Jaima Fogg
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. – A two-man team from Hanscom AFB competed in the 2025 DEKA World Championship held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in December.
Kurt Peterson and Stephen Strosser, from the 66th Air Base Group Operational Support Team, placed third in the elite DEKA Mile men’s team event.
“The DEKA World Championship is an annual fitness event designed to crown the best hybrid athletes in the world,” Peterson said. “It’s a gated, invite-only event that serves as the culmination of the global DEKA season. Only the top 15 individuals and teams are invited.”
In their OST roles on Hanscom AFB, the pair embed within units, coaching Airmen in physical fitness and readiness. They also teach nutrition courses and host the HanscomFit Challenge. Competing in the DEKA championship was a chance for them to shift focus to their own fitness goals.
“DEKA is a well-rounded event,” Strosser said. “With this competition, you can’t get away with having a weak link, or you’re going to pay on the course.”
The DEKA Mile consists of ten stations, each preceded by a tenth-of-a-mile run. The stations include 30 weighted reverse lunges, 500-meter row, 20 box jumps, 25 sit-ups with a medicine ball, 500-meter SkiErg, 100-meter farmers carry, a 25-calorie air bike, 20 dead ball-overs, a 100-meter tank push-pull and 20 burpees.
At first, the dynamic duo thought they might qualify for an age-group invitation, with the goal of competing at the elite level in two to three years.
As their training progressed, however, they realized qualifying for the elite competition was closer than they thought.
“As we trained, we got better and better and better,” Peterson said. “We donned our exercise scientist lab coats, eking everything out of each other and trying to find what worked best.”
The team competed in a qualifying DEKA Mile event Rhode Island in June and received an invitation to compete at the elite level in September.
Like other elite teams, they determined who was strongest in each event. Strosser took the solo running events and dead ball-overs, and Peterson took three events, including the air bike. They divided the remaining stations.
To gain an edge over the competition, they developed a strategy of filming themselves performing the events. Post training, they’d review the footage to identify where they could conserve energy and where they needed to push harder.
“We were really in the weeds, filming ourselves doing simulations of the events,” Strosser said. “I knew that if the other teams did what they did the year before, we were going to win. No team in the top five had a strategy like ours.”
After qualifying in June, the two buckled down even further and trained harder.
Peterson increased his workouts to five days a week and pushed himself to perform at his maximum heart rate.
Strosser ran almost every day, sometimes multiple times per day, and strength trained. One day each week was dedicated to simulating the DEKA Mile events together.
“We were 100 percent all in,” Strosser said.
They weren’t going to Florida just to compete.
“We were going to win,” Peterson said.
Competition Day
Going into the competition, their team mentality was strong.
Peterson said he was confident they were in top shape mentally and physically.
“I knew I wasn’t going to let Stephen down and I knew he wouldn’t let me down,” he said.
Competition rules state that teams must start and finish the run legs of the race together but may divide the stations and middle run segments.
Peterson would complete the row, sit-ups and air bike solo. Strosser ran all legs of the race and completed the ball-overs solo. They divided the lunges, box jumps, SkiErg, farmers carry, tank push-pull and burpees.
Competition between all teams was close through the first four stations.
At the fifth event, the SkiErg, Peterson and Strosser broke out of the pack into second place. The next stations were the farmers carry and air bike, where they were neck and neck with their top competitors.
During the race, a commentator said, “Everyone knows that the bike is going to win it at the end of the day. So, if you don’t have that bike power on your team, you’ve got to sell out in the first six stations.”
Peterson crushed the bike, vaulting him and Strosser into first place.
With three stations and three-tenths of a mile to go, they weren’t out of the woods. The second- and third-place teams were hot on their heels.
Strosser and Peterson maintained their lead through the dead ball-overs and tank push-pull just ahead of the other teams.
Physically drained and with only seconds separating them from their competitors, they needed to complete one final run and 20 burpees before the finish line.
Strosser said he was more tired than usual but was determined not to let his teammate down and to finish strong.
“I know how hard he worked, so I was not going to slip up,” he said.
Finish Line
The duo kept their lead and outpaced the other teams. They were first to cross the finish line with a time of 14 minutes, 48 seconds, 10 seconds faster than the second-place team.
However, as they caught their breath, they realized that their underdog victory would be short lived.
Race officials determined that Strosser left the air bike station for the next event with 0.4 calories remaining on the bike’s countdown meter. The team was assessed a 20-second penalty, dropping them to third place.
“It was disappointing,” Peterson said. “We had been preparing for a long time for this singular moment.”
The Team Hanscom duo is determined to compete again in 2026 with the goal of claiming the world champion title.
“We’ll do better next year because of this setback,” Strosser said.
The DEKA World Championship consists of three events: DEKA Fit, DEKA Mile and DEKA Strong.
Kurt Peterson and Stephen Strosser (holding baton), 66th Air Base Group Operational Support Team, celebrate after completing the elite DEKA Mile World Championship in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Dec. 6, 2025. The duo competed against 14 teams through a course that included ten stations and a cumulative one-mile run. (courtesy photo) 
Stephen Strosser, 66th Air Base Group Operational Support Team, does burpees while competing in the elite DEKA Mile World Championship competition in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Dec. 6, 2025. Strosser and teammate Kurt Peterson competed against 14 teams through a course that included ten stations and a cumulative one-mile run. (courtesy photo) 
Kurt Peterson, 66th Air Base Group Operational Support Team, competes in the air bike event during the elite DEKA Mile World Championship in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Dec. 6, 2025. Peterson and teammate Stephen Strosser competed against 14 teams through a course that included ten stations and a cumulative one-mile run. (courtesy photo)