Corporal Neil Schalk, a 20-year-old active duty Marine and Purple Heart recipient, is from the small town of Muscoda, Wisconsin. Neil has run two other Marathons, but this is his first Marine Corps Marathon.

In August of 2005, Cpl. Schalk was deployed to Iraq as a PSD for the II MEF. "I was originally a combat engineer, but was on PSD while stationed in Iraq. A PSD is a personal security detail" said Neil. "We escorted the II MEF comanding general and other VIP's around Iraq."

On the 4th of November, 2005, Neil and 13 other Marines were hit by an IED (Improvised Exploding Devise) on the way to Ramadi to do a site survey. "It was a typical IED hidden in a spare tire on the side of the road" Neil said. The blast blew a hole through his left hand. Neil lost about a third of his right hand and two fingers. Neil has subsequently had several bone and tendon grafts. His left hand is not functional, but Neil says his right hand works just fine without all the parts. Cpl. Schalk remains on active duty with the Marine Corps.

When asked about training, Neil responded "I live in a great place in Wisconsin to train. Very big hills." When asked about his goal to finish the Marine Corps Marathon, he replied "Well under four hours!" When asked about the $22,000 goal for sending care packages to his fellow Marines in Iraq, Neil responded "These are Marines that aren't get letters and packages from home. We can raise the money."

The first photo is of Cpl. Schalk in Iraq, 2005. The second photo is Neil running in the Mad City Marathon (Madison, WI), in May of 2006.

Kim Neely, a Marine Aunt, is from Newnan, Georgia. This is Kim's second Marine Corps Marathon. Her goal is to run three marathons in a row; her nephew, Cpl. Derrick Jensen, son of MarineParents.com founder Tracy Della Vecchia, has done three tours of Iraq. "If he can do three tours of Iraq for us, I can run the Marathon three times for the Marines!"

Kim is the member of Team Marine Parents that set the goal to raise $22,000 for The Care Package Project. "People are looking for a way to show their support for the troops; this gives them the opportunity to do that with a viable and well-run organization."

Kim is a career woman and mother of two adult daughters, Kimberly and Rebecca who will travel to Washington, DC to support her during her run. Both girls attended the race last year and are looking forward to seeing DC with their cousin this year, Cpl. Jensen, a three-time Iraq veteran.

Kim, Marine Corps Marathon 2005

Cpl. Derrick Jensen, Iraq, 2003

Stephanie Valle and her Marine fiance Sal have been together for 3 years. They met when Sal was at school in Quantico and she was living in DC. Their wedding date is set for June 16, 2007. Stephanie grew up in upstate New York, but has been living in Washington, DC - Alexandria - since college. When asked why she was running the Marathon this year (her first ever), she repliled "When I met Sal, I knew nothing about the military and especially the Marine Corps. Since meeting him, I realized what absolutely incredible people the Marine Corps is made up of and how much they give up without most of the country ever realizing it. Since meeting more and more of the families (particularly on the MarineParents.com web site), I have never stopped being blown away by how much military families endure and how amazingly strong they are."

This is Sal's second deployment to Iraq with 1/10 Alpha and when they found out he would be leaving again (in the midst of their wedding planning), she decided to run the Marathon. "I knew I would have some nervous time on my hands and it would be a good way to keep busy - and I guess it was that somehow doing the Marine Corps Marathon made me feel closer to him and like I was doing SOMETHING." Sal is definitely her main motivation on those long training runs. She says "I feel like I am running for him and the rest of 1/10." An added bonus: Sal is pretty proud of her too!