Marine Corps Marathon - RunMarathon


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Washington, DC, Washington, D.C.
United States
35F / 2C
Sunny
 		Total Time = 3h 24m 58s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = 45-49
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Sitting in the hotel watching it snow the day before the race was a bit stressful. Otherwise I was prepared for the run and actually was able to sleep for 6 hours. Got up, ate a bagel, and headed out.
Event warmup:

Running from the porta-potty to the start and trying to squeeze in to the right corral in less than 5 minutes before the race.

Man it was cold until the sun came up.
Run
  • 3h 24m 57s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 07m 49s  min/mile
Comments:

Had a tough last 4 miles and lost about 2 minutes, but otherwise it was a really good run for me and almost to the second what I had as my race goal. I needed 3:30 to BQ and figured 3:28 to actually get registered, so this was a great day.

The Marines are incredible, as were the other military units who volunteered. Thank you for your service!
What would you do differently?:

Get through the porta-potty lines earlier so I could get into the right corral and not waste energy trying to thread through the crowd. Although in a race this size I am not sure it's really possible. Otherwise, nutrition, pacing, and hydration were excellent.

Also I was warm and forced to toss my running club fleece around an hour into the race. Hoping the couple I handed it to shoots me an email so I can get it back (it's on the shirt).
Post race
Warm down:

The long long walk from the finish line to the shuttles. Walked around Old Town Alexandria before dinner.

Does being in the hotel bar until closing count? What a party!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Nothing external, to go faster I'd have to train harder. Other than that, this was my "A" race and it went perfectly.

Event comments:

I will do this race again. Other than the expo being held in too small of a location, this was one of the best times I've had running. The Marines did an excellent job and when off duty are pretty entertaining as well. They truly represent the very best of this country.

Everywhere you went Sunday night you'd run into other people wearing the MCM shirt and the camaraderie was instantaneous. It really lived up to it's billing as "The People's Marathon."


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Last updated: 2011-10-31 12:00 AM
Running
03:24:57 | 26.2 miles | 07m 49s  min/mile
Age Group: 76/
Overall: 891/
Performance: Good
Chip Time: 3:24:58 Overall Place: 891 / 20895 Gender Place: 769 / 12365 Division Place: 76 / 1525 Age Grade: 67.4% 5K: 0:25:20 10K: 0:49:38 Half 1:42:17
Course: This is the largest race I've ever run and the first couple miles were so packed in there was no room to maneuver. But as always it thinned out after a few miles and I settled into my pace. The course has a couple hills but nothing major except the short steep rise to the Iwo Jima memorial. The bridge at mile 20 was mentally tiring as there was no crowd support and I hate bridges. Otherwise the crowd is incredible as is the support from the USMC.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4