By Katherine Gittman
CP Reporter
This past Wednesday, June 14, the United States Army celebrated its 242nd birthday and Fort A.P. Hill celebrated with a unique kind of celebration. For about three years now, the Fort A.P. Hill base located in the northern part of Caroline County has hosted its annual 5K/10K run and/or walk to celebrate the 242nd birthday of the U.S. Army. Along with serving as a birthday celebration, the event also served as a way to promote a sense of community.
On Wednesday morning, Fort A.P. Hill had a cake-cutting ceremony on base at the Java Café. At the event, Army soldiers and their families, veterans and Department of the Army civilians were invited to celebrate in the cutting of the cake. Following the cutting of the birthday cake, the base hosted a birthday walk/run on Saturday that was open to the community.
Starting early at 7 a.m., those who registered got to check in and await for the race and starting at 7:30 the community got to partake in the timed race. As part of their training, the soldiers who participated got to run for free as the race got to serve as a part of their training. The Army birthday 5K and 10K race was not just like any typical race, but brought a sense of community between the soldiers at Fort A.P. Hill and the Caroline County community.
Anna Burke, the marketing coordinator at Fort A.P. Hill shared, “it’s the one time of year where they open the post to the public to come and see what goes on at A.P. Hill. It gives the community the opportunity to run with soldiers.”
In the midst of the Army’s birthday celebration race, there is a lot of planning that goes into the event. Burke shares that in order to plan for the race and mark the course, they had to be careful and take consideration where training was taking place. As part of the training, there were areas where the runners could not go through because of Army training.
Along with the other details that went into the planning of the race, Wegmans, Gray Mountain Fitness, The Mix House, Uplifting Aromas, Young Loving Essential Oils and Mattaponi Woodworking sponsored the birthday 5K/10K race.
Following the race, there was an award celebration for those who came in first place and after the run, participants and spectators got to continue celebrating with cake and other festivities throughout the afternoon.
Around the country, the cutting of the cake and the birthday race has been a tradition for many years to celebrate the Army’s birthday. Although celebrations around the country may vary, these two events have been key traditions in the Army’s birthday festivities and help serve as a reminder and as a celebration of the values of the U.S. Army along with the soldiers who have served in the Army throughout the past 242 years.
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