I'm pretty excited, my son won the lottery, and got picked to run the 44th USMC marathon in Washington, DC on 10/27/19. It will be his first full marathon, as well as his first time in DC. What better way to see our capital than to run through it? Going to take my family sight seeing for a few days as well.

He's a gifted runner though. He runs track and cross country. 5min miles, 11min 2miles, 5k's sub-18min, and 1/2 marathons around 1:35.

Anyone else doing it?

I have several friends from a FB running group that are going.

I hope to do it some day. I've done a half-marathon, but my knees have been getting crankier. Maybe in a couple of years when my son and his family settle in Virginia, I might get in enough shape to do the MCM.

Running a full was in my bucket list, but due to my occupation, and a knee injury, it's just worth it to subject my body to that. Even training for 1/2's I had nagging injuries for months, and I walk a lot for a living. 5k's are about my max.

It's like the planets were in alignment. I've wanted to take my kids for years to see the Capital, but not during the summer months. I already had vacation time planned for this time, hoping he'd win a registration. He also has aspirations of being a Marine.

Semper Fi,
Smith

That's awesome, he's a good runner and it will be a blast and great trip for everyone.

That's awesome.

I have a friend that oversee a DC running group. I'm sure they have some people running it.

It’s a very cool experience. I used to live on the route and have had several people close to me run it.

I’ve run it twice. The organization is superb and the end at the IWorks Jima memorial is breath taking.

That was my first marathon and it poured buckets for every minute of it. Back then you could just fax in your application a week before the race. Now they hand out so many guaranteed spots to "teams," which are really just charities who then charge $1000 for a bib, that it's a pretty tough lottery system to get in. When you see throngs of people walking every step of the race, those are those "teams" that got their guaranteed spots at the expense of real runners. Rant off.

I have run it three times. It is a fantastic course. The Marines really know how to handle logistics!

That being said. One issue is that they do not enforce corrals. And folks are horrible about moving up and then clogging the course. The last time I lined up in the 3:50 corral and there were two young ladies next to me with 5 hour pace bands.

The issue with this is that you have to bob and weave around people at the beginning. In my last MCM I ran an extra quarter mile before it thinned out.

So he may want to think about moving a bit forward.

The beginning of the race is awesome - fly overs - sky divers - the starting gun is a cannon. It is a great experience.

I am getting ready to run the Boston Marathon in 2 and 1/2 weeks. It will be my second. I am running as a qualifier, not as a charity runner. I have been training for this one since October.

quote:

Originally posted by Chance:
In my last MCM I ran an extra quarter mile before it thinned out.

Consider yourself lucky! When I did NYC, it was 10 miles before I could run at the pace I wanted. By that point, I was no longer bubbling with enthusiasm. Running across the Verazzano Bridge with so many people that you could feel the bridge shaking was quite a feeling. Those first 10 miles were like being a sardine in a tin.

quote:

Originally posted by Rick Lee:

quote:

Originally posted by Chance:
In my last MCM I ran an extra quarter mile before it thinned out.

Consider yourself lucky! When I did NYC, it was 10 miles before I could run at the pace I wanted. By that point, I was no longer bubbling with enthusiasm. Running across the Verazzano Bridge with so many people that you could feel the bridge shaking was quite a feeling. Those first 10 miles were like being a sardine in a tin.

That sounds pretty awful. I also probably wasn't clear. It took about 4 - 5 miles to thin out and during that time I added an extra quarter mile to the race. Instead of running 26.2 my Garmin read 26.5 by the time I was done. Usually the Garmin shows the run being a little long but not that much.

I wanted to add he should check out the Semper Fi Fund's booth at the expo. They are a fantastic organization that really help veterans.

https://semperfifund.org/


Almost every penny they raise goes to veterans.

https://www.charitynavigator.o....summary&orgid=11708

They usually sell some shirts at the expo. I have raised money for them each time I have run MCM.

Last year's was pretty popular. I didn't run in it but did cheer some people on at the finish line. It's a great day and cool for the runners since they shit down so much of the city for the route.