Good Luck, Marine Corps Marathon Runners

This Sunday, my birthday, actually, marks the running of the 41st Marine Corps Marathon.  This race is the premier marathon event in Washington, DC and its immediate vicinity.  Coach Kiprunning will be represented in this year's event, and wish our runners--and the rest of you--all the best for a successful race.

I have actually never run the MCM (though I certainly know many people who have).  For any number of reasons, my training schedule has never quite matched up with this particular race. However, in 2012, I did participate in the MCM 10K.  It was a strange day.  Apparently, a suspicious package was found somewhere on the course, so race officials stopped all of the 10K runners, mid-race, right at the Pentagon.  We were about a mile out from the finish line at that time.  As a result, many of us bunched up as we waited for the course to clear.  Given that our race clock was a common clock with the full marathon, our time kept running, while we kept standing.  Eventually, the course was cleared, and we all sprinted toward the finish.  The winner came in at a time of 46:34.  Then, Hurricane Sandy showed up just in time for the end of the full marathon.  Unusual, to say the least.

Regardless, the finish line and the finisher's festival was that day--and remains to this day--professionally run and openly welcoming to runners and spectators alike.  Though I've seen some modest quibbling about whether or not the race truly remains "the People's Marathon," now that it requires a lottery entry, I maintain that it is a much more runner friendly event than many of the larger marathons that get a little more press coverage.  I also, for whatever odd reason, enjoy seeing the annual spray painting of the MCM mile markers on Hains Point.

As has been chronicled at length, the DC Metro's SafeTrack project has caused some minor chaos for commuting to the race.  The MCM website has a good list of commuting resources available for anyone who needs them.

In the coming week or so, we'll post an update about how our runners performed in the event.  In the meantime, once again, we wish you all the best.  Take it easy in the next two days, eat good food, and have a great race.