Team USO: Joshua and Alyssa Hill

Starting a family is an exciting but challenging journey. For many, it’s a path of falling in love, getting married, buying a first home, and having kids—each step bringing growth and new responsibilities. It’s a rollercoaster of joy, struggle, and triumph as young families balance their dreams, careers, and raising children. It’s a wild ride, but it’s all worth it.

But what does this life look like when your partner joins the military?

For Alyssa and Joshua Hill, this journey started officially in 2017 when Josh joined the Army. Their lives have been – and continue to be – filled with long nights, tough decisions, the birth of their four children, and countless video chats from different time zones. If you ask either of them, they’ll tell you that it’s been worth it.”

Their attitude: ‘If not us, then who?’

This is why both Alyssa and Josh will be running in the 129th Boston Marathon as a part of Team USO on Monday, April 21st, 2025. One mile at a time, they are hoping to be the example that can unify military families around the world.

“During Ranger School, from October 2021 to March 2022 we had 6 months no contact. He [Josh] had a four day pass to come home for the birth of our third baby, but he missed the first two months of her life,” Alyssa remembers. “We only communicated through letters. That was hard on us – I had three kids all under three at home.”

Even with the grueling time apart, they still made time for an activity they both loved: running. During Ranger School, Josh was on a two-week holiday pass in December 2021. He came to find out he’d been signed up to run a race with Alyssa, who was 39 weeks pregnant at the time, and was tasked with running while pushing their two children in a stroller.

Alyssa’s love of running started around the same time Josh and Alyssa started dating in middle school. Running together became a way to spend time together.

“Josh and I would meet in the middle. We grew up in Georgia living 3 miles apart. We’d meet in the middle and run together. Recently, he’s been running more, and farther,” said Alyssa.

During one of Josh’s holiday leaves, Alyssa had the opportunity to participate in the “Run Across Georgia” race. She ran 34 miles in 2 days. You’re probably thinking, “Well who was watching the 4 kids?” Just as Alyssa supports Josh in his dreams, so does Josh with Alyssa’s. Josh was ready to cheer on his wife every step of the way.

“We switched roles, and Josh stayed home with the kids while I got to disappear!” said a laughing Alyssa.

Fast forward to April 2025, and the couple will be running a new race together. They attribute their connectedness and the ability to prepare for one of the World Major Marathons in part because of the USO.

While Josh was on his second deployment, the USO offered various morale boosting activities such as 5k fun runs, football watch parties, and homemade stationary for service members to write home on. Alyssa and Josh rely on these opportunities to help strengthen their family bond by keeping them connected.

“The USO has been a lifesaver for our family. Josh recorded bedtime stories through the USO Reading Program, for our daughter while he was deployed to Afghanistan,” said Alyssa.

During Josh’s second deployment, he and Alyssa fell into a routine that allowed them to keep some semblance of normalcy. He learned the importance of understanding the schedule of life back home and adjusting his schedule to meet the needs of his family. At 4:30 am every morning he would call Alyssa to talk about their days and life in general. At home, this was bedtime for the kids and meant Alyssa would have time to talk without any interruptions. Again, around midday he’d call to talk to the kids as they were eating breakfast and getting ready for school. With the seven-hour time difference, these were guaranteed times he’d be able to connect with his family.

Even with his daily responsibilities, the challenges of being in a different time zone, and catching up with his family, he still found time to train to be part of Team USO at the Boston Marathon.

“I was able to find a group of service members in my unit who also shared a passion for running, and we would schedule long runs and workouts together,” recalls Josh. “The biggest difference now is readjusting to not running on Polish country dirt roads to running on asphalt!”

You can help Alyssa and Josh and the rest of the runners on Team USO reach their Boston Marathon goals by donating here: https://www.givengain.com/campaign/uso2025