In 2009, Dianne Villano, President of Support Our  Marines, Inc. http://www.supportourmarinesinc.org   found a unique way to honor our Marines deployed in harm's way ,  raise awarness of all they endure, honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice and to  raise money to send packages to Marines in some of the most forward and remote areas in support or OIF and OEF.

In a sport where athletes pay thousands of dollars for lightest, most efficient gear, Miss Villano laces  up 4 pound combat boots and straps  on 20% of her bodyweight in field gear to compete in triathlons, 1/2 marathons and a variety of other race distances. .  For each race, Dianne pins  pictures of the fallen Marines from units which she has adopted and each race is done to honor our fallen Warriors, raise awareness of all our deployed endure and to raise money to send packages to Marines living without "luxuries" such as running water, electricity, indoor plumbing or px s from which to purchase day to day necessities.

Prior to May of 2008 , Miss Villano had never run more than a mile , didn't own a bike and hadn't been in a pool in over 25 years. The training for the 2009 race season  was intense and  included  over 1000 run  miles logged in boots, 800 miles on the bike and many, many swim miles. Miss Villano is  a civilian who has no family in the military which makes her efforts even more special to the families and loved ones of the Marines who she honors.

With the help of local race directors who  have donated her race fees and thousands of supporters all over the world, Miss Villano raised over $50,000 to date  which enabled SOM to send well over  5000 packages since 2005

With the success of the 09 and 10  race season, Miss Villano is 1/2 way through a 300 mile 2011 race season which includes a trip to North Carolina to race with Marines and their families from Camp Lejeune.