A profile of Marine Corps Marathon Race Director Rick Nealis
Road running events are run almost every single weekend in big cities and small towns throughout the country. Every event, big or small, requires a great deal of planning to be successful. This is especially true of the major events that are run in some of the nation's largest cities. Rick Nealis knows this as well as anyone.

Nealis has been directing the Marine Corps Marathon since 1993, and has seen the race grow into one of the largest races in the country. This year there were well over 16,000 athletes that competed in the marathon and 5K race. Managing such a large number of competitors is a demanding full-time job.

"The position is full-time, as the business, marketing, and operational issues require year-round coordination," says Nealis.

There is a lot that goes into putting on a major marathon. Sending out race flyers and measuring the marathon course have little to do with the job description. When he was approached to take over the struggling event in the early '90s, Nealis felt like his experience was a perfect match for the position.

"With my love for the sport of running, my operational background with the Marine Corps, and my business administration expertise, I was quickly able to review different processes and make beneficial changes. These changes were aimed at creating a high quality race for the runners, as well as for financial solvency for the marathon."

Over the years, Nealis has discovered that his job may be more challenging than he originally anticipated. In fact, the logistics involved in planning the Marine Corps Marathon are even more time consuming than many of the major marathons that are run in other cities. According to Nealis, the Marine Corps Marathon is one of the very few, if not the only, major race in the United States that must coordinate with a minimum of seven police agencies, and that's not even including government agencies in the county, state, and Washington, DC.

Nealis and his staff do not overlook even the smallest detail, but many of the details that they attend to have changed since September 11, 2001.

"Coordinating enough water cups and safety pins for the bibs, though still important, has become trivial," says Nealis, who owns a marathon personal best of 3:09. "Since September 11, 2001, the importance of the safety and security of the runners, spectators, and the volunteers at our event has taken on a whole new dimension and has become the top priority."

Planning the event is certainly not a one-man job. In fact, Nealis relies on a year-round staff of ten full-time employees to pull off the event each year. In addition, as many as 15 Marines are brought in as support staff a few months prior to the race to help coordinate the efforts.

"Operational planning for our event begins at least 18 months prior. Visions of the effects of tourism issues are planned at least five years out in the 'think tank' process," says Nealis, who retired from active duty in the Marine Corps after 20 years of service. "The Marine Corps Marathon believes that if you are not constantly revising and fine tuning your five-year plan, you will be doing your event, and more importantly your runners, an injustice."

The planning process is continual--leaving little time for Nealis to catch his breath after the event is run each year. Correspondence from sponsors, vendors, and runners for the following year's race begins coming into the office the very next week after the marathon. While enjoyable, the process can be very stressful at times.

"Conducting a marathon in your nation's capital comes with its own unique set of challenges and confrontations. The Marine Corps Marathon uses one of the most important monuments in the country as its start and finish area," says Nealis. "Stressful challenges will always be part of planning this marathon. Organizational expertise, planning, and rehearsing does reduce stress to a manageable level, which is the hallmark of Marine Corps execution."

The future looks bright for the Marine Corps Marathon. Thanks to the efforts of Rick Nealis and his dedicated staff, you can be assured that the event will continue to grow from year to year without sacrificing the proud tradition that the race stands for.

"The Marine Corps Marathon will continue to lead the running industry with its goals and objective of showcasing the United States Marine Corps's outstanding organizational qualities to the public and forever keeping the theme of being 'The People's Marathon' alive," says Nealis.