USAFE 2007 Athletes of the Year

***image2***Les Handy

Tech. Sgt. Les Handy, 435th Medical Group, was the only cyclist to compete in every U.S. Air Force in Europe race, both road and mountain biking, in 2007 winning the season long series title in both disciplines.

Handy started the season taking 14th in the Ultra Marathon Cycling Association’s Indoor cycling challenge, logging 81 hours on the spin bike and trainer, including  six hour and 10-hour indoor rides between November and March. The indoor training was early prep for a run at Paris-Brest-Paris that didn’t come to fruition.

During PBP qualification road rides of 225 km and 335 km in March, Handy’s focus shifted to racing and the USAFE series, as well as trying his hand at the German criteria and road racing scene and several of the classic German and Luxembourg mountain bike marathons.

In 2006, Handy also won the USAFE MTB Series and finished Alaska’s Fireweed 400, a nonstop, solo 400 mile road race in 28 hours 18 minutes in epic conditions of cold rain and tough headwinds.

***image1***Michelle Wild

Outside of the dental clinic, Capt. Michelle Wild, 435th Dental Squadron, works all three of her disciplines: running, cycling and swimming.

Wild enjoys the variety in her training which naturally draws to the triathlon sport. Wild competed in more than 30 events in 2007. Some highlights of this summer included winning the U.S. Forces in Europe Triathlon Championships and completing the Antwerp ½ Ironman triathlon.

After completing the triathlon season, she refocused her attention to long distance running and one month later ran a personal best at the Berlin Marathon which qualified her for the Boston Marathon in 2008 and 2009.

Wild again switched gears, this time to shorter distance running where she finished the year representing USAFE at the Command Headquarters Air Ramstein Cross Country Championships in Belgium. In addition to her personal ambition, she enjoys motivating others to achieve their own fitness goals by teaching indoor cycling at the Ramstein Southside Fitness Center.  Wild is looking forward to next year where she plans to compete in the 2008 Frankfurt Ironman.