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| 50K PACE BAND | MAP | Certificate |
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Anyway, The Marine Corps Marathon has been on my list of need to do Marathons for a long time but I just never got around to it. Then one day, I'm working with Dionida in the pool and she tells me that MCM is going to have a 50K this year (inaugural) and that only 500 people will get in. Oi. I figured I don't have DC so why not... (spoiler alert: Turns out this counts as Virginia, not DC!). I look into it and yeah, what the hell...
Anyway, race organizers decided to let in 1,500 instead of 500 and at the right date/time, registration opened and within an hour(!!!), they sold out with 1,700 people signed up for the 50K.
Oh boy... Oh boy...
Fast forward and I still didn't figure out logistics. Really didn't want to go alone. Really had no idea where to stay or do. Amer said he will help look but didn't. What he did do (and this is HUGE), he went with me. That means that the 4 hour ride there, I only drove 2 hours and took a nap. Coming back, he drove the whole way. He also did some other stuff but let's wait that out.
Meanwhile besides freaking out about logistics, I was also freaking out about the cutoffs. Let me just say that the cutoffs are NOT that bad and really shouldn't be an issue for me. That being said, I was very stressed. The Marathon requires a 14ish minute mile I think and the 50K requires a 12:30 minute mile. Really not an issue. Also, if you don't reach certain areas by a certain time, you will be DNFed. Here's what it says on their website.
Time Limits The howitzer will fire at 7:30 a.m. officially sounding the start of the MCM50K. The start is situated on Route 110 in Arlington, VA, the same location as the MCM. 50K participants will line up on the Arlington Cemetery side of the road. The MCM50K course will remain open until 3:00 p.m. Required Maximum Pace: All MCM50K participants must maintain a 12:30 minute-per-mile pace. There are multiple checkpoints along the 50K course. Runners must reach mile 4.55 in Georgetown on DC-side of the Key Bridge by 8:33 a.m. At Mile 22 of the 50K, participants will reach "the Gauntlet" in Washington, D.C. Those who do not make it through the Gauntlet by 12:33 p.m. will be diverted from the certified course at Independence Avenue to 14th Street and may continue running but will not complete the official distance. These individuals will not be recognized as official finishers. "Beat the Bridge" -- All MCM50K participants must reach the intersection of 14 and D Streets before the 14th Street Bridge by 1:15 p.m. at Mile 25. The equivalent of a marathon finish time will be provided to all MCM50K participants. A timing mat will be installed at the 26.2 mark of the 50K course and will capture timing data. This ‘marathon’ finish time has been approved as a qualifying time for Boston should it meet eligibility requirements. The "Crystal City Gauntlet" must be reached by 1:49 p.m. at Mile 27 or participants will be diverted from the certified course at 12th Street South as it becomes Crystal Drive. If diverted at any of these locations, participants may continue running but will not complete the official course. These individuals will not be recognized as official finishers.
In short, it's basically this:
| 50K Mile Marker | MCM Mile Marker | Clock Time | Time Limit | Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.55 | 4.55 | 8:30 am | 1:00 Hour | |
| 22 | 17 | 12:33 pm | 5:00 Hours | The Gauntlet |
| 25 | 20 | 1:15 pm | 5:45 Hours | Beat the Bridge |
| 27 | 22 | 1:49 pm | 6:19 Hours | Crystal City Gauntlet |
Again, really not a big deal but I just don't like cutoffs. What if I have an issue? Stressful...
Dionida made me a pace bracelet.
You get what I'm saying? The cutoffs aren't crazy but even a little of an issue and you're done... Anyway, got a place. Got company in terms of Amer. Got a pace band.
Few days before the race, stomach wasn't happy at all. Not a good sign. Still, we continue. The race was on Sunday, so Saturday, I got the distinct pleasure of waking up "late" for a weekend. Yes, I got up at 5am. Oh yeah...
Plan was to leave around 8am, but reality made it more like 8:30. Picked up Amer and on the way. As I said, I drove about 2 hours and then Amer took over. He actually likes to drive and specifically that drive. I napped for about an hour. I woke up to crazy traffic on this 2 lane in any direction highway without a shoulder. Still, Waze/Google Maps weren't fazed by this and didn't change their estimation. Nice... Checked into the hotel and went to eat across the street. Got a sandwich at a local pizza store. It was small and barely decent. Ordered fries too and guy behind the counter douses it with cayeene. I was starving so I ate it, but I was worried about it's potential effect. Ubered to the expo. Wow...
This was my 2nd biggest Marathon (NYCM is #1) and the expo was overwhelming to me. Walked in there and immediatly start thinking that I don't belong here. This is for "real" runners... Not me...
