04:27:54 A New Marathon PR

On October 28th I participated in "The People's Marathon"....AKA the Marine Corps Marathon. I had been training since late June with increasing weekly base miles and escalating long runs. The plan was to run a 10:00 minute per mile pace, with a little buffer, to finish under 4:30 hours. The plan mostly worked; went out a little too fast and had a difficult time on miles 20-23, but rallied to finish and meet my goal.

As usual the start was jammed with approximately 22,000 runners (see picture above). The course was new this year and a bit more challenging; two big hills at the start and a couple less than desirable course route changes. But the crowds and marines (who were present at all water and aid stations) were very supportive and there were the usual cast of runners in costumes that were very entertaining. In particular I remembered running for a lot of the race with three girls (picture at left) who wore patriotic running attire--very cute. The water stations were well organized and had enough water and gatorade---but what a mess to run through (see picture below on right)!

Jane, Judy and Elroy met me at mile 21 and urged me on. It was nice to have them there at the end. After I trudged uphill the last 200 yards to the Iwo Jima Memorial (where the finish is) I was pretty tired and had one major leg cramp that sent me in agony to the ground for a few minutes until I could get it stretched out. Glad to be finished with one race, we had to push our way through throngs of runners and spectators that overwhelmed the metro lines in order to get home.