As the daughter of a retired Marine, I knew the Marine Corps Marathon had to be my first marathon! I have to admit this race had a lot of personal meaning to me due to my time as a Marine Corps brat and my time living in DC earlier in life. I think I went in with higher expectations that I would any other race because it was by the Corps.

Lottery:

I entered the race through the lottery on March 13th. Lottery ended on March 23rd. On March 25th at 1:46am EST I received a confirmation email that I was in!

Pre-Race Communications:

-Pre-race communications were great! Lots of great emails and social media posts communicating resources and getting people excited!

-They gave an offer for Run Coach to help with your training. I believe I paid $20 for it. I wasn't impressed. It basically put the MCM logo on the top of the Run Coach page.

- There was an offer through MarathonFoto to pay early and get a deal on pictures later. I usually would not do this but I did this time since it was my first marathon. I'm glad I did. They did a good job of taking a lot of pictures (33 pictures total) with great backgrounds. It was worth the investment. I can't blame them for my ugly running face though!

- Readiness emails about pre-race events, hotels, race day prep, etc were great. Very detailed - just what I would expect from the Marines!

Pre-Race Events:

- Expo: The signage for the expo within the conference center wasn't great. We got to one point where we passed a turn and when we realized, we were not allowed to turn around. We had to exit the building, walk all the way back to the entrance (about a city block) and then walk back toward our turn inside the building. The expo itself was like most expos. Expos stress me out so I'm not really a fan. Be prepared for crowds, long lines and chaos.

- Pep Rally - We took the Metro to the hotel where the pep rally was being held and had to walk through a sketchy area to get there. Once we were there, we were a little disappointed. It was basically a mediocre dinner with some speakers. Now, in all fairness, we stayed for about 10 minutes. It just wasn't where I wanted to be 36 hours before the race. I wouldn't pay for this in the future but it might be fun for a first timer.

- Runners Brunch - This was my favorite pre-race event. They originally wanted it to be a light shakeout run and then brunch but they weren't able to get the approvals for the run. We all met at the Marine Corps Memorial and heard one of the organizers talk about the race. Then we went inside a tent and had breakfast and listened to Bart Yasso and others speak. They also had retired US Air Force Reserve George Banker speak. He has a book, "The Marine Corps Marathon - A Running Tradition" and we all got a copy. He's run 70+ Marathons, many of them being MCM. He stuck around and signed copies and wrote lengthy entries. The whole brunch was like having brunch with my running family back home and was a great way to get ready for the race!

- Carbo Dinner - I sold my ticket to this. After seeing the pep rally, I wasn't excited about going. I really just wanted a quiet dinner near my hotel.

Race Day:

- As long as you follow instructions well, getting to the start is not too difficult. Metro will be crowded. Be prepared for delays. One Metro train hit a deer which caused delays.

- Security was a mess. When you leave the Metro station and walk toward the start of the race, there was a huge crowd and you couldn't see ahead. No one knew what was going on or why were weren't moving. People started to get stressed as it was getting close to early wave start times. We had some light drizzle and it turns out that didn't agree with the metal detectors they had us walking through. This was a surprise as I expected Marines to have a plan B and be better with communication. Though, I do appreciate the security measure!

- Because of that delay, the bathrooms, bag checks, etc were all a blur as we were all rushing to get to the start line. It was a lot of stress prior to a race. I do remember that it was a lot of walking between the Metro, through security, bag checks and to the start line. It may have felt long due to the crowds and the rush. I would just say schedule extra time, and then add some more time to that!

- The course itself I would give a C. Again, I think I went in to this with too high expectations. When you think of running Washington DC, you think of all of the monuments, historical buildings, etc. The only monuments we ran passed that I remember seeing are the Capitol and Lincoln Memorial from a distance. (Note: part of not seeing as much could be this runner's fault disappearing into runner's lala land) There was a 5 mile out-and-back into Georgetown that was hilly and a little boring. Then you spend about 6 miles along the water before getting into the monuments.

- Beat the Bridge: As soon as everyone got to the bridge, it was like the wind was sucked out of everyone's sails! There weren't any spectators to cheer us on the bridge. The bridge itself is only about 1/2 a mile I think, but it was the longest 1/2 mile of my life. It seemed to get hotter on the bridge and it was harder on my body. Plus, once people met the time limit to the bridge, they started walking which also killed the morale some. Luckily, once you get into Crystal City, there are tons of spectators, nice wind tunnels through the buildings and just a nice pick-me-up to get you to the finish. And don't forget that last steep hill as you run up to the Marine Corps Memorial!

Finish Line/Post Race:

- There are bleachers at the finish line where your family/friends can wait. They have the area completely blocked off to spectators so you can't see your family/friends until you do a bit of walking.

- The first thing you see after the finish line are young Marine Officers fresh out of school there to hand you your metal. Note, give your phone to someone to take a picture of the Marine saluting you after s/he gives you your metal. That salute made me cry!

- Then you are directed to get your picture taken in front of the Marine Corps Memorial. This went pretty fast. They had plenty of photographers.

- Then you are sent down a path for hydration and food. After that, you walk up hill to the street where the spectators are allowed to be. There are some great MCM signs along the road that you can get some good pictures at with your family and your medal!

- They had a massage station that was closing down by the time I got through (with the security delays and my slow time) it was probably about 6.5-7 hours post start of the race. Luckily, MCM still had hydration, food etc this late!

- Brooks had a tent with finisher gear. This gear was different than they had at the Expo and I actually liked it better! The MCM shirt you get as part of the marathon was nice, but it was a turtleneck and VERY thick so I rarely wore it. Brooks had a cool finisher long sleeve shirt that I get many compliments on.

- Be prepared to walk quite a bit after to get to the Metro or anywhere you can get to a cab. We walked to metro and saw the lines and ended up calling an Uber!

Other Notes:

- If you have the opportunity, definitely go to Quantico (about 35 miles) to visit the Marine Corps museum. It's open to the public and is very impressive! Plus, it's a great spot to get some pictures with your awesome MCM medal!

- I stayed at the Residence Inn Arlington Courthouse and was very happy. It was near a Metro station and close to the start, reasonable price, plenty of restaurants, nearby CVS and was very accommodating to runners. I would stay there again!

I think the MCM is a must for any marathoner. It truly is the people's marathon.