Marine Corps Marathon - RunMarathon

Kelley and I lined up in the 3:40 corral and waited for the cannon to go off. It took us a few minutes to cross the start line and even then it was a very slow jog at best for a pace. I saw a Musselman 2010 T-shirt on a girl and chatted for a bit about the race then moved on. The long hill at 2 miles took a while to get up. Legs felt good, Kelley's HR was in the high 180's. (I think she's actually a rabbit, at least she has a rabbits heart :) ) We backed off the pace a bit and when we got to the top of the hill Kelley darted into a porta john. There was no lines so I went as well and hoped she hadn't come out in the 22 seconds I was in there. I had a 3:40 pace bracelet on and we were a few minutes off that after the first few miles. There was a lot of time to make up time, we started the long downhill on the right side of the median to make up some time without having to deal with too many crowds. About 1/2 way down we had to cross back over the grass median and join up with the crowd. As we crossed, I looked over and saw Kelley then the next second she is doing a barrel roll on the grass and pops up and starts running again wiothout missing a beat. I was impressed but told her not to do that again! The next few miles were pretty uneventful until we hit Canal Rd around 5 or 6 miles. We came up on a soldier on a hand cycle that had lost his legs. He was surrounded by 6 or so marines in full combat gear, the 2 marines running behind the cycle had his prosthetic legs strapped to thier backs. I got goose bumps and my eyes started to water. I will be thinking of that marine any time my legs start to hurt in a marathon or long run. Very moving to say the least! Back to the race. I started to feel that familiar bowel pressure around 7 miles and told Kelley I would run ahead to find a porta john. Weaving around people like they were standing still I actually started to look at bushes because there were no johns in sight. It was just too crowded to duck into a bush, I finally saw a water stop and ducked into a john. WHEW!!!! I came out, waited for Kelley for a minute or two and figured she must have gone by when I started seeing many of the peeps we had passed a mile back go by. The next 2 miles were about a 7:15 pace and I finally caught up to Kelley. We were a few minutes off the 3:45 goal pace but I figured there was plenty of time to make the time up with 16 or so miles of flat running ahead. We got to the 9 mile mark and Kelley's parents were going to be somewhere around here so we started to look for them. Kelley spotted a porta john that looked open and made a pit stop. I waited....and waited....and waited, apparently it was occupied and it took a few minutes to get in. No problem, we still got plenty of real estate to make up the time. We continued on, looking for her parents when the next thing I know I heard a strange sound and saw Kelley on the ground behind me. She stepped in a big pothole and twisted her ankle pretty bad. My first reaction was that there was food and drinks back at charity village, we don't have to finish this race. Food sounds good! Irongirl had a different thing in mind. She stood up, started walking, started jogging and we were on our way. All time goals were out the door now and my new job was to keep her mind occupied with conversation so she didn't throw up. Miles 12-16 were long. We hit the 13.1 mile mark in a little over 2 hours. Someone was handing out Advil around mile 15 and Kelley was all over that. I was having a hard time for the next few miles. Constitution Ave and Madison Ave seemed to go on forever. My feet were starting to hurt, IT band started to act up a bit and I was ready for the run to be over with. I didn't want to complain to Kelley because SHE was the one that was running on a sprained ankle. I was really looking forward to the aid stations and walking through them. There was never a doubt that we weren't going to make it, I just wanted to get to the darn finish line. The neverending bridge was coming up. It seemed to go on forever, the bridge was about a mile long and there was another mile of highway before getting off the exit to Crystal City. SOmeone was handing out beer in Crystal City and the smell just about made me puke. After the out and back in Crystal City came the Pentagon. Onle a couple miles left! A couple times I leaned a bit forward and picked up my pace a bit and it felt really good. We got onto Jefferson Davis Dr. where the start was and knowing the finish was just up the road was a relief. Kelley started to pick up the pace a bit and I thought she was trying to lose me for talking too much. She was finally getting sick of me or she was excited about getting up that last hill! Came through the finish together, felt like cattle moving through the finisher medal and picture lines.

Like the rest of the races this year ........ train more!

COMPEX ........ massage ....... COMPEX!


Training or lack there of.


This is a must do race for any runner!! Absolutely fantastic! OOH RAH!!