Medic takes detour to finish Air Force Marathon Published Sept. 29, 2010 By Susan Griggs 81st Training Wing Public Affairs KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Many marathon runners insist that finishing a race, not their speed, is the most important thing. But not many athletes take that declaration as seriously as Mark Bautista. Bautista, an endocrinology technician in the 81st Medical Operations Squadron, took a circuitous path when running the Air Force Marathon Sept. 18 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. His first marathon included a mistaken turn that sidetracked his path, but he doubled back and managed to complete the 26.2 mile race more than five hours after he started. Bautista was listening to his music and trying to get focused, and he missed the split for the 10K and the full marathon course. "When I crossed the finished line for the 10K, I was so confused and in shock," Bautista explained. "Medals were being given away, and I quickly ran to a race official. A lieutenant colonel tried to help me after I told her about my situation, but when she showed me the course map, the full marathon was on the other side of the base. "My wife and I asked the police, security officials and medics with gators to see if I could get a ride to the other side so I can get back on track, but they all said they couldn't help," he continued "The lieutenant colonel said that the best bet was to take my personal vehicle and drive out to the site, but the roads were blocked, so I'd have to run an unknown distance just to get back on the route." At that point, Bautista was ready to quit, but his wife, Staff Sgt. Rose Bautista, 81st Surgical Operations Squadron, wouldn't let him. "I was starting to get more upset with my wife because she just kept on pushing me, telling me to just keep going," he admitted. "So we power-walked from the 10K finish line, past the Air Force Museum to the dirt parking lot. "My wife is the true hero in this story," Bautista admitted. "It was a trek just getting to our car. She just wouldn't let me give up. She had our 3-year-old son, Gabriel, on one hand and I picked up the stroller as we scurried to our car. She asked every race official in sight if they could help, but they all said that the roads were blocked and it was quite a way to get back to the course route. "My wife was able to drop me off close to the route -- we had to go through a few road blocks -- and I was able to talk to another race official who luckily had a vehicle and she was able to drop me off at Mile 6 of the course at the edge of Fairborn, Ohio." By this time, Bautista had already run the 10K -- 6.2 miles -- plus the distance to get back to the 26.2-mile marathon course. "It was a sad, sad day -- I really just wanted to go home, but my wife told me that I didn't come all the way to Ohio just to run a 10K," he recalled. "When I pressed 'start' on my GPS watch at Mile 6, I had already logged 7.23 miles." Even though he had his headset on, he could hear people's comments, like, "He must've gotten a late start," or "He must've gotten hurt." Bautista gave them "thumbs up" and kept running. "An elderly couple walked to me as I was running and gave me bottled water and told me to keep trucking," he commented. "I was dead last with no one in sight for a long time. I picked up my pace; I started to see people in front of me. A lot of them looked like they were walking in pain and it motivated me to keep going. I didn't want to be the last one to finish. "I began to feel like there was a light at the end of the tunnel -- I just hoped that it wasn't just a freight train coming my way!" he said. "I struggled -- I was in pain by Mile 20-ish. Luckily, I was able to finish. I was ecstatic -- I had never run 26.2 miles in my life and I was able to run 26.2 miles and then some." Bautista obtained copies of the official photos when he crossed the finish times, but, "The times on the photos are incorrect because those are for the racers that actually started and finished their right race. According to my GPS watch, I finished 26.2 miles in 5 hours and 9 minutes." "I'm so grateful to my wife and my friends," he acknowledged. "My son was so tired from all the running around. He's a trooper."