Race Tips If you're registering for this race to compete, don't register. Aside from the empty nutrition stop I referenced above, the other stops were well-tended and supplied. You couldn't get much more support than what was given. The volunteers, marines and civilians alike, were fantastic. The volunteers (who by the way were the best part of this race) were left empty-handed, and at this point in the race (16 - 17 miles in) to arrive at a nutrition stop to find it empty is not a good thing if you were banking on that being available. Lastly, and just as critical, was the fact that one of the nutrition stops were out of Boom gels. I always expect to run about an 1/8 to 1/4 mile more than 26.2 miles, but a half mile is ridiculous. So, I have to believe that the official measurements are not correct. Some friends of mine that are elite class measured out at 26.67 miles. The other major problem with the course is my Garmin measured out my race at 26.73 miles and that was with me running the tangents the best that I could. Beyond that, it was a lot of ducking and dodging other runners and runners-turn-walkers all the way to the finish line. I actually had a woman wearing earbuds, paying more attention to her music than those running around her, trip me and we both went down hard. Shoulder to shoulder with other runners probably 80% of the way. With 30,000 runners, and no true staggered corral starts, the course was too crowded. In all, I walked about 3 miles before the race, and at least to me, walking is more taxing on my legs than running. No time to warm up or gather myself mentally. I had to use the porta potty before the gun, so I actually missed the official start. I arrived at my start position (no dilly dallying in between) with literally two minutes to spare. Once outside the building, everyone had to walk about 2 miles to the security checkpoint, another 1/4 mile to the gear bag drop point, and then another half mile beyond that, to the start area. It took a good 10 to 15 minutes to just get out of the Metro building. Got on that train and when I got off at the Pentagon stop, there were literally thousands of people trying to exit the metro platform using two sets of escalator stairs that were turned off. Had to wait for the next train which showed up 15 minutes later. It showed up at 6:15, and it was packed door to door, front to back. Stood on the platform and waited for the train that was supposed to be there at 6:00 AM. Took the Metro from Rosslyn to the Pentagon as suggested. I started out from my hotel (Le Meridien) about 3/4 mile away, at 5:30 AM for a 7:55 AM start. This race had/has enormous potential to be a top 10 race in the country, but until the event organizers fix the arrival and start line issues, I don't recommend this marathon to anyone. Custom Race Map & Elevation Profile Service.Request a Race be Added to the Pace Band Page.Request a Marathon be Added to the Marathon Time Converter Tool.
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