2023 Marine Corps Marathon Race Experience
On Sunday, October 29th I ran the Marine Corps Marathon. This marathon was #12 for me and it was such a journey to get to the start line. I’ve shared this before on my Instagram account, but I’ll share here as well as a way to memorialize the experience leading up to Marine Corps:
Had I known what life would throw at me over the course of this training cycle, I wouldn’t have signed up for this race. But, Life does what Life does and I did my best to move with its flow. What Life happened? We moved five times (three Airbnbs!) with the final move back into our Casita the Tuesday before Marine Corps, one of those moves was to the west coast of Florida where I spent the summer with the girls while my husband stayed in Miami (he was with us each weekend), our beloved family dog died in September, and I encountered setbacks on top of heartbreaks when it came to getting our house in a position where we could finally move back in. There was so much life stress in the week leading up to the race that I didn’t even have time to think about the race itself. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not, but it did leave me in a place of intense gratitude for even making it to Arlington the Friday before the race.
A key takeaway from this training cycle and race is that all I truly have control over is how I show up. Read on for my experience of the 2023 edition of the Marine Corps Marathon. (PS there will be a Runner’s Round Table bonus episode on this, so stay tuned!)
Accommodations
We stayed in an Airbnb in Arlington, VA. I picked Arlington because of its proximity to the start/finish lines and because I really wanted access to washing and drying machines. Our stay was perfect for my husband and me because it was walking distance to lots of restaurants. The stay also had a parking space, which was great as we rented a car for our weekend of exploration.
Expo
The expo was held at the Gaylord National Resort in Maryland. We parked in an outside lot ($5 for 90-minutes). Expo was easy to find. Bib and t-shirt pick-up were straightforward and I was greeted by Marines at both stations. Vendors at the expo included charities, local running stores, and on-course hydration (Nuun) and fuel (Untapped) providers. I believe we spent around 20-25 minutes at the expo and then walked around the surrounding area along the river that had shops and restaurants.
Pre-Race
I woke up at 5:00am and had Kodiak Oatmeal for breakfast. My morning was unrushed and my husband dropped me off at 6:30am at the recommended drop-off location for the race. Thanks to Coach D’s Marine Corps Marathon Masterclass, I knew there would be a 1-2 mile walk before getting to the corrals and continued my unrushed morning mood to the start area. At 7:00am I had my Vega energizer drink, took advantage of the plentiful bathrooms, ate some graham crackers, and then made my way to the corrals where there were even more bathrooms. Unlike my two most recent marathon experiences, this was the most chill race morning for me.
Post-Race
My husband met me in the finisher’s area and we left after I failed to find the free beer. I did, however, get a snack box from the race itself, a race jacket, and watermelon.
On the Course
I kind of knew what to expect from the race after listening to a podcast with the race director (“this course is like NYC and Boston!”), but I didn’t fully grasp the hills and elevation changes on the course until I had a pre-race talk with my coach. I knew I had to make it through the rolling hills of the first three miles, across the bridge at mile 20, and up the climb to the finish line, but I didn’t realize just how rolly this course was from start to finish. Sure, there were gloriously flat areas of the course, but not as many as I would have liked. I can’t tell you all how often I said, “F*ck, another one!?” out loud.
Minus the bridge at Mile 20 I found this to be one of the most beautiful courses I have ever ran. Fall was on beautiful display, the Blue Mile was incredibly impactful, and running passed monuments, like the Capitol Building, the Pentagon, and the Washington Memorial was memorable. I found there to be an ample amount of water and Nuun on the course and I really appreciated how there were Marines with gallons of water filling up people’s personal water bottles at the later stations. One of the things that I loved about this course was the diversity in fueling options on the course: Clif Bloks, Untapped Coffee-Infused Vermont Maple Syrup, applesauce pouches, and Sport Beans.
There was crowd support along the course and, while some parts were more sparse, there were so many runners on the course that I never felt alone. Spectator signs were A+ given the context of running through our nation’s capitol and I giggled every time I saw a sign that said “You run better than the government.” Also, shout out to all the clever Taylor Swift signs that reminded me of my daughters and why I started running in the first place.
