WingMan 10K Beavercreek, OH   Jul 25, 2026

On 21 July 2008, our nation lost six of its military heroes in a B-52 crash off the coast of Guam. One of those heroes was my best friend, Joshua Shepherd, who I called my “WingMan” and who commissioned with me just a few years earlier. At his funeral, several of his friends committed to completing the Air Force Marathon the next year in his honor, and from then forward, every year I have tried to honor his memory by both doing something positive and by running a race on the anniversary week of his passing. In 2014 I combined those ideas and became the race director for a new ORRRC race — the WingMan 10K — one that I hope will honor him and the values he taught me: be a friend to everyone, chase your goals, and never leave someone behind. I hope that you will join us and bring a friend to our race to remember a great father, brother, son, and most of all a great friend, as well as all of those who have given their lives serving our great nation! — Eddie Weaver

The WingMan 10K is all about meeting fellow runners and teamwork! Therefore, we have a unique race structure to encourage you to meet others and cheer them on as your team works to beat the other teams!

TEAMS – Each runner will be randomly assigned one of six teams (yellow, green, blue, orange, red, or purple) and each walker will be assigned one of two teams (black or gray), and given a wrist-band of that color. Team assignments will be randomized to make sure the numbers-per-team are approximately even.

The course is mostly an out-and-back on the “Creekside Trail”, a “rail” trail or paved path. Elevation changes on the path are not even perceptible, but technically it is slightly uphill to the turn-around, and then slightly downhill to the finish. The Beavercreek 9/11 Memorial is along the way, and there is a small valley as you pass under Fairfield Road towards the memorial. Trees line the trail and provide good shade in most areas, especially earlier in the morning.

WORRIED ABOUT NOT BEING COMPETITIVE? – That’s ok! We have non-competitive black and gray color-teams for you so that you can just take part (walking or running) in the event without the fear of “bringing a team down” (you wouldn’t do that anyway – this race is about building each other up!). We’d rather have you at our event than have you stressed!

STAGGERED START – Runners will start on a staggered start (colloquially called a “handicapped start”) based on their age/sex, with “Women 70+ years old” starting 32 minutes before “Men 20-34 years old” (and everyone else in between in “Waves”). This will help even out the teams and negate any benefit to having an age/sex-stacked team, allowing teams to evenly compete with each other. (Note: The chip-timing results will reflect your true race time, but you’re encouraged to bring your own watch if you want a very precise time.)