Just wanted to turn right around and leave. I didn't. Apparently, when I signed up, I asked the bib to be mailed to me and so I brought it with me, because I wanted to test it. Make sure it's still working as it got bent. Picked up my shirt and some samples and stuff and got the hell out of there.
Amer and I walked around a little in the area. Nice area. Took a picture of an old Air Force One. Don't know if it's genuine or not but who cares. Couldn't resist and got a huge bag of Kettle Corn too. Yummy. Uber back to the hotel where I spent the rest of my night finishing the popcorn (too much fiber?!?) and a can of pineapple. Amer had to fend for himself for dinner.
And now for the weather... What was originally supposed to be a beautiful day, slowly turned into yuck as the week wore on. On Friday, I already got a text from MCM that we should be expecting heavy rains but it will be hot and we should not fool ourselves and hydrate. Wonderful. At hotel check in, it was confirmed. Bad bad bad tomorrow. At the expo, later on, we heard good news. It's only a 20 percent chance of rain. NICE! First good news all day.
When we got back to the hotel after the expo, the sky looked dark and I was hoping that the rain would just come in already and be done with it.
While I was chilling, I get a call from Amer. When we checked in, I asked about checkout and was told 11am. When he went downstairs, he saw a sign that said late checkout is available for free. Quickly arranged for a 3pm checkout. That's awesome. A chance for me to shower before getting stuck in traffic... THANK YOU AMER!
We also signed up for the free shuttle leaving at 5am. So, since I had to wake up at 2am, I tried my best to go to sleep between 9 and 10.
2am rolled around and I immediatly looked out the window. Dry. NICE!!! At 3am, it was still dry and I was thinking YES! The weather reports said some rain between 8 and 10 so I figured we may have just dodged a bullet. At 4am, I looked outside again, and it was coming down real bad... Oh well.
Went down to the shuttle at 5am and everyone had garbage bags on top. I left my recycling bag upstairs. They told me to go get it and that they would wait. Smartest thing ever!
The shuttle took us as far as it could but we still had a 3/4 mile walk to the pentagon in that rain. I lent Amer a gold umbrella but nothing for me. I did wear a light hoodie under the bag tho.
The group walked together until we got to an area where Marines were saying that only runners could enter. Amer was going to say goodbye, but I had another thought. We simply walked a little away and bypassed this. We then reached security and it was beyond lax. Really just for show. I wish it was more. It should be more. We were right near the Pentagon and if the Boston Marathon bombing taught us anything, then we should have been searched more. I did the Air Force Marathon a while ago, before the Boston bombing, and they were much more strict. Just saying...
Anyway, we were at the runners village. Port a pottie again. Gotta shed some weight before I run...
The Marathon and the 8K were supposed to go off at 8am while the 50K was going off at 7:30, so we headed to the start. Eventually, we did reach a point where Amer could not go through. I said goodbye and I continued on.
Before I knew it, the were counting down. 5! 4! 3! 2! BOOM! The cannon went off and I jumped. I did not expect it and I guess I was closer to it than I knew and did I mention that it WAS A FREAKING CANNON???
Another spoiler alert: Out of my 31 miles, the first 24 were either in really terrible rain or just a horrible downpour. The word of the day kiddies was "craptastic", as in "The weather during the race was just craptastic".
I initially thought it was a flat race but during the race, Amer told me to expect some hills in the first few miles. Yeah... Definitly had some hills. Running up wet hills in horrible rain sucked. Running down them wasn't great either.
And so, most runners got out of the way. Others had to get yelled at constantly. Seriously people...
One really steep downhill stood out. We had to make a right turn on the bottom and runners started migrating over to the right side before the bottom. We then heard the "make a hole" sound and suddenly people had to make a decision. The deer staring at the headlights thing. I was crossing when I heard that but I got the hell out of dodge immediatly. Once I reached the bottom, I realized that it was pretty much a 90 degree turn and I said a little prayer internally hoping that the wheelchair guys would be ok. It was a horrible turn for bikes and wheelchairs. Add speed and rain to the mix. Oi. Again, I hope no one got hurt. Haven't heard. Not trying to investigate further. Ignorance is bliss.
We went on.
A female runner commented that she wonders if the lead Marathoners would catch us... Interesting thought.
Eventually we hit a bridge. Went over and we could see ahead that at the end is the split. Marathoners go right. The 50Kers go left for an out and back. That was our first timed cutoff.
Before the split, we heard sirens again and the usual "make a hole". It was the lead marathoner. He caught us as we made the left. The guy was booking... It was pretty cool to see.
