Army vet running to raise funds for USO

Brookline resident Christopher Stock works as safety director for Eversource NH

The safety director for electric operations at Eversource NH has a habit of veering toward the unexpected. He went to Keene State College because “it was near a good selection of mountains to snowboard.” He risked a promising career for a detour in the U.S. Army, and on April 20, he’s running the Boston Marathon, his fourth marathon in five years.

For a Connecticut kid who grew up with asthma, few of Christopher Stock’s life choices have been grounded in logic. He is 38 now, a husband and father of three boys. He has a home in Brookline and a good job. For the moment at least, Stock’s unpredictability seems more predictable.

Were you always a runner?

Not until I joined the military. The biggest thing I miss about the Army is PT (physical fitness training) in the morning. Call me crazy. It set me up for my day. I just felt better. I had always been active, but I never expected to be a runner.

Once I started, I liked it. It’s like a drug.

Something happens between mile eight and 10. They call it a runner’s high. I can’t live without it.

And it was not just about the adrenaline rush. You and (your wife) Ashleigh have raised almost $28,000 for charities running a half-marathon in Hartford and the Chicago and New York City marathons.

We pick organizations that are close to us.

We ran Hartford for Wounded Warriors on behalf of my platoon sergeant. Sgt. 1st Class Rick Hines was one of my best friends, a great leader and mentor. My oldest son has epilepsy, so we chose the Danny Did Foundation for Chicago and You Gotta Believe for New York City. They help older foster kids find permanent families.

You’re running Boston for the United Service Organizations. Thanks to a generous donation from the Eversource Veterans Association, you’ve raised more than $11,000 as a member of Team USO. Collectively, the team has raised $80,000.

USO had been phenomenal. They have a running coach for us. The team is made up of 12 runners. They are military veterans, active military, military spouses and children of military. They are from all over the country. We’re getting to know each other. We do monthly Zoom calls. We’re on WhatsApp and we text. We motivate each other.

You’re the safety director for electric transmission and distribution. What does that mean?

I’m in charge of overseeing the safety of working in transmission and distribution. I have a full team under me. We set policies and procedures to mitigate and control hazards. It’s not just high-voltage electricity. It’s gravity hazards, temperature hazards, physical hazards and mechanical hazards.

How does that translate to the line crews we see after a major outage?

My job is to ensure our workers understand the hazards they face every day and how to effectively control them, so they can go home every day. My teams are with the crews making sure they are safe.

We forget how dangerous the work is.

A couple of years back we put AEDS (automatic external defibrillators) in all our trucks.

Giving our people the training and equipment they need to react quickly and efficiently is part of our continuous improvement.

At 21, you were a college graduate with a degree in occupational safety. You did a couple of internships including nine months with Eversource. Then you decide to join the Army. Who saw that coming?

I went to my brother’s basic training graduation at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. It really opened my eyes. I always try to be a forward thinker. So, I talked to a recruiter and one of my first questions was about benefits and can you pay my school loans. Two weeks later I reported to Fort Benning, Georgia.

You served in South Korea as a crewman on a multiple launch rocket system. You were on the DMZ, or demilitarized zone, the heavily guarded no-man’s land between the borders of North and South Korea. That’s pretty forward.

I paid off my loans. I got a master’s degree.

I got married then. Ashleigh and I were able to travel all around that part of the world. We visited Japan and Australia.

Did you have a USO?

We had one at Camp Casey. We’d go there to hang out with people. They would have different events for us. They brought normalcy to a chaotic world.

Three years was enough.

Yes. My contract was for seven years, three active and four inactive. The military shaped the person I am and the position I’m in now.

Do you have a goal in mind for the 130th Boston Marathon?

Boston’s the gold standard for me. It’s the most prestigious marathon in the world. My father-in-law ran it three times. I’d like to set a personal record, so I would have to run it in under three hours and 50 minutes. I did that in Chicago. But that was flat. Boston’s not flat.