Marine Corps Marathon - RunMarathon

Wow, this was just a great day for a marathon.

As we started, we tried our best to make sure we kept up a good pace. At the start, it was me, Betsy, and Leslie. We made our way through crowds and traffic. The first mile was all uphill but we worked it hard. Miles 2 and 3 were uphill as well. But at Mile 3 we finally hit that mile-long downhill stretch! We let our legs carry us as we made our way down. I think Leslie and I lost Betsy right around here. Our splits were low 8's at that point, but we picked it up at Mile 4 and kept our splits in the 7's for quite a while after that. After crossing the M Street bridge into Georgetown, we went left instead of going right. This was the change from last year's course. It was a bit tougher as last year, Miles 5 and 6 were downhill but this year were up and flat. There was a pretty long downhill between Miles 7 and 8 though.

As we made our way through the course, Leslie and I were blown away at the fact that we were just clicking off the miles at sub 8 minute pace. We felt great. We communicated great. She was a blast to run with. We ran, talked about first marathons, how we got into running, etc. It really made the time pass. Especially around Mile 10 when the course was a little less than exciting. So we relied on each other to stay motivated. Then around Mile 11 we ran down Constitution Ave., past the Washington Monument and onto the mall. It was fun! Lots of cheering spectators!! It felt great to still have that much energy in reserve. Last year I'd started feeling tired already. Mile 13 came and I felt great. We hit the halfway point at 1:44 and change...a full 3 minutes ahead of my split from last year, and almost a half marathon PR for me. I fueled up on extra energy supplements and an extra gel at this point. I'd been taking gels every two miles or so and even took some protein drink with me which I used up around Mile 10, according to plan.

After the halfway point we started to work a bit harder. By the time we got into Haines Point and Potomac Park (Miles 14 - 19) we were working and having to keep ourselves motivated. We cheered on other runners. We were passing ALOT of people who were looking really tired, and that gave us energy...to know we were working hard but still able to pass a lot of people. It was windy and that made it tough. But we worked through it and did our best. It looked like we were eating into our generous 8 minute time buffer so we sped up to make the time back up. We were still running sub 8 minute splits at Mile 19. Then came the bridge.

Leslie made me work the bridge. I was soooooo thankful for her on the bridge. It was tough. I thought we were losing time but we stayed on pace. Once we got into Crystal City though, things changed for me. The wind was HUGE there. Leslie sailed thru but around Mile 23 I started to fade a bit. I let her go ahead, she didn't need me to pace her to the BQ anymore, she had it in the bag!! So I relaxed and ran the rest of the race at a good pace...mid 8's. Around Mile 25 I started to really feel like I wanted to be done. The end of the course changed a bit from last year in that there was an extra out and back before Mile 26. It included a short uphill stretch. I ran my slowest mile of the day in Mile 26 - 9:18. But I kept telling myself as long as I came in around 3:30 I'd be overwhelmed with happiness. After all, I was here to run a 3:40.

When I got to the big hill at Iwo Jima, my face lit up, I was at 3:29:50 and I knew I'd have a 3:30 time. I ran as hard as I could up that last bit of roadway and crossed the line in 3:30:19. I was absolutely blown away at how well I'd done. I never thought in a million years I'd get to see a 3:30 this year. MCM is a tough course, so a 3:30 is way ahead of my plans for myself!

I looked for Leslie, but she'd finished about a minute and a half before me (3:28:35) so she was already further up than I could see. I went thru, got my medal, and thanked the Marines for being there. They were really awesome. They congratulated me as well, and I was so proud to hear that from them.

Start up closer. Our actual distance (by Leslie's Garmin) was 26.9 miles...that's almost 3/4 of a mile more than we should have run. For that distance, my actual average split was 7:49, not the "official" 8:01 for 26.2.

I walked around. Had to stay loose. There were a lot of refreshments...water, Powerade, Pineapple juice, pretzels, etc. I grabbed a bag and loaded it up with stuff so I could take in as much as I needed. I sat down a bit to let some of the crowd by, but then I decided I was cold and I wanted my drop bag. So I went over to the UPS trucks, got my bag, met up with Terri and her aunt and uncle, and relaxed...waited for Betsy to finish. Made some phone calls and walked around a bit more so I could stay loose.


Wind. I think that was it. I don't think there were any physical limitations this time. I felt great, I fueled great, and I ran with good form. Plus I had the most awesome running partner, I'd definitely run another with Leslie, she rocked!!!


MCM is just the most fun race I've done all year. I can't wait to do it again. I'll do this one every year, it's just awesome. Great scenery, great atmosphere, great crowds, just an awesome time and a super great race.