Liz Ozeki told people that she would retire when she broke 3:00 for the marathon.
She lied.
Two weeks after setting a big marathon PR in Chicago, she ran, and won, the inaugural Marine Corps Marathon 50k.
Ozeki, of Rockville, ran 3:42:04 to outpace Judy Doldorf, of Manassas, who ran 3:52:00. Lisa Reichmann, of Gaithersburg, ran 4:15:10 for third.
Brittany Charboneau tells her fair share of jokes, but she made a serious play for the Marine Corps Marathon record.
Aiming for 2:37:00, the Colorado-based comedian, actress and improv instructor took off after a few easy miles, grabbing the lead from 2015 and 2018 MCM winner Jenny Mendez and hitting the halfway mark at 1:18:05. Mendez eventually dropped out short of 20 miles.
The second half of the race was also not kind to Charambou, who ran 2:36:34 at the 2018 Los Angeles Marathon. She won Marine Corps, running 2:44:47, but given her goal, she wasn’t happy.
“I just didn’t feel great today,” she said. I felt good all week. Everything went heavy. It was a mental battle from the beginning.”
Jordan Tropf just wanted to see what he could do.
Turns out, he could win the Marine Corps Marathon.
Leading from the start, the 27-year-old Silver Spring resident built a lead of a 1:26 at the halfway point and went on to win by 70 seconds in 2:27:43, much of the second half coming in a driving rain.
“I felt good, so I went early, but nobody went with me,” he said. “I got a little worried after a while, because there are always a lot of good people back there and they can get you in the second half.”
The winning Washington Catholic Athletic Conference teams got on the board early, with Gonzaga senior Cullen Capuano and St. John’s freshman Meredith Gotzman earning runaway individual victories at Bull Run Regional Park. Their team each won their third consecutive conference titles.
Capuano wasted no time building a lead, win a two-second margin by the race’s first turn. He ran ahead the entire race and won in 16:09.
Name: Caitlin Briere
Self-described age group: 30-34
Residence: Old Town Alexandria
Occupation: Federal Employee
Volunteer roles in the running world: I’ve been volunteering each year at an aid station at the Umstead 100-mile race down in Raleigh, North Carolina. A few friends and I have made an annual girls’ weekend out of it.
Why you run: Because it helps me feel strong physically and mentally. I manage stress much better when I run regularly, and I find that I feel more energetic and am more productive when I start the day with a run or cross-training workout. Running also gives me necessary “me time” when I don’t have to be accountable to anyone else or focus on anything other than putting one foot in front of the other. Also because it helps balance out my massive sweet tooth!
Marine Corps Marathon
Oct. 27, 2018
Arlington, Va. and Washington, D.C.
7:30 50k start
7:45 Handcycle start
7:55 Runners start
The marathon course will weave through Arlington County before crossing the Key Bridge into Georgetown, taking a trip up and down Rock Creek Parkway, around Hains Point and the National Mall before crossing back into Arlington, where runners will finish by climbing the hill to the Iwo Jima Memorial in Rosslyn. The 10k follows the last 6.2 miles of the marathon route. The 50k will add just short of 4k out and back on Canal Road to the west after runners cross the Key Bridge.
You can track runners here. Read on to learn about the best way to watch the race, why you shouldn’t run using someone else’s bib, who has run every Marine Corps Marathon and find out about the time the race was a day away from cancellation.
With a dry course and a solid set of races, Richard Montgomery senior Garrett Suhr went out, gunning for the course record at Bohrer Park. In the attempt, he nearly lost the Montgomery County Championships. Had he been more patient, like Walter Johnson senior Jenna Goldberg, he might have had both.
A little more than two miles into the race, after taking a long, sweeping turn, Suhr looked back and saw three guys, Northwood’s Ayalew Fantaw and Henok Eshetu and Springbrook’s Surafel Mengist, right on his tail.
“When we crossed the (paved) paths, I’d hear the click-clacking from their spikes but they didn’t seem like they were that close,” Suhr said. “I thought I was way ahead.”
Name: Chad Young
Self-described age group: 38
Residence: Bethesda, Md.
Occupation: High School Math Teacher at Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS
Volunteer roles in the running world: Head Coach for Cross Country, Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field for the last 15 years – all at Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS; Maryland District 2 Representative to the State Committee for Cross Country; MCPS Cross Country Sport Director. Member of the RunWashington coaches panel
Why you run: Running is fun! I enjoy getting outside and being active. I don’t run to train for races, I just like to run. If a race comes up and I’m feeling like racing, then I’ll do it. I just enjoy running for my own enjoyment and as a routine for good health.
Marc Hunter has been around runners long enough to know that even with the benefit of a meritocracy, seniority can often dominate in a team dynamic. That’s why he was surprised to hear then-freshman Ricky Fetterolf say something at a Loudoun Valley team meeting two years ago.
“It was gutsy, because we had a top-heavy team and it’s understandable for a freshman to just sit back and listen,” he said. “We had a top-heavy team, with a lot of seniors, but she voiced her opinion and I respected that about her. So did a lot of the girls.”
Fetterolf didn’t even remember what she had to say. What was more important to her was letting the rest of the team know she would have things to say, albeit somewhat sparingly. She wanted her hands on the wheel as the team moved ahead.
“I don’t talk that much, but if it’s something I value, I will speak up about it,” she said. “I’d rather lead by example.”
Gavin McElhennon got good in a hurry his second year of cross country running. With any luck, he can do it again.
Unable to run for most of the spring thanks to a groin injury, McElhennon finally relented as the school year ended, knowing that rushing to get back on the track wouldn’t win him anything except frustration as the goalposts for his return moved away every time he started up.
“I was hurting every time I ran,” he said. “I’d take time off, do a lot of physical therapy and start up again, but every time, I’d start hurting after a few days.”
His attention turned to his senior year at Gonzaga, where he had been the Eagles’ top distance runner most of the prior two years. Finally, in July, he opted for platelet-rich plasma injections in his groin, hip and glute, and gave the procedure a month to work itself out. Now, with more than a month of pain-free training, he’s eyeing a late-season comeback, with hopes of his best finish yet at the Nike Cross Regionals Southeast meet, where he finished 57nd last fall.
