
By Patrick Lujan
Deployment life is like Groundhog Day. Work. Eat. Gym. Sleep. Work. Eat. Work. Sleep. Gym.
You get the picture.
For Guam record holder Wayne Blas, a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army, running races while on a year-long deployment was as repetitive as the days gone by, but in winning fashion.
Blas entered 21 races during the deployment year (19 5Ks and two 10 Ks) and won them all!
“I had no intentions of running all of the races,” Blas tells GSPN. “But after about the fourth race, I thought about how cool it would be to keep the win streak alive. They also gave away free finisher’s t-shirts, so this was another reason to run.”
Stationed at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar as an Operations Chief, Blas totaled 3740 miles – RUNNING. That’s an average of 10.2 miles a day!
“In general, running is a great way to improve physical and mental health. During the deployment, I used running as my therapy to relax the mind and stay physically fit. Luckily, at Al Udeid Air Base, the fitness program puts on a couple 5k races each month, which for me was an incentive to train for and remain somewhat race sharp throughout the year.
“What’s funny is that I’ve heard the phrase ‘I run for the t-shirts’. I guess you can say that I was running for the t-shirts.”
Blas went through eight pairs of running shoes during his deployment and left his name in the sand with an AUAB 5K course record of 15:51.
BACK WITH FAMILY
The long time away from family has finally ended and he’s now back with his wife Lisa and three young children in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. There he is assigned to the Mission Command Training Program, Operations Group Alpha.
It’s been a different kind of running he’s been doing as a father, to say the lease.
“Since I’ve been back from deployment, I’ve spent more time running around chasing my kids than actual ‘running’. My near term running plan is to hopefully run the Army Ten-Miler early next month and then the California International Marathon on Dec 2nd.
“I strongly believe that I can still lower my marathon PR (2:31:44), so I want to take another crack at it while the legs still feel good. However, the reality is that there are not many opportunities left to try to run 2:30 (ultimately sub 2:30) because I just won’t have all the time to train. With three little kids (4 yrs, 2 yrs, and 6 months) to chase after, work, and my wife recently opening our nutrition club (Sunshine Nutrition), putting in all the hard and long marathon training will become more of a challenge.”
Whatever challenges he will face in the future, Blas can surely say he was up for the challenge in the desert hitting the ultimate black jack with a cool 21!


GPS Sports Calendar
December 2023
- SU
- MO
- TU
- WE
- TH
- FR
- SA
Events for November
1st
ISA BOYS SOCCER
IIAAG GIRLS BASKETBALL
ISA GIRLS BASKETBALL
Events for December
2nd
IRON LEGENDS THROWDOWN
ISA HS BASEBALL
HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING
Events for December
4th
IIAAG BOYS SOCCER
ISA BOYS SOCCER
ISA GIRLS BASKETBALL
Events for December
5th
ISA HS BASEBALL
ISA GIRLS BASKETBALL
IIAAG GIRLS BASKETBALL QUARTERFINALS
Events for December
5th
Events for December
7th
ISA HS BASEBALL
IIAAG BOYS SOCCER PLAYOFFS
Events for December
9th
40th GRC PLUMERIA ROAD RACE
GUAM RUGBY INTERNATIONAL 7s TOURNAMENT
ISA HS BASEBALL
HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING
IIAAG GIRLS BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS
Events for December
10th
TOUR OF GUAM 2023
GUAM RUGBY INTERNATIONAL 7s TOURNAMENT
Events for December
11th
ISA HS BASEBALL
IIAAG BOYS SOCCER SEMIFINALS
Events for December
12th
ISA HS BASEBALL
ISA GIRLS BASKETBALL
Events for December
12th
Events for December
14th
ISA HS BASEBALL
IIAAG BOYS SOCCER FINALS
Events for December
15th
ISA GIRLS BASKETBALL
IIAAG GIRLS BASKETBALL FINALS
Events for December
16th
3rd GUAM NINJA CHAMPIONSHIP
ISA HS BASEBALL
HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING
Events for December
16th
Events for December
18th
IIAAG BOYS SOCCER ALL-ISLAND MEETING
Events for December
19th
ISA HS BASEBALL
ISA GIRLS BASKETBALL
Events for December
19th
Events for December
23rd
HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING
ISA HS BASEBALL FINALS
Events for December
23rd
Events for December
24th
Events for December
25th
Events for December
27th
Events for December
29th
- 31
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
Events for December
30th

Baseball
ROYALS DOWN FRIARS IN STATEMENT GAME

Basketball
3×3 HOOPS REPEAT AS GOLDEN BOYS

Basketball
RAPADAS LEADS WILD COUGAR COMEBACK

Baseball
GUAM HOSTS KIWIS IN U15 BASEBALL

Basketball
SHARKS FEND OFF DOLPHINS IN GIRLS HOOPS

Baseball
ROYALS DOWN FRIARS IN STATEMENT GAME
COMING SOON …
- IIAAG Girls Basketball Playoffs