We went left. I started talking to a dude named Kevin. Guy looked like Yisroel Pupko. We talked and enjoyed ourselves. About a 1/4 mile into the out and back, we saw the first and second 50Kers heading back and I wondered outloud if they would catch the lead marathoner guy. If that guy was booking it, these guys were really flying. It was really cool to see.
OOPS: Forgot to mention. The 50K had a sweet stop aid station only for us at the beginning/end of the out and back. I grabbed a small muffin. NICE!
Done with the out and back with a hill. Nice guys...
We then joined the Marathoners in George Town I think and it was crowded. We were catching up to the end of the midpack and really the endpack. Very crowded. That part sucked. Would have been nice if we could have run parallel to them for a bit as to not slow us down but whatever.
Down a hill and turn left under an elevated train track. A band was playing Mony Mony I think by Billy Idol and everyone was singing. Volunteers, spectators and runners alike. It was cool. From there to another out and back. This one seemed to go on forever. We kept thinking it's almost over but it just wasn't.
One really nice thing about this race, is that they take runner safety seriously. They ahd a lot of Medical Tents. I don't mean little huts or tables. They set up huge tents (think M.A.S.H if you're old enough) all over the place. I peeked and as soon as you went there there was a table directing you: Tylenol to the right. Other to the left. Triage was going on. They had cots in there. Lots of ice. Lots of Medics.
As I mentioned, that out and back really sucked. It went forever and was rolling up and down. I did see a roving medic just go up and down the out and back in the rain like it was nothing. OK... He was a Marine and that's no biggie for him but a) MAD RESPECT FOR HIM and b) refer back to the MAD RESPECT I just mentioned.
We finally turned around. We finally left that damn area. By the way, the course except for the 50K out/back was ringed with a lot of spectators. It was pretty cool.
I learned something new that day. Apparently if you raise your hand, it means you are going to walk so nobody should crash into you. That's is nice except in my opinion, you should also move to the side. Without moving to the side, it was still dangerous and I saw a lot of people raising their hands. Nuts...
Kevin and I were totally in sync. We had a good time. We were talking. Letting the miles just fly right by. We passed people. We were passed by people.
We got to the first of the nutrition stations and they had oranges. Tons and tons of oranges cut in quarters. I don't know which poor soul got KP (Kitchen Patrol) duty but I sure feel bad for them. Marines just handed us tons of Oranges. I demolished at least 2 full oranges. I also called a female marine sir by accident. I wasn't looking at her but rather her hand. She said something. I profusely apologized.
At one point, Kevin was starting to feel his stomach sending signals. Ever seen that sign that says "Never Trust a Fart in an Ultra!"? There's something there. He was looking for the port-a-potties but huge lines. I found him 2 that were hidden but they were busy. We continuued. Finally, it was getting bad. Gave him my bag of wipes and he went to the Port-a-bush. I walked slowly ahead. He rejoined me quite happily. Turns out that sometimes you could trust a fart in an ultra.
In any endurance sport, there's suffering. It kinda comes with the territory. Whilst some people don't look like they are suffering, there's some suffering in there and they are just good at hiding it. I enjoy the endurance stuff and I most always look like I'm having the time of my life which I am but that doesn't mean that I'm not feeling something. That being said, whether we are "feeling it" in a good way or "feeling it" in a bad way, it doesn't mean that we can't show compassion to someone or empathy perhaps to someone in need. I was with Kevin when I saw something that clicked in for me. I told him to hold on and to his surprise, I cut through all the runners to get to the other side of the narrow road that we were on. It was mile 9 for the marathoners and mile 14 for us and there was a female marathoner walking and crying. Not some tears. I mean full blown bawling. I asked her if she was ok. She told me that her knee was hurting real bad. I offered her Tylenol to which she rejected. I offered a hug to which she rejected. I asked if she needed anything else and she said no. I wished her luck. Normally, I would have stayed with her but the cutoffs were looming. Still, I hope that that little bit of empathy would perhaps help. I don't know.
Right around then, Kevin told me to leave him. I wanted to stay. He told me that I have to leave him. I tried to stay but I got sent away. Shucks. Gave him my number and told him to contact me afterwards and I left thinking about him. In case, you were wondering or perhaps forgetful of the start of this crusade, it was still coming down pretty hard and we then got to the flooded out section. The road was narrow and the water was about 3 inches tall. I saw a female runner wearing an umbrella hat and we were all jealous of her. We slogged through. You'll see it in the images section for yourself. I'm not in those pictures but maybe just maybe, you will get what we went through. It was bad.
Someone yelled out that we are doing a Toughmudder. Another yelled out that we were doing a Triathlon. I yelled out that at least it's not coming from the port-a-potties to which someone answered that it's better if it from the port-a-pottie versus the Potomac. Seriously? That polluted? I know people thing the Hudson is horrible but it isn't. Perhaps the Potomac just has a bad rep? I don't know...
