Yesterday — Sunday, October 25 — was the 40th Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) held in Washington, DC.
There were nearly 50,000 (that’s right — 50,000!) people who ran and gave it their best. A large majority opted to do the full marathon, while the rest of us said ‘that’s absolutely terrifying,’ and ran the MCM 10K instead.
It was incredible to be a part of the race. The course map will show you just how spectacular the run was. We began at exactly 7:55am on the dot when 10,000 people crossed the start line on The National Mall, close to the Art Gallery.By Mile Two, we had crossed over the 14th Street Bridge into Virginia, and I was still feeling good! That is, until we hit the inclines on the ramps and overpasses into Virginia. Eventually we were spat out in Crystal City, thanking my lucky stars we didn’t have to deal with the hill in Pentagon City. (If you live near DC you definitely know that hill on Army Navy Drive…)
What I loved the most were the hundreds of uniformed Marine’s handing out water, gatorade, clapping, cheering, singing, and offering up high-fives throughout the entire course. It was wonderful, and it really helped during Mile Five, which was just about the death of me.
My Training
I was all set and registered for the race just about 8 weeks out, and I was able to find this intermediate runners training guide, which I used pretty diligently during the first half of my training. I will admit, though, that the second half of my training was a bit subpar. With that said, I’m still pretty proud of my finish-time, despite my meh approach to training during the weeks leading up to the race.
I know my FitBit was thrilled to have a nearly 20,000-step day, and I’m thrilled to have another 10K under my belt. I’ve got the ‘Finisher’s Medal’ to prove it. Afterwards, I treated myself to a Chipotle steak bowl and a post-race pedicure.
PS. Did I mention that it was drizzling the entire race?