17-year-old breaks Rat Race record Published April 29, 2009 By Senior Airman Julius Delos Reyes 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- 18:22. Call it crazy, but that's how fast a speedster conquered Air Force Research Laboratory Propulsion Directorate's 2nd Annual Rocket Ridge Rat Race at Leuhman Ridge April 24. In a man vs. nature struggle, Joel Martinez, a Pete Knight High School senior student, overcame strong wind, high elevation and steep terrain to clinch victory in the 5K race for the second consecutive year. "We invited people out here to participate in the race because not a lot of people know about AFRL," said 2nd Lt. Rebecca Stone, AFRL Propulsion Directorate research chemist. "It was a fun event. The race also aims to raise funds." Running through AFRL's industrial complex, more than 110 participants were treated with various sceneries unique to Propulsion Directorate, including rocket laboratories as well as a view overlooking the Main Base and Rogers Dry Lake. The term "Rat Race" came from the idea that the Propulsion Directorate is a "big laboratory," and the runners are lab mice. Martinez beat his winning time last year of 19 minutes, even with harsher conditions. "The race was hard," the Pete Knight H.S. track athlete said. "It was a lot harder than last year. But I trained for it by eating healthy, trained a lot and got a lot of rest the night before. The most difficult part of the race was the uphill because it was windy. However, it was a fun race." The AFRL team started planning the event four months ago. As part of the preparation, they had to ensure security, safety, prizes, food and advertisement of the race. "There's a lot of teamwork involved with this," Lieutenant Stone said. "We had a great turnout. It went well. Hopefully, there will be more participants next year." The following are the top finishers: Men: Joel Martinez -- 18:22 Jeffrey Nielsen -- 21:14 Edward Pflugh -- 21:30 Women: Kristin Hoover -- 25:34 Angelica Jackson -- 26:58 Erin McCabe -- 27:07