Celebrating a Local Marine and Marathon Addict

Gunnery Sergeant Hector Angulo is a self-proclaimed “marathon addict.” While experiencing a 120-degree Afghan summer in 2012, Angulo could not stop thinking about future races. During his fourth deployment he signed up for the Rock N’ Roll Half Marathon— 7,718 miles away in Los Angeles. He would run the half marathon one month after returning to the United States. On his fifth deployment, Angulo signed up for a tough mudder and the Rock N’ Roll Half Marathon set during the same weekend. He would also run these a month after returning to the states.

On October 22nd, 2017, Angulo ran his third Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. He finished in 5 hours, 6 minutes and 37 seconds. It was two years ago when a friend hand-cycling the marathon invited him on as a guest runner. Staff Sgt. Brandon Dodson, a friend of Angulo’s stepped on an IED in Afghanistan weeks before they were due to return home. He spent about two years at Walter Reed Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, before returning to Twenty-nine Palms, California.

Angulo, left, with Dodson, right.

“He surpassed his healing and was up by about November. He came to our Marine Corps Ball, and by that following year, 2015, he picked up hand-cycling,” said Angulo who ran the marathon while Dodson hand-cycled it.

The Marine Corps Marathon, known as “The People’s Marathon,” is one of the largest marathons in the United States. About 30,000 people participate each year. Among those 2500 are active duty marines. The scenic course takes runners through Georgetown, along the Potomac River and the National Mall and ends at the Iwo Jima War Memorial in Virginia.

“Honestly, my favorite part is the .2 at the end,” Angulo said. “I think from mile 23, you’re just in so much pain, your legs are cramping, your legs are sore, you catch yourself walking, but something about that .2, when you’re going up the hill to the Iwo Jima Memorial, and the start line is there, every body is right there cheering, you get that last bit of energy, and you catch yourself just sprinting to the end.”
Angulo describes himself as a “very young 37 year old.” He stands at 6 feet and one inch tall and weighs 215 pounds. He starts his day by running between 5 and 8 miles before going to work. He says running clears his head and gives him a good start to his day.

Nineteen and a half years ago Angulo enlisted in the Marine Corps, and he has been on 5 deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq, and Japan. In 1998, he went to boot camp and first deployed at 21 years old to Afghanistan following the September 11th, 2001 attacks. He went on to deploy four more times. Angulo currently works at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakeland in the reserve air-wing unit. One weekend per month, Angulo teaches reserves infantry training.

He hopes to become a legacy runner, or someone who has completed 5 consecutive Marine Corps Marathons. This year, Sgt. Gregg Vergara joined Angulo in running the marathon. Vergara has worked with Angulo for just over two years now. He says as a Marine “more junior to him,” he learns a lot from Angulo.
“I’m pretty lucky because a lot of the time you get someone who is near the end of their career who is unapproachable,” Vergara said. “But he’s exactly the opposite. There’s still the professionalism and the rank there. He’s definitely always open to helping out the Marines. I got really lucky he was the one who got me into marathons.”

The Marine Corps Marathon was Vergara’s first marathon. He says he welcomed it with excitement especially because he could run it with Angulo, someone whom he looks up to.

“I see him running a lot of the time in shorts, t-shirts, running shoes, and his flack jacket loaded with some weights on it,” Vergara said. “That’s an extra 20-25 pounds on it. That’s what separates him from us a lot of times. He’s always pushing the limits, which is cool to see from your senior leadership.”
Angulo did not always run marathons. He described himself as athletic and said he played sports his entire life. Angulo says boot camp and running on his deployments prepared him to run long distances. He did not have an organized running routine until he saw an advertisement for the Los Angeles Marathon in 2010 and decided to sign up. Ever since, he says he’s been hooked on running marathons.

“After that I was just addicted to it,” Angulo said. “I catch myself scrolling thorough Google looking for any type of run.”

Angulo’s older sister, Nuria Bermudez, said that Angulo has known he’s wanted to be a Marine since he was in the first grade.

“Somebody from the military had come for a visit. They handed out these stickers that had the camouflage with ‘Marine’ written on tem. He ran to the car to show us and he wound up losing the sticker,” Bermudez said. “He drove us nuts and wouldn’t let us leave until he found the sticker and he said ‘This is what I want to do when I grow up.’”

Bermudez said she and her brother remain very close. It is just the two of them and their parents, she said. While Angulo was deployed, they would exchange emails and call each other using satellite phones. Bermudez also joked that her brother isn’t getting any younger.
“One thing we always joke about is the older he gets, he’s only 37, you’d think he start to slow down,” Bermudez said. “It amazes me how much dedication he has and how focused he is.”

When Gunnery Sgt. Hector Angulo isn’t running or serving his country, he says his friends know him for wearing Chuck Taylor’s. He also said he isn’t one to turn down a free beer at the end of a race. But if it were up to him, he would choose a Corona.

Angulo, after a race

“Other than his dedication to serving nearly 20 years in the Marine Corps, and how much he believes in what he does. With all of the stuff going on this world, he takes it very seriously,” Bermudez, said. “If it wasn’t for people like him I don’t know what our country would be like.”