Marine patrolman finished number one in AMC for Air Force half marathon

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Rito Smith
  • 6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs

With the sound of an alarm, Staff Sgt. Matthew Altimari, marine patrolman assigned to the 6th Security Forces Squadron, wakes up and starts his busy day of balancing work, home and his intense training schedule in order to be prepared for the Air Force half marathon.

Altimari recently participated in the Air Force half marathon with a finishing time of 1:21:34 making him the number one finisher in Air Mobility Command. However, this title did not come without its challenges.

“I have been running since I was about eight years old,” said Altimari. “I did track and cross country running throughout my time in high school and college.”

After he joined the Air Force, he became interested in running longer distance races.

“Since I joined five years ago, I have always wanted to run in the Air Force Marathon,” said Altimari. “This year I finally decided to put in a resume and thankfully I was selected.”

In order to be selected, Altimari had to fill out an Air Force Form 303 with his high school and college information as well as the times on his most recent races.

“It is really selective,” said Altimari. “They only choose six half marathoners and four full marathoners to represent each major command.”

Altimari recalled that his biggest obstacle was trying to balance the amount he wanted to train with his work, home, and full-time school schedules.

“I would sneak off while my family was napping in order to get a few miles in,” said Altimari. “If I couldn’t sneak off, I would run late at night sometimes only getting a few hours of sleep before returning to work the next day.”

Altimari has run about a dozen half marathons before this and plans on training to compete in the full marathon next year in order to represent his MAJCOM.

“I was  super excited to be able to represent our team, and I plan on running my first full marathon in January in order to help me prepare for next year,” said Altimari. “I’m also trying to setup a MacDill running club to get people together that love the sport of running.”

For Altimari, running has translated back into the way he views his job as a marine patrolman.

“I absolutely correlate running with the quality of my work because I think the amount of dedication it takes to prepare for an event like the marathon really carries through in your work ethic,” said Altimari. “Currently, I am planning on putting in a commissioning package and be able to give back more to the Air Force.”

He hopes to encourage others to participate in the Air Force marathon, as well as be dedicated to everything they do.

“We feel honored that Altimari could represent the 6th SFS as well as AMC during this event, he did an incredible job.” said Staff Sgt. James Himes, NCO in charge of the marine patrol section assigned to the 6th SFS. “We are especially honored he could represent marine patrol.”