Lt. Cmdr. Steve Slaby, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 18, and Lt. Gina Slaby, Fleet Logistics Center - Puget Sound, both from New York, finished first in the male full-marathon and female half-marathon portions, respectively, of the Seattle Marathon, Nov 29.

The competition, 13.1 miles for half and 26.2 miles for full, tested each individual's endurance, resolve and physical fitness every step along the way. The course lulled runners into a false sense of confidence by being generally flat until the last 6 miles, where it became hilly, leaving many unprepared runners gasping for air.

The couple competed with an estimated 15,000 people from all over the country.

Often, when participating in any sporting event, it helps having someone close supporting along the way. For this military couple though, it is not cheering from the sidelines for one another but running together that spurs them on.

"We met each other in Diego Garcia and that's when my running career really began," said Gina, a South Glen Falls, New York native, who finished his race at 1:20:52. "Steve had just run a 50-mile ultramarathon prior to reporting and I thought that was an amazing accomplishment. Hoping someday to be able to do something like that, but since I knew nothing about running, I asked Steve to give me a plan on what I needed to do to run a fast marathon and we started training together for the Marine Corps Marathon."

Since then, the two ran multiple marathons, ultramarathons and even competed in the Olympic trials while supporting each other's personal goals.

"It has always been a goal of mine to win a big city marathon, winning this one in my new local hometown in conjunction with a win for Gina made it even more special for us that day," explained Steve, from Manlius, New York, near Syracuse, with a time of 2:38:15. "We both enjoy competing and are up by 4 a.m. every day to get in our training. Gina is training for the U.S. Olympic Marathon trials, while I have my eyes on some 100-mile races next year in the local area."

Gina competed in the 2012 Olympic Trials, but unfortunately broke her foot three months prior to the race. After being in a cast for 6 weeks, she only had a short amount of time to prepare for the trials.

"Needless to say, after being on crutches for 6 weeks, I had a horrible race. This year is for redemption for what happened in 2012 and I can't wait!"

Whatever trials each one faces on the pavement in the future, they can happily know they won't be alone.

Navy Morale, Welfare, and Recreation sponsor the All-Navy Marathon team. For more information, visit: http://www.navyfitness.org/all-navy-sports/all-navy-teams/marathon.

For more news from Navy Public Affairs Support Element, visit www.navy.mil/.