| Devil Dog Double Course Map |
Historic Half Course Map |
Semper 5ive Course Map Not Applicable to us |
|---|
Then the Marines had this great idea called the Devil Dog Double. Basically, it's a 2 parter. In May, you do the Semper 5ive race (a 5 mile race) and immediatly after, you do the Historic Half (a 13.1 mile race). Realistically it's an 18 miler. The only catch is is that you must do the 5 miler in less than 50 minutes and apparently hospital hill is supposed to be bad. Assuming you did it in less than 50 minutes and got back in time to line up for the 13.1, you have to once again climb hospital hill again. Then, in October, you do either the Marine Corp Marathon or the Marine Corp 50K. In terms of swag, in May you get a medal for the Semper 5ive, a medal for the Historic Half and a medal for doing both. In October, you get a medal for the marathon or 50K and perhaps yet another medal. Damn you Bootin, but Jamey, Bootin and I immediatly signed up for the damn thing as soon as registration opened up.
2020 came and of course everything started shutting down. Everything except the MCM events. They sent out email that they will get around this. Everyone on Facebook was going off saying that these are the Marines and that they overcome all obstacles and they will figure this out. Another email and they are tightening the times so less people will be there. We are Marines, we overcome, we adapt. Blah blah blah. I was not amused. It was obvious what will happen and I for one, while respecting them tremendously thought that they were being stupid and unfair to people who should start canceling hotels, flights and cars before it's too late. It was 15 days before the race and still we will overcome. A day later, we all received the "We are sorry to inform you but due to circumstances out of our control and in abundance of caution..." email. We all hated those damn words in 2020, "Due to an abundance of caution". All races were cancelled. That's it. Kaput. They did offer the virtual option etc.
I understand that a lot of race directors lost a ton of money with Covid and I tried helping by not asking for money back for a lot of races and I understand that the virtual option was there to offset it. That being said, that virtual option is such a scam. To those who think they did the MCM or MCM50K because they did it virtually: You didn't. Read my race report... Look at the pictures. Look at what we went through running through a flood. Running in Alley Pond Park or whereever, you will NOT see the blue mile. Seeing all those pictures of 18-20 year olds who were killed in action was overwhelming. That being said, if you want to pay me $50 or more just to run, I'll get you a shirt and a medal. We can do it every week in fact. I need the money...
Anyway, in may of 2020, Bootin, Jamey and I ran. I deferred the whole damn thing to 2021 and then of course to 2022 as covid was still upon us. Jamey and Bootin decided to actually do virtual. Bootin knew he was going to get deployed soon and Jamey wanted to do something. So we ran 18.1. Bootin also ran 26.2 in October. Jamey thankfully didn't. In fact, he gave away his shirt. Good man.
And now, we are in 2022 and it's time. I don't remember the reason why, but Jamey couldn't do the race in May. It is a long drive for just 18.1 miles. Bootin did get deployed overseas so that was that too. Still, turns out that Amer signed up so yay for that.
They changed the rules for the race which I thought was very smart. The original Semper 5ive was going on as planned. Those people doing the Historic Half (only), would start from a different location. Those doing the Devil Dog Double, would do the Historic Half first and then without crossing the finish line, assuming they made the 2:30 cutoff, would immediatly start the different course Semper 5ive. We would only climb hospital hill once (during the Historic Half). There was a combined time limit which I don't remember anymore.
Amer and I drove together down to Virginia with my car. I was driving over the Belt Parkway and we could just see runners underneath us, running the Brooklyn Half Marathon. It was supposed to be a hot day and in fact, MCM did send out a heat index warning. Amer got some pictures. We both knew people doing that race. Later while Amer was driving, I got an alert that a runner collapsed at the finish and died. A young guy who probably ran something like a 1:30ish. Sucks...
We got there and went straight to the Expo. Haven't been to an expo in sooooo long. It was surreal. The locals were for the most part, not wearing a mask. We were. Outside the expo, they were giving out free, hot, just of the gridle hotcakes and they were good!
We took a stroll through, got our stuff and got out of there and to the hotel.
In the morning, we checked out and drove to the start. Found parking in a parking lot next to some dude who at 6am was blasting church songs. From there a short walk. Got situated and talked to some maniacs and did my usual walking thing. Of course, the area was hilly so that sucked. A guy there, found a garter snake and relocated him to a safer area. Nice.
We lined up. The understanding was that we would do our own thing and meet up later. I knew that once I finished, I would look for Amer and try to help him in any way I can. He just had to finish under 2:30 and make the cutoff. I wouldn't mind another 5 miles. Bonus miles!!!
The cannons went off. Yes - They fired a cannon in true Marine Corps way. Hopefully the patrons of the hotel near by, were warned about the rude wake up call but NOT MY PROBLEM...
We started and I'm trying to find my groove. I have not run a half-marathon since 2015. Didn't take long before I found a group. We ran together and joked around and told stories. It was good. I stayed with them until mile 10ish or in other words, hospital hill.
I did join forces with another runner. I don't remember her name but I belive she was a nurse. A local runner who gave me the low-down as to what to expect. Hospital hill wasn't as bad as the next hill. That hill was much longer and we encountered all the slower Semper 5ive people. We ran up that hill and then down the hill into the finishers chute. At the bottom, she continueed to the finish while a Marine, because of my bib, directed me to do a U-turn and climb right back up to start the 5 miler.
There was a lot of music around there and I enjoyed myself. I was on the lookout for Amer. I was hoping to see him...
I belive I saw a runner with a prosthic leg in front of me also doing the Devil Dog Double which was awesome tho I never caught her.
I continuued on. Joined forces with people and got seperated. We basically went against the flow of people running up that hill. We were enjoying the down hill. But as you all know, what goes down, must go back up and so, another U-turn in front of a bunch of Marines and we joined the flow. Still searching for Amer. It would be tight for him but he can still make the cut off. Perhaps I could help. At this point, I was happy not seeing him because in my mind, he was ahead of me and was going to make it. The uphill is finally over. The good music area is here. I take a breath and I now push the downhill chute and finally, make the right turn into the finish line and I'm done. Got my stuff and went down the hill. My phone rings. It's Amer. His leg is bothering him and he's done. We join up and it turns out that he didn't make the cutoff. In fact, he saw me passing him. Sucks. Wish I could have helped although, I'm pretty sure that when I passed him, it was too late. Sucks.
Like me, they gave him 3 medals but he didn't know what to do with it as he knows he didn't earn them. My respect for him right there grew.
We walked back to the car and on the way, we saw a guy on the ground and marines tending to him. He did the half and on the way to the car, his legs completly cramped up and he was in trouble. Nothing we can do to help him at that point. They were calling his wife.
In summary, I would like to mention some good points and some not so good points about this race...
Here is a link to Part 2.