all, two years. We took a basic 13-week marathon-training program, and with the mask the training was intensified because there’s a 25 to 35 percent oxygen resistance. Your body has to get used to that type of resistance.
Tell me something about yourself that most people don’t know?
My nickname to my closest friends is “Jer Bear.” I do protection work for [Olympic swimmer] Michael Phelps, and we were out one night at an event and out of nowhere Michael said, “You’re really not that tough of a guy, you’re Jer Bear.” I had to laugh, I thought it was funny, and since then my friends call me Jer Bear.
What went through your mind at the moment you crossed the finish line?
After coming across the finish line, I remember Tara (Team Xtreme V.P.) helping me off the the race-course to where Cpl. Peck was waiting for me. I didn’t realize how weak I was until I could feel my legs wobbling, she had to literally hold me up. When I saw Cpl. Peck was waiting by the finish line, sitting there and seeing that smile on his face, I knew how he felt — I knew he had been honored. The Guinness adjudicator presented the official record to me and then I in turn presented it to Cpl. Peck. I saluted Cpl. Peck and asked him in the Marine Corps way, for the “all-clear,” and then I took my mask off. I gave him my Marine Corp finishers medal and so did my support team. It was at that moment I felt like Jer Bear, when Cpl. Peck said, “Come over hear and give me a hug you sweaty son of a bitch.” I wouldn’t have expected anything else from a Marine. Words can do no justice for that moment. – Sara Carter
