The National Marathon in DC - anyone run this? (Read 931 times)

The National Marathon in DC http://www.nationalmarathon.com/

It is 'on our way home' from Florida next March, why not stop in for a quick 26.2 right?

Anyone done this race, know anyone who has??? 

The National Marathon in DC http://www.nationalmarathon.com/

It is 'on our way home' from Florida next March, why not stop in for a quick 26.2 right?

 

Anyone done this race, know anyone who has??? 

 I have registered for it. Hope to meet you there. I got a discount code for it at the MCM expo: "nmonsite". maybe that will still work.

I have not run it before, but several friends have. The worst report was that they ran out of cups at some water stops last year. Passing jugs around was not a good thing. At their MCM booth this fall, I made a point of asking them about cups.

I understand that the half starts and the same time and when they stop, its a pretty lonely course.

I ran the full this year and signed up for the full next year, if that tells you anything.

Some aid stations did run out of cups this year.  That was kind of gross, but I carried my own water bottle so it didn't really affect me.  Plus, that time of year is pretty cool (start around 30°F, ~50°F high temp.), so hydration isn't as big a concern as it can be.

Most of the people do the half, so once they split off, the course definately becomes much less congested.  This can be a good or bad thing, depending who you are.  There are some hills over the last few miles.  They're not too bad, but after you've already run 20-something miles, they can be a challenge.  Overall though, I'd say the course is fairly flat.

I should also mention that this race is very spectator-friendly.  The metro opens early on race day and there are a number of metro stops very close to the race course.  This year, my wife and sister caught me at the start, the finish, and four times throughout the course, just by using metro.  And, DC metro is WAY simpler than someplace like New York.

 

Yeah, I think people have run this race.  I'm not sure, but you could check to see if there are results on the race website.  If there are results then somebody has probably done the race.  I think.

 Trent is in a bad mood this morning.

 

I had to spend $7.99 for an hour of internet.   I'm gonna use it, dangit.

 it's free over at panera bread

 it's free over at panera bread

No, the cost is delayed.  You pay for the internet later, in the form of a coronary artery bypass.

BURN!

I ran the national marathon last spring, and liked it a lot. You run toward the Capitol several times, run along the National Mall, through some nice and some not as nice neighborhoods.  There's an out-and-back stretch along the new park by the Anacostia River -- some didn't like that, but I did.  There are some rolling hills in the last part,, but it's a pretty flat course.  I'm planning on running it again in spring 2010.

I finished in 4:03:something, and I didn't find any stops without cups -- I don't know if they ran out earlier and had time to restock, or later.  And the crowd thinned, but I never felt lonely in the second half.  There were plenty of folks around my time.  I'm sure the faster folks were lonelier.  

There is a 25% chance I will do it.  The problem is that I'm considering a North Carolina race that same weekend (I need to run a sub-4 in NC, which I have not done). And the new LA Marathon.  And a local half.

 

Hmmm.

 

 but I will be there and could meet you!  we could go get some blueberry "bagels" at Panera and surf the web for "free" the night before.