Back in January I had a dream of running my first Marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC. Today it finally happened. My running partner, Tim "The Locomotive" Long moved to Mississippi (like that is a good excuse) so I was in the city solo to tackle 26.2 miles, just me and 22,000 other runners. I left the house around 6:00 a.m. and was on the Metro heading North to Arlington National Cemetery by 6:30. At 7:17 I came out of the Metro to a festival atmosphere with thousands and thousands of people getting ready to run or cheer the 34th Marine Corps Marathon. The temperature was around 55 degrees so most people had a top on before the race. Once the running started all of the sweatshirts came off and littered the ground at the starting line. I started with the 4:00 pacer and was feeling great for the first part of the race. The course ran through Rosalyn
towards the Key Bridge. As expected the organization was top notch and the course was plenty wide at the start. I hit the Key Bridge feeling awesome and in front of the 4:00 pacer. The track headed West and then into Georgetown. Then the crowds of cheering fans came out. There is nothing like running down the middle of the street with a crowd 5 deep on both side screaming for you. At mile 11 I saw the Washington Monument for the first time as we started the Hayens Point Loop. I hit the 1/2 Marathon mark at 2:13 and was feeling great. About this time I was in need of a potty break. There were plenty of porta-johns on the course but all of them had a line 20 deep in front of them. I didn't have time to waste waiting in line so I picked up a discarded cloth glove and looked for a
"private" spot in Downtown Washington. D.C. I found just the spot behind a large bush next to the 14th street bridge. As I entered the bush I was surprised to find that I was not the only one with such an idea. Some guy said "There's plenty of room" and so I took care of business. As I was leaving I realized that it was a co-ed bush!?! I was feeling great entering the city. We passed the Lincoln, the Whitehouse, and the Capitol Building. I then saw the "Vaseline on a stick" station that my friend Stu warned me about. The Vaseline is for the chaffing but some people mistake it for powergel on a stick and eat it. I stayed well away from the Vaseline stick trap (thanks Stu). At mile marker 18 I pretty much feel off any pace that I had and was just going to have to gut out the final 8 miles. We ran out of the city taking a left off of the 14th street bridge into Crystal City. Tracee called me around mile 22 and
asked if I was done. I laughed/cried loudly and sadly said no. My legs were not cramping but I just had nothing left in the tank. I wanted to run but my run was more of a fast walk. While in Crystal City I got passed by a Running Hot Dog (that will crush your motivation) As we headed back to the Pentagon I saw the Grime Reaper holding sign that said "The End is Near", I was hoping so. The finishline is at the Marine Corp War Memorial. I ran the final .2 miles with style for the photographers and finished with a time of 5:19:20. My splits were 5k - 30:19, 10k - 1:00, 20k - 2:04, Half - 2:13, 30k - 3:20. Right after I finished the race a reporter came up to me and asked if I had a great time and if I was going to run another Marathon. I told him "no time soon." The race was awesome and I may do it again but not in the near future. My favorite part of the course was on the National Mall, the monuments and sights make it a great running location. The most memorial shirt I saw on the course was a father and daughter running team. She had a green shirt that said "Never leave a good man behind." He had a green shirt that said "I'm a Good Man."
Back in January I had a dream of running my first Marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC. Today it finally happened. My running partner, Tim "The Locomotive" Long moved to Mississippi (like that is a good excuse) so I was in the city solo to tackle 26.2 miles, just me and 22,000 other runners. I left the house around 6:00 a.m. and was on the Metro heading North to Arlington National Cemetery by 6:30. At 7:17 I came out of the Metro to a festival atmosphere with thousands and thousands of people getting ready to run or cheer the 34th Marine Corps Marathon. The temperature was around 55 degrees so most people had a top on before the race. Once the running started all of the sweatshirts came off and littered the ground at the starting line. I started with the 4:00 pacer and was feeling great for the first part of the race. The course ran through Rosalyn 
towards the Key Bridge. As expected the organization was top notch and the course was plenty wide at the start. I hit the Key Bridge feeling awesome and in front of the 4:00 pacer. The track headed West and then into Georgetown. Then the crowds of cheering fans came out. There is nothing like running down the middle of the street with a crowd 5 deep on both side screaming for you. At mile 11 I saw the Washington Monument for the first time as we started the Hayens Point Loop. I hit the 1/2 Marathon mark at 2:13 and was feeling great. About this time I was in need of a potty break. There were plenty of porta-johns on the course but all of them had a line 20 deep in front of them. I didn't have time to waste waiting in line so I picked up a discarded cloth glove and looked for a 
"private" spot in Downtown Washington. D.C. I found just the spot behind a large bush next to the 14th street bridge. As I entered the bush I was surprised to find that I was not the only one with such an idea. Some guy said "There's plenty of room" and so I took care of business. As I was leaving I realized that it was a co-ed bush!?! I was feeling great entering the city. We passed the Lincoln, the Whitehouse, and the Capitol Building. I then saw the "Vaseline on a stick" station that my friend Stu warned me about. The Vaseline is for the chaffing but some people mistake it for powergel on a stick and eat it. I stayed well away from the Vaseline stick trap (thanks Stu). At mile marker 18 I pretty much feel off any pace that I had and was just going to have to gut out the final 8 miles. We ran out of the city taking a left off of the 14th street bridge into Crystal City. Tracee called me around mile 22 and
asked if I was done. I laughed/cried loudly and sadly said no. My legs were not cramping but I just had nothing left in the tank. I wanted to run but my run was more of a fast walk. While in Crystal City I got passed by a Running Hot Dog (that will crush your motivation) As we headed back to the Pentagon I saw the Grime Reaper holding sign that said "The End is Near", I was hoping so. The finishline is at the Marine Corp War Memorial. I ran the final .2 miles with style for the photographers and finished with a time of 5:19:20. My splits were 5k - 30:19, 10k - 1:00, 20k - 2:04, Half - 2:13, 30k - 3:20. Right after I finished the race a reporter came up to me and asked if I had a great time and if I was going to run another Marathon. I told him "no time soon." The race was awesome and I may do it again but not in the near future. My favorite part of the course was on the National Mall, the monuments and sights make it a great running location. The most memorial shirt I saw on the course was a father and daughter running team. She had a green shirt that said "Never leave a good man behind." He had a green shirt that said "I'm a Good Man."
5 comments:
Congrats on finishing. That is a great accomplishment.
I ran it last year and had three buddies run it this year. Two of them were on BQ pace to the half and fell off in the second half. Was there anything in the conditions that would make the second two hours tougher than the first?
Congratulations on for finishing your first and posting a great race report. I always say there are two sorts of first-time finishers: Those who say "Never again" and those who say "When's the next one". I was the second sort and it has become a life-style for me.
PatD. There was nothing about the second half that was any harder than the first half. If anything it was easier, flat with lots of fans on the sidelines. The Crystal City loop was discouraging as you saw runs heading to the finishline when you could not even see the turn-around. I just ran out of gas around mile 18 and just forced myself to the finishline.
Dr. Pelt! Man, great read about the marathon! The coed bush is hilarious! I'm proud of you bro!
Ryan
Congratulations again Jason, especially on gutting out the last eight miles without a running partner.
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