Oodles of Running: Marine Corps Marathon - 2014: Sight-Seeing Around D.C.

Marine Corps Marathon

Arlington, VA

Oct 26, 2014

Split Times:

Location	Net Time	Pace
5k	25:57	8:20/mi
10k	51:11	8:14/mi
15k	1:17:25	8:18/mi
20k	1:44:41	8:25/mi
Half	1:51:06	8:28/mi
25k	2:14:56	8:41/mi
30k	2:48:31	9:02/mi
35k	3:25:49	9:27/mi
40k	4:03:01	9:46/mi
Finish	4:19:28	9:53/mi

Total Time:	4:19:28 (9:53 pace)
My Rank in Age Division (M45-49):	524 out of 1525
My Rank Overall:	5782 out of 19688
Unique State:	12
Overall Marathon:	15
Under 4 Hours:	No
Weather:	59°F at the Start Line

Quick Facts:

This was my 12th unique state and my 15th overall marathon.
I ran the Chicago Marathon 2 weeks prior to the Marine Corps!
Sue's cousin's family took great care of us while we were in the area!
I remember the day & time that I found out I was accepted into the marathon! I read the email while eating lunch in Sue's classroom! I think it was even on the same day that I ran with a 4th grade class for a friend of Sue's. What a good day!

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

2014 ... This was the year that I first tried for some lottery marathons. I put my name in the hat for Chicago, Marine Corps, and New York City Marathons. At the very beginning of the year, I registered for all three. Within a short month or two, I was lucky enough to get into 2 of the 3 marathons! I got into Chicago & Marine Corps. Yeah!!!! The problem with this, if there was any problem at that time, was that these 2 races are only 2 weeks apart from each other, but ... I don't worry about that anymore.

Chicago was a fantastic experience with tons of spectators and a great route. Now, I was ready for the Marine Corps Marathon weekend to begin! It was great to head to Washington, D.C., where I've been a couple of times before with my 2 kids. Grandma (my Mom), Stephanie, Brian, and I have explored the Mall with the beautiful memorials, statues, cherry blossoms, etc., but now I got to experience it all with my wife! She has a cousin in the area, and we were fortunate enough to be able to spend some time with her, her husband, and their twin daughters! They were so nice to put up with us! I went for a nice run with Sue's cousin's husband, they took us around town to see some sites, and we had a feast-of-a-carb-loading session at Olive Garden. Yum! Being able to spend time with them made this marathon weekend extra special, and, actually, the time they took ... the entire family of four along with Sue ... to spectate and watch me run 26.2 miles ... was spectacular! They took the day to watch me run "The. Worst. Parade. Ever." I'm very thankful for Sue's cousin's family!!!

We enjoyed the Expo. Sue spent lots of money at it. She's good at that. Ha. She spent so much money, in fact, that I got a VIP pass to the VIP porta potty place before the race. Yippee! That means I got to go to the exclusive trailer set up for special people to use one of only a few real live toilets with official toilet inspectors to ensure only VIP people go in those bowls. Some think it's a luxury. I, personally, like very, very private pooping with plenty of time to ensure I'm properly pooped out prior to the long journey. Not that you ever get that before a race, but you get it even less when very special people (even if there's fewer of them) are in a short line, staring at you with great intensity to get out of the very few, but very nice toilets. At least in the non-VIP closets, there are dozens of them, and, if any one of them stays closed for an extended period of time, it's harder to tell! Ya. That's my opinion. Haha.

Because of that lack of privacy, this race didn't start well from a running perspective. I will say, however, that the start line events were truly inspirational. I was surprised to see no official waves. We just lined up where we felt appropriate. The Marines were all around assisting. I had my usual Mtn Dew (I starve myself of my favorite drink, Mtn Dew, for days or weeks prior to marathons. Then, on race morning, I splurge with a can of Dew to get the caffeine flowing.). I didn't want to finish the whole can, but I also couldn't find a garbage can ... anywhere! I finally asked a Marine who was helping out, and he was kind enough to take it from me. Thank you! As I mentioned, the start line events were inspirational. Skydivers began to rain down from above ... dozens of them. Many of them eventually spread out the American flag as they descended further. I have some pictures below ... and even videos below ... displaying the flags as they landed on the ground right next to my spot at the starting line. We also saw and heard the beautiful Osprey Helicopters fly right over the start line. Awesome.

... and the race is on!!! I think by mile 4, I was already feeling what I normally feel at about mile 15-18. Hmpht. My favorite part ... where I remember seeing lots of spectators, including Sue and her crew, were miles 17-20 or so along the Mall. I do, however, also remember feeling like giving up at that point. Ugh, I was struggling. I kept going, though! Then mile 26 approached. The climb up what felt like a huge mountain made the finish at the Marine Corps War Memorial (aka, Iwo Jima Memorial) even more difficult but even more inspirational & worth it. No pain. No gain. The gut-wrenching sprint-at-a-snail's pace to the memorial lined with military personnel allowed me to give it all I had ... to expend every last drop of strength and stamina.

In the end, I loved the race ... but I love every race.

Partial Solar Eclipse of Oct 23, 2014

The entrance to the expo for the Marine Corps Marathon - 2014!

Glass Harpist on the Streets of Alexandria, VA

Glass Harpist (Jamey Turner) on the streets of Alexandria, VA

Sue, Dan, & Abe

Jefferson Memorial

Washington Monument

Ummmm. ... but I need to go more than pee?!?!

Metro Map

VIP Porta Potty Place - Sue was nice enough to spend lots of money at the expo, so I got free VIP porta potty usage. Not to be ungrateful, but ... with fewer people staring at you to get out, they stare at you with more intensity!!!

Marine Corps Marathon Starting Line

Skydiver - A dozen or more skydivers came flying from the sky before the start of the race. Several of them had United States of America flags flowing freely as they descended from the skies. Great way to start the race.