I’m sure in a few weeks, a lot of runners will be wishing for the kind of weather the 2019 Marine Corps Marathon had – heavy rains punctuated by muggy pauses. But we’ve had six months to bemoan the loss of most marathons this year. This is a chance to look back at where we ran in 2019.
The number of domestic marathon finishes by D.C.-area runners fell slightly, with at least 12,939 different finishes in 294 of 697 U.S. races, down from 12,981 finishes in 278 races. Some individual runners doubled, tripled, quadrupled and more, but they all added up to 12,932 finishes and 339,001.8 miles, not counting the extra miles they logged because they couldn’t run the tangents.
Of the 697 total domestic marathons, 177 did not detail finisher residences, and that surely undercuts the total count, which likely exceeds 13,000 finishes. None of this analysis would be possible without MarathonGuide.
Of all the things we do at RunWashington, one of my favorites is our Monumental Runner series. When I cold call someone and ask them if they’d like to be featured, most of them usually answer “why me?” That tells me that they probably have a lot more to say about their lives as runners than they thought, and I wind up really enjoying getting to know them (especially if they really are a stranger). Here are a few recent Monumental Runners from D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
Bowen Shuttleworth left for Williamsburg last month, eager to join the dozens of young men from Northern Virginia who, over the years, made their academic and athletic marks while running for the College of William and Mary.
Last Thursday, he skipped a physics lab to make a mandatory track team meeting. There, Athletic Director Samanta Huge told the men’s indoor and outdoor track athletes that their teams, along with men’s and women’s swimming and gymnastics and women’s volleyball teams, would be cut at the end of the school year, attributing the decision to budget pressures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Huge abruptly hung up the video call, Shuttleworth said, taking no questions.
Things cooled down a little in August, but the season break in humidity didn’t happen. As a result, there weren’t too many changes at the top of most of the DMV Distance Derby segments.
You can switch among the months using the tabs at the bottom of the screen. The segments are generally organized to fit compactly.
The weight of the ink on her cross country uniform was almost imperceptible, but it dragged Julia Clark down when she raced.
For three years, since the first time she walked into her high school as a freshman, the building taunted her. J.E.B. Stuart High School, named for a Confederate general.
But as a senior, wearing the simple J of the renamed Justice High School Wolves, she felt something she hadn’t for her entire track and cross country career up to that point – unmitigated pride.
Chantilly Coach Matt Gilchrist offers his thoughts on the nascent club cross country movement. This is a good reminder that RunWashington welcomes input on issues related to Washington, D.C.-area running on all levels, and if you have thoughts to share, contact Charlie Ban at charlie(at) runwashington (dot) com.
The sun rises over Burke Lake and it’s 7 a.m. on an August morning. We’re the first ones there, the first Monday of a new cross country season, with all the promise and potential that lies ahead. We are brimming with enthusiasm and filled with confidence and energy that is gained by a full summer of group conditioning, motivated for another successful fall season. This has been the same ritual that we’ve practiced year in and year out, but this year when August came, we stayed home. For the first time in my 25 years of coaching, there have been no practices at Burke Lake. Instead of heading to Lost River, W.Wa. for our annual team camp, we all stayed home. The motivation hasn’t changed and the hunger to run and to compete is still there, but in the world dealing with COVID-19, these annual rites of passages are chief on a list of things that we are missing out on.
There is no denying that our student-athletes miss sports. There is no questioning the benefit to them participating, just as we have debated over the best ways to re-open schools this fall. Running cross country (or participating in any sport) is beneficial to our emotional and mental health, our physical development, and being amongst teammates is a vital link to some level of socialization that many of us have missed over the last six months.
Kelly Deegan lives close enough to a park that almost every day, she sees organized sports practices and games happening. She also got a phone call from the Westfield High School administration, asking if three teenagers — who a local resident saw running together — were on her cross country team. She hasn’t seen her runners since March… they weren’t her runners.
That drove home her frustration about the fate of high school cross country during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“You want them to do it, but you also don’t want to be responsible for bad decision making,” Deegan said. “We’re in this limbo where we can’t do what we’re driven to do, which is help kids run.”
A month almost full of 90+ degree days kept top speeds a little slower, but there was still some movement throughout the standings, with four overall segment lead changes and three women’s lead changes. We added two new loops: Smelling Big Stinky (on the Catholic University campus) and Colorado (on Colorado Avenue NW). And, people tried out a few new loops, putting some numbers on the board.
You can switch among the months using the tabs at the bottom of the screen. The segments are generally organized to fit compactly.
- The Virginia High School League voted July 27 to delay fall sports, including cross country, to Feb. 15 – May 1, between shortened winter and spring sports seasons.
- The Washington Catholic Athletic Conference will not sanction competitions before Jan. 1.
- The Blue Ridge Running Camp is broadcasting nightly panel discussions with athletes, nutritionists and therapists.
- The District Track Club and Sharing Shoes will be collecting lightly used athletic shoes at the Formula Running Center 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Aug. 8.
- The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments approved the plan for the National Capital Trail Network.
- Arlington’s Mike Wardian and Gu representative Ken Holmes will be the guests on Potomac River Running’s Instagram Live at 7:30 p.m. Wendesday, July 29.
- Keira D’Amato was a guest on the A to Z Running podcast.
- Masters runner Eric Melby was a guest on the Run Farther and Faster podcast.
The race tried to go on, to fight to the end. But with a little more than three months to go, the Marine Corps Marathon reached a point where the reality of the coronavirus pandemic was too much to face on Oct. 25. It followed other large marathons in canceling, including Chicago and New York. Marine Corps will offer a virtual racing option. A day later (July 21), the Army Ten-Miler announced that it too would not hold an in-person race. It had been scheduled for Oct. 11 but had delayed registration.
“We explored various approaches to safely execute a live event and held numerous meetings with Marine Corps leadership, local government and public health officials,” said Race Director Rick Nealis. “We understand this is disappointing news for many, but we could no longer envision a way to gather together in compliance with safety guidelines. While we are unable to celebrate in-person this October, we are excited about the opportunity to bring the 45th anniversary event to the homes of runners around the world through a rewarding and engaging virtual experience.”
The bottleneck for the race came in the start and finish areas near the Pentagon and United States Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington County. Virginia limits gatherings to 250 participants and the starting line can see crowds of more than 20,000 runners in close quarters. In an attempt to reduce the roughly 28,000 runners who show up ever year on the last weekend of October, the race tried to shed runners, canceling the in-person 10k (good for 5,000 – 8,000 finishers annually). An attempt to stagger starts would run up against the deadline to reopen the 14th Street Bridge, forcing the race to tighten pace restrictions to 12:00 per mile, which would have cut nearly 8,000 of 18,000 who didn’t maintain that pace in 2019 and nearly 7,300 of more than 20,000 finishers in 2018.
The drew criticism from runners who questioned the race’s self-appointed moniker as “the people’s marathon.”
“Health and safety are our top priorities during this challenging time,” said Libby Garvey, Arlington County Board Chair. “The Marine Corps Marathon is a treasured event and tradition in our community that Arlingtonians look forward to each year. As we celebrate the race’s 45th anniversary this year, we will be enthusiastically and virtually cheering on each runner. We can’t wait to welcome these dedicated athletes and fans back to Arlington in person in 2021.”
A little farther away, the Baltimore Marathon (Oct. 17) and Richmond Marathon (Nov. 14) remain on schedule as of their most recent updates.
Just seven years ago, Marine Corps came within a day of canceling supply orders, and the race, in the face of the federal government shutdown that would have prevented runners from using most of the course.