I started asking people about the cutoffs. I wasn't sure what was where. I also kept thinking about that woman and of course Kevin. Where were they right now?!?
I ran the Gauntlet. Had I think more than 30 minutes or so when I entered it. Still lots of crowd support. I stopped at a medical tent for a quick minute. I felt the chafe for a while. They told me that I don't need to come in for that. Dude is right outside. He applied some to the armpits. Down South there wasn't too much I could do about. I wasn't going to touch vaseline without gloves. Maybe I should carry gloves? Hm...
There were some women handing out candies and chocolate. I think their sign said something like "Candies from strangers". Oh yeah baby...
On and off, I ran with Joanna, a fellow MM whom I had just met. That was cool. Got to the bridge and realized that she and I kept leapfrogging each other so I just stayed with her. She told me that "beating the bridge" actually means getting off the bridge by a certain time, not getting on as some people discovered it too late last year. Apparently, they have a SAG wagon and as it reeaches you, you MUST get on and be DNFed.
On the bridge they have water but is cupless. Used my hands... Old school...
I saw a guy go down and runners immediatly get on him. They flagged a cop on a bicycle and from 25 yards away. He immediately got there, jumped off and radioed for help and help was there in a jiffy. Did I mention how impressed I was with their attitude for Medical?!?
Joanna and I run/walked. I was going to save the complaints to later but really this is the time to air them. The weather sucked but is NOT their fault. Even the flooded out road is not their fault tho maybe a re-route would be nice. The only complaint I had was that the roads were very narrow. Some were just narrow. Others were narrow because of spectators. After the bridge, there were some really bad points on the course. We were on a road with runners going both ways. The crowd kept pushing so that it was a very narrow area in either direction. I LOVED THE CROWD SUPPORT but guys... Give a little room... I guess the only other minor complaint related to this was after the 50K out/back when we joined the Marathoners. Even the big roads were tight...
I grabbed gels here and there and even sport beans which was a new one for me.
I really wanted to be done. I truly did at this point and seeing the pentagon was a welcome relief. Finally the road Amer and I walked together. Past the checkpoint we skirted. Past the security check. Past the port-a-potties. Under the bridge. Up the small elevation to the start. Past that. Past the Marines cheering us on. She promised me one last hill. A hill for only 0.1 or 0.2 but a bad hill. They changed the course. We made a left and a right and there was the finish line. I resisted the last 1/2 of a mile to sprint so we can finish together. We did...
We finished. We went to this area where the Marines were standing. It was like a bunch of aisles at a supermarket. There they had the HUGEST marines who saluted you and put a medal around your neck with a bearshake (handshake with a hand befitting a grizzly). Did I mention he said, "Congratulation sir!". Damn...
We walked and were about to get our picture taken when the photog with my phone said that they gave me the wrong medal. I went and got mine and then she took our picture. Lots of people took pictures with Iwo Jima right behind them - that was the finish line. I did not.
These guys were so better organized than the NYCM. Got handed water and a bag and Gatorade and a box that looks like it was MREs but with good stuff in there and a better than myler blanket thingie you could wear. Finally I got out of there and found Amer. He was updating FB with my splits constantly so he knew I finished. Nice!
We walked out of the no car zone. Tried to anyway. A Marine band was playing Ghostbusters with everyone screaming Ghostbusters including yours truly. We walked up the 2 block hill trying to find the shuttles. Amer asked a cop where to go and she pointed down the hill and I was not having any of that. Got an Uber who showed up only 5 minutes later.
This guy was the pits. Uber drivers are NOT supposed to be on the phone. They are NOT supposed to hold their phone in their hand. They are NOT supposed to talk loudly on the damn phone. They are NOT supposed to almost get in constant car accidents since they were only driving with one hand and were weaving in and out of traffic. I was getting annoyed. My runners high was fastly being taxed. The last almost accident did it and I yelled at him. "MAYBE YOU WANT TO PUT THE DAMN PHONE DOWN AND DRIVE WITH TWO HANDS SO WE DON'T CRASH?!?" ... Idiot responded with, "It's ok. It's ok. I'm just talking to my cousin. It's ok. You see. It's ok.". I was furious... But we got to the hotel and I did NOT feel bad for stinking up his car.
Showered, got my Wendy's on and headed home. Amer drove the whole way down. I slept about an hour. It was all good. He likes that drive. It was definitly a good experience...
By the way, This race was my 100th Marathon or longer distance race...
I think that's it. Who knows. Still need to add all the pics and stuff.
