5th Flying Training Squadron pilot to compete in 20th Air Force Marathon

  • Published
  • By Janis El Shabazz
  • 340th Flying Training Group Public Affairs
Maj. Christina Hopper, a traditional reservist T-38 instructor pilot with the 5th Flying Training Squadron at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma, will be one of the 10 marathon runners representing the nearly 70,000 Air Force reservists in the 20th Air Force Marathon Sept 17 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

Hopper, the first African-American female fighter pilot to fly in war, is certainly no stranger to perseverance and hard work. She was a cross-country district track champion and a regional qualifier. At the University of Texas at Austin, Hopper was a member of the Southwest Conference Champion swim team. She has competed in several half-marathons, a couple of 10Ks, one marathon, one full Ironman competition, two half Ironmen, three Olympic distance triathlons and three sprint trials. Yet, with all these accomplishments on her resume, she still remains humble and considers herself as fairly new to the sport of running.

“I was actually a competitive swimmer for 14 years,” Hopper said. “I took up running as cross-training for my swimming. I was recruited to run for the cross-country and track team in high school in San Antonio, Texas. After that I started competing all the time. Running is my therapy. When I am struggling with something or stressed, running is a sort of therapy. Some people hunt or fish, and some people bake or knit. I run.”

Hopper said her relationship with God guides everything she does. She said she runs because it gives her joy, allows her to tune out the world and center her thoughts, and just let go and talk to God.

“Early in my life, I experienced challenges that probably many biracial children do,” Hopper said. “But when I got into sports, all of that evaporated. All your teammates care about is how hard you’re willing to work and how much you contribute to the team’s victory.”

Hopper said her faith gave her the strength and courage to overcome struggles and helped her gain an early sense of her self-worth, which has sustained her throughout her life and motivated her to want to be the best in everything she does.

She received an academic scholarship to the University of Texas at Austin, where she was on the swim team. She joined the ROTC program. After her first semester, she was awarded an ROTC scholarship and decided that’s where she wanted to go with her career.

Her military service includes flying more than 50 combat missions in the F-16 Fighting Falcon during the war in Iraq. Hopper received four Air Medals and the Aerial Achievement Medal for her bravery.

Hopper is a wife and mother of three. She said that keeping everything moving requires a delicate balancing act. She finds being a part-time pilot and a full-time mother is sometimes hard but very rewarding.

“I have a very full and busy life, which gets challenging at times. But anything worthwhile is going to be challenge,” Hopper said. “I wouldn’t change a thing because whatever the highs and lows were, they have made me who I am today. I am in a position as a Christian, as a woman and mother, as a fighter pilot and a runner that gives me the opportunity to be a mentor and a role model for other women to show them that with hard work, faith and a strong sense of self anything is possible.”

The 5th FTS is a geographically separated unit assigned to the 340th Flying Training Group, an Air Force Reserve associate unit to the 12th Flying Training Wing.