Tiara,

Great post about bonding/motivating your organization through physical fitness!  I used a similar event while deployed to Ukraine; a half-marathon race in Lviv.  After engaging my leaders with my completed registration form, my Troop began focusing on a challenging event to participate in rather than just maxing the APFT.  I watched my soldiers participate in their first ever half-marathon-while abroad in another country!  Language/culture barriers in all, we learned the Ukrainian language and completed culture immersion through a shared physical event.  To your point, the Soldiers watching their leaders complete distance runs on the weekends was inspirational and drew a crowd of Soldiers wanting to get in on the experience. Over half my deployed Troop participated in the race and I view that event as one of my best experiences while in command.

-Ab