New track and field up and running

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Ryan Whitney
  • 1st Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. --  After being closed for more than six months, the Aderholt Track and Field officially reopened after a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Aderholt Gym June 4.

Colonel Greg Lengyel, in one of his last official actions as 1st Special Operations Wing commander, and Col. Mark Johnson, 1st Special Operations Mission Support Group commander, presided over the ceremony, which was held in memory of Brig. Gen. Harry Aderholt, namesake of the Aderholt Fitness Center who passed away May 20, 2010.

The newly completed track and field replaced the grass field and concrete track with professional grade astro-turf and a rubberized running track, designed to provide lower-impact running.

"We here at Hurlburt are unique in the amount of physical training and running that goes on day to day, with thousands of people using this field everyday" said Colonel Lengyel. "This wore down the old field and kept us continually closing it down for maintenance. This new field is a step in the right direction for improving the fitness of everyone here."

The artificial surface will no longer need to be closed for irrigation or cutting, reducing the cost of maintenance and upkeep and ensuring Airmen and gym patrons are able to access the field and track when they need to.

"The new field will be much easier for us to maintain on an internal level," said Capt. Molly Chester, 1st Special Operations Force Support Squadron flight chief. "The services flight will be able to quickly brush and maintain the field when needed during slow periods of use so that it doesn't impact its use by Hurlburt members."

The track and field, which have been in planning for more than a year, finally came to fruition after Hurlburt won the 2009 Commander-in-Chief's Installation Excellence Award, recognizing the base as the best in the Air Force, and awarding the base $1 million for base morale, welfare, and quality-of-life improvements.

Due to legal regulations, any construction project costing more than $750,000 must be approved by congress, so base personnel had to work together to bring the cost down to this cap from the original cost of more than $900,000.

"There was a lot of hard, difficult work put into this project," said Colonel Lengyel. "But because of the hard work everyone put in, I am now able to stand here on this beautiful field, and the base was able to spend the remaining $250,000 on other quality-of-life improvements.

The track was completed just one month before the Air Force's new fitness program comes online July 1, providing Airmen another venue to prepare for the more stringent test.