Knowing that Rosaryville 50k and JFK 50 Mile are on my race calendar in the next few weeks, I decided to run a double marathon this day to get extra flat ground training. And, I needed a self haze-fest after my abysmal performance at Grindstone.
I drove up to Crystal City on Saturday night and found a free parking spot for the night. I looked for one close to a grocery store to take advantage of the bathroom. I have a picture of base camp, aka my car, but apparently hackers have the ability to frame me for armed robbery using my license plate number.
I arrived at 2300 and got to sleep in the ole wagon around 1130. My trusted weather app wasn't so trusty - it was calling for temps in the upper 40's, but I woke up sweating multiple times. I finally took off my hoodie and climbed out of my sleeping bag and got comfortable - by then, my watch said 0030.
My alarm went off at 0240 and I was wide awake with excitement. Something about roaming the streets of Alexandria and DC alone in the middle of the night really peaked my interest. I hopped out of my Scion Lunch Box, gathered my pack and chow, and waited for my watch to hit 0300. At exactly 0300 I started towards the Mount Vernon Trail. The streets were super quiet - only a single ambulance was out and about, closing down a section of the road in Crystal City for the race. After a short jog through the city I found an entrance to the bike trail. I took the trail about 7 miles south through Alexandria, turned around, ran north all the way to the end in DC, then back to my car. Since Kari is 9 months pregnant I always have my phone with me. I took a few pictures along the way:
City skyline en route to Alexandria, about 3 miles in
Empty streets of Alexandria, normally flooded with tourists, college students, locals, and hungry shoppers looking for a good restaurant, about 6 miles in
A really creepy tunnel just south of Alexandria, which could easily be a really cool tunnel at a different time of day, about mile 6.5
Some more city lights, around mile 14
The Washington Monument across the river, mile 16-ish
Coming through the tunnel into Crystal City, mile 25 around 0620, I sent this picture to Kari to let her know I made it through the night without being shanked or mugged of my Gu Gels and baby wipes
I made it back to my car around at 0631 for a marathon split of 3:31:44. I gave myself about 25 minutes to clean up, rehydrate, get into dry clothes, and prepare for the MCM. I locked up the Lunchbox and started heading towards the Penalgon parking lot with my hand bottle to meet up with Brandon. I was tasked with being his pacer for the day, aiming for a 3:30-3:45 finish time.
I arrived before Brandon's train, so I headed towards the porta-jons. I was disappointed when I found a line about 75 people in length.
I held it. Other didn't. Some people were heading towards the bushes. Guys and gals alike. In the friggin Pentagon parking lot. No respect...
Brandon finally arrived and he headed towards the start line. He had to check a bag so we knew there would be lines aplenty. We were walking at a good clip, along with 13,000 other people, until we stopped abruptly in the middle of the road. There was a mass of thousands of people in front of us in a line for something. Initially, we thought it was for porta-jons, but we didn't see any. We soon realized the lines were formed in front of 20 metal detectors. Wow. I mean, it makes sense after what happened in Boston last year, but it's very sad that runners have to pass through metal detectors at the People's Marathon. Since this is neither a political blog, homeland security forum, nor a place to bitch and complain about things other than ultrarunning, I'll continue with the story.
Brandon took his drop bag to one of the 46 UPS trucks lined up behind the Penalgon while I secured a spot in the line for a porta-jon. We did our business and finally started our 1-mile walk to the starting line. During that time Cpl Carpenter and friends started jumping out of helicopters and whatnot.
Brandon and I also took some quick pictures once we got to the start line.
Brandon, establishing comms with his family
All business on the left, lost in the sauce on the right
When the howitzer went off we were still walking. It didn't matter. Once we stopped walking and got in a formal line, we still waited for another 8 minutes.
Waiting for the line to move, the race had started about 3 minutes prior to this photo
We finally started moving, the start line in sight!
9 minutes after the official start, we made it to the timing mat
Brandon and I ran together until the halfway point. We chatted with each other, looked around, and tried not to trip on other people's sneakers.
We took turns leading and would once in awhile lose each other in the crowd. Ultimately, that's how I lost him around mile 13. I was leading and thought he was following in my tracks, but I turned around at an aid station and he was gone. I waited for a minute or two but he never showed up. I wasn't sure whether he was way behind or snuck by and was way ahead, so I just kept running with the crowd. Later, in a fit of semi-rage, he referred to me as his "Half Marathon Pacer."
It started heating up around 1000 so, naturally, I had to preserve my nipples and took my shirts off. I was still wearing a cut off and a long sleeve. I took a selfie around mile 18 to send via cell phone data to my Commander back at the home front operations center:
Chesties flowing in the wind, crowd finally thinned out a bit
Brandon's wife, Lynne, snapped this picture of me running through Crystal City. Unfortunately, I didn't see her or their two boys yelling at the runners.
After a few more miles through Crystal City and around the Penalgon I finished at the Iwo Jima Memorial in 3:46:39.
At the end of the day I completed 52.64 miles in a combined timed of 7:18:23. I hope to sustain that type of pace during the JFK 50 Mile race in a few weeks.
The Marine Corps Marathon is about so much more than the race itself. Without getting emotional, political, or defensive, I will end this race report with the following picture to leave a lasting impression on your mind and remind you of all the sacrifices made by your servicemen and servicewomen on a daily basis. After all, a picture speaks a thousand words.
(Yep, that's Miley)
End of recount...
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