Marine Corps Marathon - Run


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Arlington, Virginia
United States
United States Marine Corps
64F / 18C
Sunny
 		Total Time = 5h 20m 23s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

woke up early, way before alarm, had oatmeal and coffee for breakfest, left with my husband and sister to catch the metro
Event warmup:

about 1 1/2 to 2 mile walk to runners village, staging area for second wave, and then on to the start line, we were still walking toward the start line when the gun went off, but no panic thanks to chip timing
Run
  • 5h 20m 23s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 12m 14s  min/mile
Comments:

A fairly difficult course, very hilly at the start, very crowded, didn't get into a running groove until mile 10 when we finally had some space to run without constantly dodging people, lost my running buddy at mile 17 due to a knee injury (she had to slow down), ate a cookie at mile 21 and got my stomach upset, got a major calf cramp at mile 24 and finished limping pretty badly
What would you do differently?:

not eat that cookie at mile 21, seemed like such a good idea at the time :), I think the ups and downs of the course got to my calves, I do live in the flatlands, I think I was pretty well trained and ready for this race
Post race
Warm down:

got my medal from a Marine, despite the crowd got some food, found my sister, collapsed for a while, waited for other friends and husband to finish, took a very crowded metro back to the hotel

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I think I'll always be slow, but it was a PR for me by 18 minutes, I need to stay a bit mentally tougher during the last few miles

Event comments:

I rated this event a 4, mostly because it is a very crowded race, lots of food at the finish line, even for the late arrivals, I can't say enough good about the marines and volunteers who support this event and the spectators are awesome!!! I would recommend this event; it is an amazing event!




Last updated: 2005-10-01 12:00 AM
Running
05:20:23 | 26.2 miles | 12m 14s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Course: very varied course, first few miles were pretty hilly, crossed into Georgetown, up Rock Creek Parkway (nice and shady), through DC and many of the monuments, accross the river to Crystal City and finishing at Arlington Cemetary
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
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