Elliptical marathon: Colonel achieves fitness best Published Aug. 5, 2010 By Tech. Sgt. Francesca Popp U.S. Air Forces in Europe Public Affairs RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- His peers and his wife said he was crazy, but that didn't stop Joseph Mastrianna from achieving a personal workout best and earning a top fitness award. Mastrianna, the U.S. Air Forces in Europe manpower, personnel and services deputy director, completed 37.5 miles in five hours on an elliptical machine at the fitness center at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, June 4. With that, the colonel also hit the 1 million point milestone to earn the elite platinum status in the President's Fitness Challenge. The challenge offers programs for people of all ages and abilities. Each program helps identify realistic goals to encourage fitness for a lifetime. A personal activity log records activities online. There are also special awards for completing each program. He began more than three years ago while assigned to the Air Force Services Agency in Texas. He finished just a few weeks shy of his 50th birthday. He earned the bronze and silver awards -- 40,000 and 90,000 points, respectively -- in four months. He was then reassigned asgroup commander at Royal Air Force Menwith Hill, United Kingdom. By August 2007, he racked up 160,000 points -- the gold award. "On the day I entered my workout information and the computer program calculated my scores for the gold award, was when I learned about the next level." he said. "It read, 'Congratulations, you are 16 percent on the way to platinum' ... I went from being 99.9 percent complete for the gold award to being 16 percent of the way along." For the next few years, Mastrianna stayed true to his routine while working his way to platinum status. He's out of bed by 2:15 a.m. and on the elliptical cross-trainer in his home by 2:30 a.m. during the week. He's at work by 6:15 a.m. and leaves about 6:30 p.m. He rests on Saturdays. On Sundays, he'll work out 2.5 to three hours (on the machine). He gets to bed by 10 p.m. almost nightly. He said worked out longer on Sundays in the weeks leading up to the June 4 achievement. "I had planned to do five hours and knew I could do it. I felt really good at four hours; I thought I could go for six. But, I let my electrolytes run out. When I reached 4:30, I hit the wall really hard," said Mastrianna, who's been in the Air Force for nearly 26 years. "The last 30 minutes was a brutal struggle. I had no intention at that point to go over five hours. "Thankfully, my wife was there. She kept me from quitting," he said. In addition to reaching his all-time personal fitness best, the colonel raised about $1,000 for Ramstein's Air Force Aid Fund. Mastrianna said he is working toward bronze again and is making steady progress. He hopes to complete 12,500 miles, which is more than half the circumference of the earth, before he retires. For more information, visit www.presidentschallenge.org.