Marine Sgt. Michael Blair remembers the Humvee’s door blowing off its hinges during a 2006 patrol in Iraq. The metal floor plates rising into his legs. Doctors said he’d never run again.
No matter — Blair, who can walk nowadays, will compete in Sunday’s 30th Marine Corps Marathon on a hand cycle. He’s part of Team Semper Fi that includes 80 injured service men and women and 815 members overall hoping to raise $400,000 for the Semper Fi Fund. The Silver Spring resident’s fourth marathon is meant to inspire fellow injured servicemen.
“I see guys missing both of their legs or arms — it’s overwhelming,” he said. “We’ve got this one guy whose both legs are gone and serious hand issues. He saw the hand cranks [on my bike] and we’re hooking him up. I like to help the guys.”
Semper Fi teammate Jose Ramos was helping others as a Navy corpsman six years ago in Afghanistan when losing his left arm in an enemy rocket explosion. The Arlington resident now works in legislative affairs at the Pentagon.
“That’s the beauty of what we’re able to do — show these guys who are injured just because you lose a limb or suffer a severe injury you’re still able to be part of a team,” said Ramos, who will run in the 10K portion of the marathon in training for a mini-Iron Man and triathlon competitions next year. “You’re able to go out and do things to enjoy and challenge yourself.”
Both Blair and Ramos joined Team Semper Fi while recovering from injuries. It was a way to move forward through camaraderie.
“A lot of us train together. A lot of us know each other. We motivate each other,” Ramos said. “If you don’t have that core group, it gets lonely fast.”
One side of Blair’s hand crank broke two miles from the finish last year. No problem. He just worked the other side despite the steep final ascent that would have sidelined some.
“The last mile is all uphill — it’s nuts,” Blair said. “You have to come to almost a complete stop and on a hand crank you shift all the way to the bottom gear. I’m turning the crank, holding it down and pushing the other side. It was grueling. But I figured I was near the end so I’ve just got to finish up.”
Said Ramos: “The beauty of it is it allows us to break mental barriers. It’s mentally tough to go through a marathon. If you can do this, you can do anything. It helps you with the issue you have while recovering.”
Blair will leave the Marines soon to enter an aviation career. The marathon seems a fitting gateway.
“I’m going to miss wearing the uniform. Definitely miss being out in the field. Being with the unit deployed. Missing out on what’s going on in Afghanistan,” he said. “The Marine Corps Marathon is an amazing experience. When you’re done, you’re pretty much done [physically]. It’s great.”
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more at TheRickSniderReport.com and Twitter @Snide_Remarks or e-mail [email protected].
