Marine Corps Marathon

Published October 30, 2022 at 10:00PM | Updated November 1, 2022 at 2:51PM

Kyle King leads the 2022 Marine Corps Marathon in mile 17. Photo: Charlie Ban

All alone on the Marine Corps Marathon course, Kyle King had a lot of time to think. Even as he led Jon Mott by a minute in the 16th mile, he reflected on the extensive research he had done on his rival, specifically Mott’s recent 2:17 at the Berlin Marathon.

“I stalked him pretty hard before the race, and he ran some 5:05s in his last 10k at Berlin,” King said. “I started hurting early on, my calf started acting up in mile 12, so I knew I didn’t have a safe lead because he was gunning for me. I was running scared from 16 to 23.”

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Cut your MCM time: run the tangents

By Dickson Mercer

Published October 18, 2022 at 12:20PM | Updated October 19, 2022 at 3:49PM

As I write this, Marine Corps Marathon training is reaching its zenith. The calendar holds just a few more weeks for hard training.

And by the time you read this, you’ll be tapering. It could even be race week, your thoughts shifting to smaller details.

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Military Running

Marine Corps Marathon Director Rick Nealis to retire in January

By Charlie Ban

Published August 25, 2022 at 11:00AM | Updated August 25, 2022 at 4:52PM

Marine Corps Marathon Race Director Rick Nealis (right) with Col. H.C. "Barney" Barnum Jr., a member of the race's Ad Hoc committee. Photo: George Banker

Rick Nealis made some choices on the fly while running the Marine Corps Marathon in 2020.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic forced the race he has directed since 1993 to go virtual, he crafted his own course, though without his usual authority to close down roads he was accustomed to. He meandered the W&OD and Mount Vernon trails in Northern Virginia to get his 26.2 miles. With a course change after a mental remapping, a detour into Alexandria and a stop for refreshments in Old Town, he took what the day threw at him. It fit the perspective that has helped make his race a pillar of the American running community.

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More than 20,000 finish Marine Corps Marathon

By Andrew Gates

Published October 23, 2017 at 11:56AM | Updated March 30, 2018 at 2:30PM

Runners approach the 10 mile mark in the 2017 Marine Corps Marathon. Photo: Charlie Ban

For some runners, it’s a first marathon. Others treat it as a homecoming of sorts. There were 20,303 different stories that involved crossing the finish line of the 2017 Marine Corps Marathon.

Antonio Osadalosada, 57, from Sacramento, Calif. was one of those runners.

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Arlington’s Morkama recovers from early-race chaos to win Marine Corps Marathon

By Charlie Ban

Published October 22, 2017 at 9:32PM | Updated December 13, 2017 at 4:34PM

Desto Morkama chases Kieran O'Connor in the 17th mile of the 2017 Marine Corps Marathon. Photo: Dustin Whitlow

Confusion in the first mile threw much of the leading Marine Corps Marathon pack into chaos, but Arlington’s Desta Morkama eventually overcame a nearly-two-minute deficit, and up to an extra half mile, to win in 2:25:14. Meanwhile, Fairfax’s Sarah Bishop turned a 22-mile training run into a near-Olympic Trials qualifying time (2:45:06).

This all followed a 10-minute delay to allow a suspicious package to be cleared from the course. (more…)

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Fairfax’s Bishop turns training run into Marine Corps Marathon win

By Charlie Ban

Published October 22, 2017 at 9:23PM | Updated December 13, 2017 at 4:33PM

Sarah Bishop and Meghan Curran approach the nine mile mark of the 2017 Marine Corps Marathon. Photo: Dustin Whitlow

Successful marathon racing means being able to handle and adjust to 26.2 miles of uncertainty. Usually that means digging down when things get tough, like when you go the wrong way in a race, but for Fairfax’s Sarah Bishop, the Marine Corps Marathon meant feeling better than expected and going with it.

She took what was primarily a 22-mile training run for her goal race in December and won, set a personal record by more than two minutes and fell just short of the target she’s setting for five weeks from now. Her 2:45:06 was just seven seconds short of the qualifying standard.

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The Last MCM Groundpounder

By Beth Roessner

Published October 20, 2017 at 10:13AM | Updated October 28, 2018 at 9:20PM

Update: Richmond retired from running the Marine Corps Marathon before the 43rd race, set for Oct. 28, 2018.

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DCXC

Darrell General, the greatest working runner (and two-time MCM champion)

By Dickson Mercer

Published October 19, 2017 at 10:28AM | Updated April 2, 2018 at 7:35PM

Darrell General. Photo: Doug Stroud

Darrell General is used to operating on a tight schedule. Thirty years ago, when he qualified for his first of five U.S. Olympic marathon trials at the Marine Corps Marathon, General was training hard and working harder at multiple jobs. Today, General, 51, is right on time for a 4 p.m. interview for the Pace the Nation podcast. As long as we get this done in 45 minutes, he’ll still have enough time to drive over to George Marshall High School in Falls Church, Va. to set up a cross country course for tonight’s pre-season time trial. General has been head coach there since 2002.

(more…)

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