Marine Corps Marathon 2024, Day 5: Race Day, Dinner at The Dubliner

October 27, 2024

For the past week or so, Liz has been steadily getting up earlier and earlier. The race has a start time of 7:55 AM Eastern, and the time to get from the hotel to the starting area is around 45 minutes via the Metro. Factor in some time to eat and prep all the things means a really, really early start.

Add to this the fact that prior to a few days ago, we were working with a Chicago/Central time zone. So being in Washington DC means Liz had to wake up even earlier.

Trivia: Liz is absolutely not a morning person. And in many ways, probably deserves a medal just for how often she was waking up early, as part of her training.

She’d been setting her alarm earlier by 15 minute increments, so that by today, race day, her alarm went off at 5AM.

All the clothing, gear, and snacks for the day.

Water bladder set to go.

Liz, somehow smiling despite it being before 6AM.

Gearing up, and stuffing every pocket with some kind of snack.

Gear on, game on! Despite the unusually warm temperatures, today was a fairly ideal day for the marathon (low temps overall). From what we heard, last year, people were dropping like flies due to how warm it was.

Because the early morning was going to be quite cold, Liz brought extra/old clothes to layer on top of her running outfit. This seems to be a common thing – people bringing/wearing old clothes, worn prior to the race start, and then discarded/donated after the race begins.

Liz also has a personal bag, filled with a change of clothes, and comfy shoes to change into post-race. Got a lot of good advice from Tricia on this.

I ran some errands in the AM, transporting Tricia and Paige’s luggage from their hotel over to ours (since their checkout time was before the actual race finish). Afterwards, Kirt and I hopped on the Metro to try to catch all the runners.

A note about Gauntlets: there were three specific checkpoints, also known as “gauntlets” that runners needed to beat by a specific time. If you didn’t make a gauntlet by the specified time, race officials would pick you up in a bus, and transport you to a different course to complete the marathon. And, worst of all, you wouldn’t receive a medal for completing the actual marathon.

Liz and Tricia got a late start, and were more or less racing the slow-moving sweeper/truck that marked the gauntlet/cutoffs. So for them, a lot of the race involved them trying to gain time to beat the gauntlet cutoff times.

Lots of runners in the street.

I do have to say: the energy was exciting and palpable. I did, on a few occasions, wonder if I could actually finish a marathon. Ask me today, and I’d tell you no. But if you asked me while I was standing, watching everyone go by… my answer would have been “maybe.”

We spotted Paige around Mile 9. Despite us yelling, she didn’t hear us and ran right by. She was pacing incredibly well, and was really cooking.

This being the Marine Corps marathon, there were lots of Marines stationed at several locations to help cheer on the participants.

Took a small break/detour to visit the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial.

Looking across the Tidal Basin, with the Jefferson Memorial in the distance.

Tricia and Liz, arriving at Mile 9.

I was a little nervous here, as I had a backpack full of snacks, along with a bottle of water and some electrolytes. My job was to refill Liz’s water, mix in the electrolytes, and to get the second round of snacks to her.

It was fun to see everyone, but I was worried about the gauntlets and causing too much of a delay. In what is a perfect portrait of my mental state, check out this photo/selfie that Kirt took of us all, at the Mile 9 marker.

Everyone else is smiling, except for me. And you can almost see the words forming over my head: “We’re on a timetable here.” I really need to loosen up.

This race course really is quite spectacular.

We found another spot to catch Paige, and it ended up being another spot to miss her. Kirt was yelling her name, but Paige didn’t/couldn’t hear him. This moment captures him laughing out loud, at how Paige just sailed on by despite all the yelling.

Kirt and I found a good spot between Mile 16 and Mile 17, which allowed us to see Tricia and Liz as they started and exited a small loop.

An unnerving site: the first gauntlet at Mile 17. I took this photo soon after seeing Tricia and Liz round Mile 16. The cutoff time to make the gauntlet here was 12:33 PM.

Near Mile 19, I spotted several police officers on horseback. Liz is crazy allergic to horses, and I was able to give her a warning beforehand. I don’t think it impacted her, but it was worrisome to me. Liz is bad with cats, but even worse around horses.

Fast forward a bit towards the end. We couldn’t get close to the actual finish, but I got this shot as we walked past on our way to the meet-up location.

Kirt and Paige (who finished first). And true to Paige being Paige, she rested up post-finish by sitting in the sun and doing some homework/required reading while we waited for everyone else to finish.

Via the app, near the finish!

A photo of Liz and Tricia, post-finish.

Tricia and Liz, walking (ever so slowly) with their medals.

First marathon: achievement unlocked!

Hugs all around.

Paige, Tricia, and Liz – medals and all.

Post-race, we (eventually) got back to the hotel. Liz put on some comfy socks, and some cushioned post-race shoes.

Due to it being later than expected, Tricia, Paige, and Kirt ended up staying at the hotel to clean up… and to head directly to the airport. Liz and I said our goodbyes, and headed over for a post-run dinner with Lisa, James, Cameron and Wyatt.

Post-race photo, over some beer and Shepherd’s Pie.

A long day, but faster than it seemed. Despite us being in DC for a few days, it felt like we didn’t have enough time to visit with Kirt, Tricia, Paige, and Lisa/James. It felt like a blur to me, but it was probably doubly so for Liz.

All in all, I’m quite awed by what Liz has done. I know Tricia and Paige also completed the marathon, but for Liz… this was her first. And something she’s been working and training for, for almost a year. I’ve seen the work and struggle up close, and trust me when I say to you: it’s a LOT.

Liz has a really great recap on Instagram. She’s gone through quite the journey, and I encourage you to swing on over and check out what the last twelve months have been like for her.