Feature

Rachel Pocratsky isn’t your normal 22-year-old. The Gaithersburg, Md. native has set numerous middle-distance track records at Virginia Tech, achieved first-team status in the NCAA All-American indoor and outdoor track teams, and finished several events in times that rank among some of the fastest in NCAA track history. Oh, and she’s just a few months away from beginning her professional running career in the D.C. area.

Pocratsky is a student athlete at Virginia Tech poised to graduate in May 2020 with a degree in civil engineer … and scores of running awards and accolades under her belt. She recently signed with the District Track Club, an Under Armour-supported post collegiate track club in the D.C. area — where she will begin her professional running career in the spring.

For some runners, completing the 44th Marine Corps Marathon is a grand achievement. For others it’s “just a Sunday”. There were thousands of different stories that involved crossing the finish line of the rainy 2019 Marine Corps Marathon, but here is just a small piece of the many stories that make up D.C.’s most prominent race.

Ben Nilsestuen, 37, of Brooklyn, ran the marathon in memory of his friend, James Brophy, who died in December in a Marine training accident. Nilsestuen was not alone in supporting the memory of Brophy. All of Brophy’s college roommates, his old friends from high school, and his wife, were out to support the Marine’s memory by running the marathon.