Couple races away from deployment stress

  • Published
  • By Greg L. Davis
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
Dover Air Force Base, Del. --  Military spouses are a strong bunch. This strength really comes out during deployments. Mallory Diehl, the spouse of Tech. Sgt. Chad Diehl, 436th Civil Engineer Squadron firefighter, dealt with his latest deployment by setting some goals and then running to meet them.

Running is the key word here. Mallory decided to pass the time by running to keep in shape, keep in touch and have something she and her husband could work toward together.

"I decided to keep myself busy by running at least one race every month that he was away," she said. 

When Chad Diehl received word that he would be deploying to the Middle East, his wife knew this deployment would be different from what she had experienced previously. They were now married and she was living and working on Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. During his previous deployment, things were very different. They weren't married and she lived and worked in her home state of Pennsylvania where she had a large support system nearby of family and friends.

Mallory Diehl is a 2nd Grade teacher with the Caesar Rodney School District's Welch Elementary on Dover AFB.
     
The sergeant deployed from July 2014 until January 2015 where he was challenged both professionally and personally. Before he deployed the couple competed in a Tough-Mudder race.

"That was the kick-off to this," Mallory recalled, while smiling broadly.

She told Chad of her plan to run to pass the time and he agreed that he too would participate by running races while deployed.  

Running helped Chad relieve stress and added to his overall fitness prowess. It also meant he kept up his end of the bargain with his wife. As a firefighter and leader of young troops, setting a good example is a priority for Diehl but so is keeping his word to his spouse.  

The driving force behind setting the running goals was to provide both Mallory and Chad something they could do together, yet apart, and feel some kind of continuing connection. Chad explains they each tried to run an organized race at their respective locations each month.

Mallory ran races here at Dover and in the region while Chad kept in stride at his deployed location as part of the 379th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar.

"Each race that I finished, I felt that I was doing something good for myself and getting somewhere," Mallory recalled. "Being here by myself was hard. It would be hard for anybody. It gave me something to look forward to while he was gone and gave me something to do each day so I wasn't just sitting on the couch eating out of an icing container."

Mallory trained four days a week by doing cross-fit and running. She generally ran in her neighborhood but would come to Dover's fitness center and use the treadmills during inclement weather.

"Having the fitness center available was super helpful," she said.

Initially, the races came in the form of 5Ks for Mallory but, she also competed in 5K, 10K, 12K (at Christmas time), 15K, and a 10 mile race. She would keep her moral up and receive encouragement from him by sending snapshots of her finishing time after each race. 

Chad tried to keep pace by, "catching a 5K once a month." There weren't too many other options for the deployed Diehl at the desert base where off-base activities are very limited.  

Upon Chad's return, the couple joined forces to cap off their training regimen by successfully completing the Love Rox half-marathon, which falls around Valentine's Day and held in Richmond, Virginia.
     
Both look back on the deployment with a positive feeling. Mallory feels she kept busy by keeping in shape and successfully completing her goals. Chad exudes pride in his wife while describing her accomplishments. They plan to continue running together and have already signed up for the Bay Bridge 10K in the Fall.