CONCORD, N.H. –
A breast cancer diagnosis couldn’t prevent another tour-de-force performance by Master Sgt. Amber Martine at the Norwegian Foot March on April 12 in Concord.
The New Hampshire National Guard airman outclassed 84 competitors to win the race for the second-straight year.
“That last loop definitely was hitting me hard,” said Martine, first sergeant of the 157th Security Forces Squadron at Pease Air National Guard Base. “But I was just like, if I hold this pace, I’ll be faster than last year.”
Martine’s title defense was in jeopardy after biopsies and other medical procedures derailed her training for weeks.
“I wasn’t sure how it was going to go this time,” conceded the 42-year-old endurance athlete from Kittery, Maine. “I’ve been super fatigued lately. Training has been rough, you know? And so, I just came out here today to just give it one last hurrah before we get kicked down a little bit.”
Martine set a personal record of 3:06:51, cutting more than eight minutes off last year’s time. She beat the closest finisher by 37 seconds.
“Where did you come from!” exclaimed runner-up, Cadet Quinn LaRock of University of New Hampshire’s Army ROTC program. “That was ridiculous!”
LaRock finished in 3:07:28. U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Timothy Bowman, a Maine recruiter with New England Recruiting Battalion, placed third at 3:09:41.
Known as the Marsjmerket, the event dates to 1915 when the Norwegian military used it to demonstrate combat readiness. Modern-day competitors don battledress uniforms and 25-pound packs to complete the 18.6-mile course in times set by age and gender. Qualifiers earn a bronze badge for their first completed march, silver for the second and gold for a fifth.
Sixty-four qualified this year: 44 bronze and 20 silver. Eleven participants completed the course, but not within prescribed time requirements. Nine people dropped out due to various injuries.
“You always think about strategy and like, my body hasn’t been working lately,” Martine said. “So, I came out here today and was just gonna run with my heart in the most non-literal way, you know? Just like, give it hell.”
Her approach was affirmed by fourth-place finisher, Midshipman 1st Class Emmett Morin of Norwich University, word choice and all.
“She just came bolting out of the woods,” Morin recounted when Martine passed him near the home stretch. “I was like, ‘wait, what the hell!’”
With surgery looming, Martine said she has to step away from training and fitness competitions while on the mend. But she’s optimistic about making a full recovery.
“It will be a journey,” she said. “I’m just going to get knocked down a little bit, and I hope to be back. I’ll see how it goes next year.”