Race Experience
I went into this race with the goal of joining the 4:30 pace group. I was confident that my fitness was at a level where 4:30 would feel challenging, but completely manageable. The race is a rolling start and runners position themselves based on what they think their finish time will be, so runners can join the corrals wherever they want. I managed to find the 4:30 pace group, but lost them once everyone started to move through the start line. Knowing the first few miles were full of rolling hills, I tucked myself in behind groups of runners and repeated Coach D’s words “Bank energy, not time” as I waited for the course to thin out so that I can move past runners moving slower than me. I was slower than my target pace for this part of the course, but I didn’t want to waste energy trying to weave around people, so I held onto the pace and kept moving forward. The course never fully thinned out, but I settled into a grove that felt good. Even with the hills, the course felt manageable and the weather felt pleasant (humid, but it was high 60s and overcast).
I remember seeing mile marker 9 and thinking, “Ok, I’m doing this. I’m past the point (mile 5) where I usually know how a race is going to end up.” I was so wrong. Mile 10 rolls around and with it comes the most intense feeling of grief over my dead dog. I couldn’t stop thinking about her and I couldn’t catch my breath because the sobs were so close to the surface. Miles 10 through 13 were spent trying to hold back tears and trying to settle my heart enough so that I could keep moving forward. I always say that I am confident I will make it from start to finish line in a race, but that I have doubts over the mental tools it will take to make that journey.
I went into this race prepared to battle my body and thoughts that said I was in too much pain/discomfort to keep moving forward; I was completely unprepared for grief though. Even writing this now brings me to tears. A marathon reaches into the depths of a person and you hope that it pulls out the best of you on race day, but on this day, the marathon pulled out my grief. Looking back, I know that my dog represented all that I have lost over the past six-months and she was the easiest thing for my brain to push forward to help me move and feel through the grief. I wish it would have happened any other day, but that’s the card I was dealt on race day. I felt the grief suffocate me and, for the first time ever, I truly doubted I would be able to finish this race. My grief was compounded by the Blue Mile, which is a mile dedicated to “Faces of the Fallen” and features pictures of dead service people. I expected this part of the race to be emotional, but, again, I didn’t anticipate going into this mile with the heaviness of my own grief.
One foot in front of the other. Forward is forward. I made it to a bathroom at mile 16 and, as I was leaving, I saw a runner getting chest compressions. Emergency services arrived and rescue efforts continued and this added to my sense of grief. I made it my goal to finish the next 10 miles in his honor and I pray that he made it.
Miles 20-21 on the bridged sucked because the sun came out to play and there was no protection from the sun or heat. I had a Fireball shot at mile 22 because nothing soothes a breaking heart during a marathon like a little bit of burn. I saw my husband right before mile 23 and that was a balm to my heart. After everything I had experienced on the course, I made it my goal to make the last 5K of the race the strongest. The last 5K was how I hoped to feel and run the entire race and, while that wasn’t my story for the day, I gladly own the story that did play out. I ran in honor of my grief and I can celebrate not letting it drown me in despair.
Shout out to coaches Christie Zook and Danielle Hirt for being my angels on the course and to Jana and Mari for reminding me that we can do hard things, even when we feel broken.
Overall Impression
Oh, Marine Corps Marathon, you will forever be remembered as the race I ran with grief. This is such a well put-on race from start to finish. As I heard before: would I expect any less from a race put on by the Marines? I am so proud of myself for finishing this race in 5:04. I look at this race experience with awe and wonder. The marathon owes me nothing and it gave me everything I needed to feel and be human.
Pros
Quick and easy expo experience.
Large field, if you like racing with a lot of people.
Water and bathrooms stations throughout the course.
Variety of fueling options on the course
Music at various points on the course.
Spectator support throughout, but especially in the National Mall area.
Beautiful and scenic course.
Blue Mile.
Race is staffed/supported by Marines and having a marine give me my finisher’s medal was amazing.
Start and finish in the similar areas.
Post-race meals, snacks, and drinks.
3D finisher medal with dog tags on the inside.
Runner drop-off was quick and easy, as was reuniting with my husband post-race.
Cons
Depending on preference, 7:55am start time might feel late.
Large field, which can feel overwhelming or impact your race plans.
Weather was “unseasonably warm.”
Depending on prefence, location of events can be challenging with expo in Maryland and race start/finish in Virginia.
Race pictures: you do have to pay for them, but they are cheaper if you buy in advance and it’s a banger of a deal. I had 98 photos taken during the race and the photo package includes those 98 original photos along with each photo on two different MCM backgrounds (see one background in the top image).
I’ll be sitting with this experience for a while. I can say with certainty that I have no regrets over this race experience. Like so much of Life over the past six months, this is just another experience that I have to roll with and learn how to be ok with; at the end of the day, I ran a marathon and no one can take that accomplishment away from me.
