Grissom cracks open fun with Easter egg run Published March 29, 2013 By Tech. Sgt. Mark R. W. Orders-Woempner 434th ARW Public Affairs GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind. -- Grissom cracked open some fun by hopping into the spirit of Easter and fitness. Nearly 30 runners took part in a three-mile Easter egg fun run that started at the Grissom Fitness Center here March 28. During the run, participants had to stop at multiple stations, open plastic eggs and complete holiday-themed tasks such as wearing bunny ears or singing "Here Comes Peter Cottontail." There was also a grand prize drawing for an Easter basket of goodies that was won by Greg Schultz. "It started off as a fun run with my regular group that comes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but it seemed like such a fun idea, so we decided to open it up to the rest of the base and see what we got," said Zac Holmes, a Grissom Fitness Center instructor. "And, we had a lot more people show up than we expected." Holmes said that the run was based off a run he had done in Bloomington, Ind., a number of years ago, but this run got more thematic when he left for vacation and some of his students took over the planning. "The original idea was just to have different exercises in the eggs that people would draw at each station, like 25 pushups," he explained. "But, it evolved into a much more thematic and fun event with people doing goofy things." "The idea was to get people to laugh at themselves and have fun without feeling too embarrassed," said Doug Hays, who helped plan the run with Debra Wilson-Strong. "People seemed to have a lot of fun." Hays also said they had support from the Fitness Center staff as well as base leadership. "Once the decision was made that we were going to do it, we went to Juli Phelps and Will Somers, and they really got behind us," he elaborated. "They gave us the reins to run with, or rather, hop with it." And according to Holmes, injecting fun is key to fitness success. "I think having other people there, involved in your workout and enjoying exercise with other people is a big thing to keep people motivated," he explained. With this holiday themed run deemed a success, Hays said he expects there to be future events like this. "I'm sure there are things we can change for next time, but it was a pretty big success, and I look forward to us doing similar things later on," echoed Holmes. Grissom is home to the 434th Air Refueling Wing, the largest KC-135R Stratotanker unit in the Air Force Reserve Command, as well as three Army Reserve units and a Marine Corps Reserve communications detachment. Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines all use Grissom to stay ready for deployment, including the base's fitness facilities. Stay connected with Grissom and the 434th ARW on Twitter and Facebook.
