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On Sunday, October 29th, the Marine Corps Marathon was run in Arlington Virginia. This is a big race with nearly 30,000 registered runners. While Hurricane Sandy was on everyone’s mind, the weather held (52 degrees with some wind). In 2011 the race dealt with an early snowfall that caused some power outages.
As you can imagine this race has a huge military presence- thousands of Marines act as the backbone of race support. In addition there is an Armed Forces Team Championship vied for by the four services.
The male winner, Augustus Maiyo (a native of Kenya), is a specialist in the U.S. Army- he ran the 26.2 mile course in 2:20:20. Second place was taken by Army Captain Kenneth Foster coming in at 2:23:39. Their solid performances assured the Army of the Armed Forces Trophy; as an ex-Army guy that makes me smile!
On the female side Ethiopian Wayinshet Hailu came in first with a time of 2:47:04.
The same day they hosted a10k race (6.2 miles) that had over 6,700 participants.
In spite of what can be questionable weather the Marine Corps Marathon is known to be a very fun race to run. Great fan support, and very picturesque- everyone talks about the finish at the Marine Corps War Memorial. It has frequently been called “The People’s Marathon” because it does not offer prize money.
Definitely one of those events that kindles pride in being an American.
Congratulations to our local runners- hopefully you have gotten home safely.
Tim Reed is executive director of the annual Boilermaker 15K Road Race in Utica, N.Y.
