Marathon Tips?

[James Ford]

maybe he could run it with us

we should get seth to sponsor us next year

[sweetcell]

As for the question of whether it is a good first marathon, I would say maybe.  The course is not tough and there are a lot of other first-timers and weekend warriors, so that is a plus.  It has become way crowded, which is a minus.  But it always well-organized, as opposed to some others (National Marathon - I'm looking at you).  There are plenty of others (such as Chicago and Toronto) that are "easier" courses (as in flatter).  But the start line for the MCM is like a mile and a half from my house so it's always the easiest one for me to get too.

thanks for the insight on the MCM.  any other tips a first-time runner should know?  my wife is curious about what to expect.

is jumping the barrier a possibility, or will the Marines tackle me?

any tips for spectators?  i'm told that the MCM is good for spectators because it's easy to catch runners at several spots along the course.

[James Ford]

Please don't jump in at the beginning. The course is already overcrowded with real competitors.

[sweetcell]

definitely not.  the idea is to provide support at the very end - last 5 or 6 miles.  i have zero interest in jumping in early on... someone might expect me to actually run all 26 miles, and that sure as hell ain't happening.

[ggw]

is jumping the barrier a possibility, or will the Marines tackle me?

any tips for spectators?  i'm told that the MCM is good for spectators because it's easy to catch runners at several spots along the course.

Non-registered runners regularly jump in to run a couple of miles with their registered friends/family.  The organizers probably aren't thrilled about it, but I have never heard of them doing anything to prevent/stop it.

As far as spectating - if you hang out near the Lincoln Memorial you can catch the runners twice in the middle sections of the race and then just walk back over the Memorial Bridge to catch them at the end.

[walkonby]

have you ever seen anybody ever crap their pants while running.  or one of the water cup people trip a runner. 

[James Ford]

In regard to the second question: no.

In regard to the first question: yes.

Grete Waitz lost control of her bowels while racing the New York City Marathon, continued running, and won.


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have you ever seen anybody ever crap their pants while running.  or one of the water cup people trip a runner. 

[Thousand Made-Up Loves]

Don't drop dead.

Sincerely,

Jim Fixx

[nkotb]

I decided fairly last minute to still run on Sunday.  Gave a try-out run of 18 miles last week and did alright; I had to walk a little bit, but I still knocked it out in 3 hours on the dot. 

Look for a guy wearing a Hot Snakes t-shirt (my lucky running shirt) and say hi or cheer me on or pick me up off the pavement and wipe the puke from my face.

[ggw]

I will be hanging out at Lorcom and Spout Run. Just look for the dude with the 190lb St. Bernard.

[James Ford]

I didn't see ggw or his dog.

Very happy with my race. My 14th marathon, but my first since 2006. The fastest of my last 10, 30 minutes faster than 2006, and fastest since 1994.

Which is not to say I ran some sort of amazing race or anything. Hell, assuming I'm looking up the right name, it looks like nkotb beat me.

[sweetcell]

this missus clocked in at under 4 hours.  i am so amazed and proud of her.  i could barely keep up with her for the last five miles, after she had already run 21... crazy.  she's going to be some kind of sore tomorrow.  met up with her a miles 1, 4, 10, 15 and 21. 

dunno if it was the influence of yesterday's rally but there were some witty signs along the way.

thanks to earlier-than-announced road closures we were diverted into DC instead of parking at a friend's near the finish line, so we took metro to the start line.  after the race, the line to get in to rosslyn station stretched down the block so we decided to walk back to foggy bottom.  only low-point of the day.

what a gorgeous day for a marathon.  what a great weekend.

[James Ford]

Yes, the Rosslyn Metro line sucked.

As did all the people who decided to meet their parties right after the finish line instead of at the family link-up, thus clogging up the exit area. It look me nearly an hour to walk the quarter (half?) mile from the finish to the family link-up.

Oh, and I forgot to mention the best part. About five feet after the finish line, I started projectile vomiting. Threw up probably six times in the span of two minutes. Sat down for ten minutes and was fine.

[ggw]

The dog got a little freaked by all the bicycles and noise from the spectators so we were hanging in the back. Perfect weather for the race. Made me sad I wasn't out there. A hearty congrats to the Fords, sweetcellette and nkotb.

[nkotb]

As I mentioned here before, I skipped a lot of my long-distance training, but it turned out pretty well in the long run.  I had to walk a bit of this one (last time, I ran the entire distance), but dropped 10 minutes off my time; I came in at 4:02:24, so I'm pretty happy about that. 

This was my first Marine Corps, and I found it pretty badly organized compared to NYC.  I made the mistake of assuming (like NYC) that the start would have some energy drinks, bagels and food, but they didn't, so I started things off with almost nothing on my stomach.  Total rookie mistake.

And the lack of people on the course cheering you on fed into my walking, I think.  The times I needed the most cheering, there was practically no one on the course.  And given that SO much of it is a loop (literally a ton through Crystal City is just up and down the same street during the last 3 miles), it didn't really take your mind off how terrible your legs felt.  And just for the record, they feel terrible today.