SFC Randall Shughart Memorial 5-mile run

Inaugural SFC Randall Shughart Memorial 5-Mile Run
Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2013 in Newville, Pa.

* 2013 results and more than 450 race-day photos
* Honorably discharged veterans, use the mail-in entry form (w/copy of military ID or DD 214) and take $10 off entry!
course map
* Potomac Highlands Distance Club Facebook page
* Event Facebook page
* Cumberland Ag Expo website

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Raceday timeline
5 p.m.: Packet pick-up, race-day registration begins at Ag Expo (at Newville Lions Community Fairgrounds)
6:45 p.m.: Race starts at Newville trailhead
8 p.m.: Awards ceremony (at fairgrounds)

NEWVILLE, Pa. — Join the board of the Cumberland Ag Expo and the Potomac Highlands Distance Club in the inaugural SFC Randall Shughart Memorial 5-Mile Run/Walk, scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2013.

The event will take place on the Cumberland Valley Rails-to-Trails, starting at the Newville trailhead. Participants will navigate a relatively flat, out-and-back course featuring a low-impact surface of packed dirt and crushed limestone.

The event is being added to the annual Cumberland Ag Expo’s schedule of events. Scott Lemmon, newly installed president of the New Carlisle Fair Association which organizes the Ag Expo, is a military veteran. So is Kevin Spradlin, PHDC president. Proceeds will be shared between Team Red White & Blue and the Cumberland Ag Expo. Team RWB is a veterans service organization dedicated to improving the physical, mental and social well-being of veterans through exercise.

Team_RWB_logo_webLemmon invited the public to “spend an evening with us to honor the selfless actions of a true American hero.”

Among other things, the memorial run will attempt to spark conversation about the sacrifice made by military members who go from ordinary soldiers in one moment to heroes the next. That’s what happened to Sergeant First Class Randall Shughart, who was raised in Newville. On October 3, 1993, while in Mogadishu, Somalia, SFC Shughart “provided precision sniper fires from the lead helicopter during an assault on a building and at two helicopter crash sites, while subjected to intense automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenade fires. While providing critical suppressive fires at the second crash site, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader learned that ground forces were not immediately available to secure the site.

Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader unhesitatingly volunteered to be inserted to protect the four critically wounded personnel, despite being well aware of the growing number of enemy personnel closing in on the site. After their third request to be inserted, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader received permission to perform this volunteer mission. When debris and enemy ground fires at the site caused them to abort the first attempt, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader were inserted one hundred meters south of the crash site.

Equipped with only his sniper rifle and a pistol, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader, while under intense small arms fire from the enemy, fought their way through a dense maze of shanties and shacks to reach the critically injured crew members. Sergeant First Class Shughart pulled the pilot and the other crew members from the aircraft, establishing a perimeter which placed him and his fellow sniper in the most vulnerable position. Ag_Expo_theme_2013

Sergeant First Class Shughart used his long range rifle and side arm to kill an undetermined number of attackers while traveling the perimeter, protecting the downed crew. Sergeant First Class Shughart continued his protective fire until he depleted his ammunition and was fatally wounded. His actions saved the pilot’s life. Sergeant First Class Shughart’s extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest standards of military service and reflect great credit upon him, his unit and the United States Army.”