Manas Bloomsday Run celebrates springtime in Kyrgyzstan

Spanish Air Force Lieutenant Juan Duque quickly passes a field of wildflowers as he prepares to take first place during the first Bloomsday Run held at Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan, May 4. Organized by several Airmen deployed from Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash., the 12-kilometer race was held 13 time zones earlier than the 33rd annual Spokane Lilac Bloomsday Run, which drew out some 50,000 participants. For Washington state natives, Fairchild Airmen and all who crossed the finish line here, the run was an opportunity to feel closer to loved ones and neighbors back home and herald in spring 2009. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Charles M. Wade)

Manas Bloomsday Run celebrates springtime in Kyrgyzstan

Cheered on by other runners, 85-year-old World War II veteran Pyotr Chesnokov finishes the first Bloomsday Run held at Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan, May 4. Organized by several Airmen deployed from Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash., nearly three dozen runners completed the 12-kilometer race 13 time zones before 50,000 participants did the same in the 33rd annual Spokane Lilac Bloomsday Run. For Washington state natives, Fairchild Airmen and all who crossed the finish line here, the run was an opportunity to feel closer to loved ones and neighbors back home and herald in spring 2009. Mr. Chesnokov has been running for the past 35 years since a doctor suggested he run to cure the partial paralysis in his arm and leg caused by wounds suffered in the 1943 battle at Kursk in the former Soviet Union. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Elizabeth Weinberg)

Manas Bloomsday Run celebrates springtime in Kyrgyzstan

With the Manas Air Base parking ramp in the background, Senior Airman Chad Holloway (l) and Capt. Greg Kantz round the halfway mark cone during the first Bloomsday Run held at the Kyrgyz base, May 4. Airman Holloway, a KC-135 boom operator, and Captain Kantz, a KC-135 pilot, were two of nearly three dozen participants who ran the 12-kilometer race 13 time zones earlier than the 50,000 runners who competed in the 33rd annual Spokane, Wash., Lilac Bloomsday Run. Organized by several Airmen deployed from Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash., the run was an opportunity to feel closer to loved ones and neighbors back home in the Spokane area and helped herald in spring 2009 for all who ran the race. Airman Holloway and Captain Kantz are both deployed from Fairchild AFB. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Elizabeth Weinberg)

Manas Bloomsday Run celebrates springtime in Kyrgyzstan

Pyotr Chesnokov, an 85-year-old World War II veteran and resident of nearby Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, runs the first-ever Manas Air Base Bloomsday Run, May 4. Organized by several Airmen deployed from Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash., the 12-kilometer race was held the same day as the famous Spokane Lilac Bloomsday Run that has drawn out thousands of runners annually since 1977. For Washington state natives, Fairchild Airmen and all who crossed the finish line here, the run was an opportunity to feel closer to loved ones and neighbors back home and herald in spring 2009. Mr. Chesnokov has been running for the past 35 years since a doctor suggested he run to cure the partial paralysis of his left arm and leg as a result of wounds he suffered from Nazi machinegun fire during the 1943 battle of Kursk in the former Soviet Union. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Elizabeth Weinberg)

International partnership

Col. Christopher Bence, 376th Air Expeditionary Wing commander, and French Air Force Capt. Arnaud Viltart, a C-135FR navigator, pass equipment and aircrew gear up the entry hatch of a KC-135 Stratotanker prior to an aerial refueling mission from Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan, April 8. At Colonel Bence's invitation, two French C-135FR aviators accompanied the U.S. Air Force crew during the mission; only the second time in which coalition personnel have flown on an American tanker during a combat mission over Afghanistan. Along with American KC-135 Stratotankers, Manas AB is home to a detachment Spanish C-130s and of French C-135FR aerial refuelers, which is the French version of the U.S. Air Force KC-135. (U.S. Air Force photo/Maj. Damien Pickart)

Manas Airmen build bonds with Bishkek Babushkas

Manas Air Base Outreach Society member, Col. (Dr.) Gerry Caron, kisses Vera Wolf goodbye and gives her a bag of foodstuff and toiletries at a Turkish restaurant in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, March 9. Vera is known as a Babushka, or elderly woman, in Russian and Kyrgyz cultures. The 78-year-old woman has no family and was ?adopted,? along with two other elderly women, by MABOS through the Babushka Adoption Foundation, a local non-governmental organization. Each lady?s monthly income averages about 700 som or around $20 per month. Every month, volunteers from Manas join the ladies for lunch to share companionship, a little financial support and a small supply of groceries. Colonel Caron is the 376th Expeditionary Medical Group commander and is deployed from the Headquarters Air Education and Training Command where he is the deputy command surgeon. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Elizabeth Weinberg)