Armed Forces Teams Compete in Marine Corps Marathon
For five consecutive years, Marine Corps runners along with runners from all of the Armed Forces have gathered at the Marine Corps Marathon for a friendly competition between the services. The Air Force has dominated the competition with its three victories including the 2002 overall. The Marine Corps and Army teams have one victory each.

"I think the Air Force will be the team to beat. [The team] always has a solid group of guys running," said Sgt. Armondo Tijerina, who is competing in his fourth marathon with the Marine Corps team.

To oversee the Marine Corps team's training, Ed Eyestone, coach of the men's cross country team at Brigham Young University, was hired. Eyestone, a member of the 1988 and 1992 U.S. Olympic Marathon teams and 10-time member of the U.S. World Cross Country team, holds the American collegiate 10K record (27:41).

Unfortunately, according to Tijerina, the Marine Corps team is working through some injuries and will be missing some of its "Top Guns" from last year's team.

The Marine Corps team, however, isn't the only service not returning some of its top runners. The Air Force team will be without Capt. Chris Juarez, who finished 1st overall in the 2002 Marine Corps Marathon.

"We'll [Air Force team] be competitive, but without [Juarez], we'll to have to step up our performance," said Maj. Jon Schoenberg, six-time Air Force team member.

The Armed Forces Award is determined by the composite time of the top three men finishers and the top woman finisher.

The Marine Corps Marathon is an amateur race beginning and ending at the Iwo Jima Monument in Arlington. It is the seventh-largest marathon run in the United States and the 13th-largest in the world. The 26.2-mile course takes runners past Arlington National Cemetery, the Pentagon, across the Francis Scott Key Bridge into Georgetown, past the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, past the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol.

The first Marine Corps Reserve Marathon hosted just 1,174 runners in 1976. This year, the 28th Annual Marine Corps Marathon will host 18,000 runners from all 50 states and more than 30 nations.

The Marine Corps Marathon began in 1976 and continues a combined tradition of dedication, sportsmanship and patriotism. Since its inception, more than 277,000 civilian and military runners from all walks of life have participated, deservingly earning the event its nickname "The People's Marathon."

For credential and event information and interview opportunities, please contact Christine B. Moore at the Marine Corps Marathon Public Relations office at (703) 784-2225, ext. 296, or visit the race Web site.

Marine Corps Marathon Challenge Cup Competition
There are many competitions within the 28th Annual Marine Corps Marathon. While many runners do it simply for the accomplishment of running a marathon, others do it for the glory of winning. Those who compete for the Marine Corps Marathon Challenge Cup have a motivation that dates back almost three decades.

For the past 26 years, a team of U.S. Marines and British Royal Navy/Royal Marines have competed in the Marine Corps Marathon. The tradition began when CDR. John McDonough and other British Royal Navy/Marines challenged several of their U.S. Marine counterparts in the third Marine Corps Marathon in 1978. Teams were formed and the fierce competition was born. In 1998, a women's Challenge Cup was established.

The Challenge Cup Award is determined by the composite time from the top three finishers from each team. If the U.S. Marines win the cup, it is presented to the Commandant of the Marine Corps, whereas if the British team wins, the cup resides in the British Embassy in Washington, D.C. Currently, the British Royal Navy/Marines hold 17 of the 25 titles. The British Female Challenge Cup team leads the U.S. team 3-1 in the series. The British men's team will be defending its 2002 victory, while the U.S. women will be defending theirs.

What It Feels Like to Run the Marine Corps Marathon
Taken from an e-mail message from experienced marathoner Jay Jacob Wind:

Plan your transportation and pack your stuff the night before. Sunday morning is for focus. Maybe you'll meet friends before the race, but the time between 8:05 and 8:30 is your own. Use it wisely--bag check, bathroom, light jog, position at starting line, relax.

"When the gun goes off, run really really fast." - H. Simpson

Run very carefully the first two miles. The crowd tends to suck you out too fast. Find a cluster of people running a comfortable pace and stick with them. Run the third mile by Costco just a little more aggressively. Pass a couple people. On the uphill at Navy Annex in mile 4, test yourself a little. If you can climb the hill without breathing hard, hold your pace. If you find the hill challenging, back off and stay comfortable.

The stretch around the Pentagon is not pretty, but remember that the best view in the DC area is the Pentagon in your rear view mirror. You'll approach the start at 6 miles (vs. 8 in past years)--something to look forward to. Appreciate the cheers-- they're just for you.

Now to Key Bridge, a little hill--smile for the cameras. Then M Street--listen for the bagpiper. Down 31st St., the steepest hill on the course, and onto Water Street and Rock Creek Parkway. There, you can stretch your legs on the two-mile pleasant uphill, and watch the top runners coming back across the road. You'll be there soon enough.

Then turn after Massachusetts Avenue and head south, under the Kennedy Center balcony, by the beautiful Potomac, and left at the Lincoln Memorial, where crowds are the thickest. Now east along Constitution Avenue, right onto the Mall, left past the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art, and that's the easy part.

Now up Louisiana, the first real hill. Right and right again around the Capitol, down to D St SW and back to Independence and the Mall. How beautiful the Smithsonian will look with more than half the marathon behind you! Now past Washington Monument and the new WWII Memorial. Look across Independence and you'll see the world going by. On to Lincoln, to a little bitty traffic island, where we turn around and follow the people we just saw.

Here's the Tidal Basin to our right. Let's feel good at this point, good enough to push the pace a little. Catch up to that person in front of you. Good, now acquire another target. Capture and destroy.

Around Jefferson Memorial we go, looking for the GU station under the 14th Street Bridge overpass. Down past National Park Service, hard left on Buckeye, left again to exit Potomac Park, and right, right ... to the Monster, the gaping maw of I-395, Charybdis of the Marathon. Get this Balrog behind you, and you can sail on I-395, passing hundreds of people who don't have your endurance.

Bear left toward Pentagon City, marvel at the beauty of Eads Street and the squalor of Clark Street, and emerge at the 25 mile mark, like new and fresh as a daisy, up 110 (not in the shade) to the hill The Hill THE HILL and the cheers of the crowds The Cheers of the Crowd THE CHEERS OF THE CROWD and surmount the hill and go around the circle and see people you know yelling for you, just you, and you know you've made it and you see the 26 mile mark and you remember to stay to the LEFT of the island to save 20 precious steps and you curve around past the thinner crowd to explode into the sunlight and there it is, the huge balloon arch looking like a moon bounce but it's not, it's the finish line and onto the grass, don't trip over the curb, and the finish line The Finish Line THE FINISH LINE and the announcer calls out your name and you look and the clock and you can't believe it--you just won your age group/ran a personal best/qualified for Boston/beat your target time/broke four hours/just finished ... and a Marine hands you a medallion which you place around you neck and don't remove for 48 hours, and a Mylar space blanket, and a bottle of water, and you go untie the Chip from your shoe, and then to the food tent for juice, oh how good it tastes, and orange slices, and bananas which have appeal, and cookies and bagels, and you can't imagine how anybody can eat that much and you walk out into the sunshine to the picture stand, where you cast off your space blanket and stand sheepishly for a photo, and then to the baggage tent, where it takes too long to get your gear, but you say "thank you" anyway, and then to the bathrooms, which you discover are turned the wrong way.

And then you hear the bells of the Netherlands Carrillon pealing loudly and limp over to your friends and family to celebrate and commiserate and claim victory, because you just finished the Marine Corps Marathon.

That's what it's like. Really.

See information about American record holder Deena Drossin's appearance at the MCM pre-race pasta dinner.