Race recap: Marine Corps Marathon
October 26, 2025 | Arlington, VA
In which I review the marathon
Unsurprisingly, I did not have the day I hoped for after Princess. Instead, I had pretty much the day I expected after the past six months.
So rather than doing a normal recap, which would probably be kind of boring and kind of depressing, I thought I'd try something different. I have been listening to and enjoying John Green's The Anthropocene Reviewed, and in the shower after the race, I found myself coming up with reviews for different elements of the experience in a similar style. And I decided to do that instead.
Waiting for the race to start when it's 40Āŗ out
I have never been good at cold. I'm pretty sure one of the reasons my dad accepted a job in Orlando when I was 10 was so that I would stop complaining about how cold it was in Philadelphia. (Plus being in Disney's backyard - we had already taken three family trips to Disney World by that time - and my dad's extended family in St. Pete. He's about to retire from that same company at the end of this year, so I guess it worked out.)
So sitting around for an hour after getting to the race at 5:40 to make sure I wasn't late was not my favorite. I found this memorial with statues of some kind of cats guarding it, and I sat there until my butt got cold, and then I took my jacket for after the race out of my drop bag and sat on that which was much better. And I listened to The Anthropocene Reviewed until it was time to warm up and drop off my bag and it wasn't very exciting or comfortable.
I give waiting for the race to start when it's 40Āŗ out two stars.
Running a marathon with low ferritin, vitamin D, and vitamin B12
Look, it's not like I didn't know this was coming. This performance was approximately the equivalent of Mount Everest in terms of Things You Can Definitely See from a Really, Really Long Way Off. I held out a teeny, tiny bit of hope that I would wake up and feel magically better on race morning, but I wasn't shocked 400 meters into the race when I was running like 8:30 pace and I thought to myself, "Huh, this feels kind of hard."
In fact, in my experience with all these deficiencies, everything just always feels a little bit hard. Sure, you can still run easy (you'll just be slower), but even if your HR is 75% in Z1, it will still feel 10% more difficult than normal. It is not very fun. And a 10% harder marathon is really not fun.
Maybe if I had just gone out and run easy, it wouldn't have been quite as painful, but I was gone for more than eight hours as it was. My poor puppy needed to go out. So no dawdling; I ran as fast as I could. (Well, almost. I probably could have shaved off a couple more minutes if I had been willing to dig really deep, but I wasn't.)
I give running a marathon with low ferritin, vitamin D, and vitamin B12 two stars.
My internal pacer
I could have been one of those people who start off a marathon like "3:30 or bust!" and hang onto that pace until they crash, flip a few times, fall off a cliff, and die in a fiery explosion. (Guess how I feel about that strategy?
) I passed a lot of those people walking off to the side after mile 18 or so.
Thankfully, I am not one of those people! Instead, I start with what I think is a much better, if more uncertain, plan: run as fast as I can run for the whole distance.
It doesn't sound like it should work, but it does. Even when I have no idea what actual pace I can run.
Look, you can see variations in pace from mile to mile, which are sometimes hills and sometimes just times when I was feeling a little better or a little worse. But overall I'm pretty sure the first half marathon was within seconds of the second half marathon. (If MCM would just put the full results on their website, I could be more precise.)
And for the record, my watch recorded 26.58 miles.
I give my internal pacer four and a half stars.
Toenails
Why do we even have toenails? As far as I can tell, we'd get along perfectly well without them. And then they wouldn't keep getting bruised, which really adds a fun and different layer of pain on top of the blisters, sore hip flexors, sore calves, sore knee, sore ankle, and general exhaustion.
I give toenails two stars.
Being a seeded runner
Thanks to an excellent Princess, I qualified for MCM's seeded runner program.
It was awesome.
First, instead of having to get off at Pentagon like everyone else, I exited the Metro at Rosslyn, which was far less crowded. (And if I had stayed on the train, I would have been really packed in there, because the train was already full AND the platform was full of people waiting. That would have sucked.)
In the finishing area where the seeded and charity runners gathered, there was plenty of space and relatively short lines for the port-a-potties. There was even a little tent for seeded runners, with a few chairs and waters available, where we could leave our bags to pick up afterwards.
When it was time to go to the start line, there was enough space to use the half-mile or so as a warmup jog. On one side of the highway, the masses crowded into corrals. The other side was reserved for seeded runners and had enough room for dynamic stretches and drills, at least until people started crossing the median and filling the extra space. It was overall a pretty remarkably relaxing start to a race with 40,000 participants.
The seeded runner corral eight minutes before the start
After the race, the tent was only a short walk from the finish line, and one of the volunteers handed me my bag as I walked up. (There...weren't a lot of seeded runner bags left at that point.
) And there was plenty of room on the grass to sit down, put some layers on, and eat my snacks.
I give being a seeded runner five stars.
WMATA's performance on marathon day
WMATA, more wordily known as the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority that runs the Metrorail and Metrobus systems and less wordily known as Metro, is...better than not having a transit system. But it has room for improvement.
For example. You would think that, knowing there was a race with 40,000 participants plus thousands of spectators finishing at Rosslyn, they would have extra trains to avoid overcrowding.
You would think. Instead, they did not do that, and in fact kicked everyone out of the station when it got too crowded. I was waiting to get into the station, and the people coming out said trains weren't even stopping because it was too crowded.
I waiting in this crowd for at least half an hour just trying to get into the station.
YOU HAD ONE JOB, METRO.
I give WMATA's performance on marathon day one and a half stars.
Pedaling a 50-pound bike uphill after running a marathon
The officials at the station could offer no estimate of when it would be accessible again, so I got the last bikeshare bike from across the street.
Biking home after running a marathon would not have been my first choice.
After taking a few minutes to figure out where I was going, I mostly just coasted, but I did have to bike up one fairly short but significant hill. It was painful. My legs did not appreciate having to do more work.
Normally I wouldn't bother recording a short bike ride because it's not really exercise, but in this case I made an exception.
I give pedaling a 50-pound bike uphill after running a marathon one star.
The 50th anniversary swag
MCM was pretty excited about their 50th anniversary, and they had lots of things. The medal was really nice. I like it better than last year's, which was gold and very shiny in a way that made it look like plastic.
Somebody said the image on the inside is the first medal they gave out in 1976.
They also had fleece blankets with the 50th anniversary logo.
It's very soft and made an excellent picnic blanket after the race.
And Superman ponchos from HBO for whatever reason. They were quite wrinkled coming out of the plastic, but they're actually lined and nicer than they look.
There were also drawstring bags, but I only have space for 10 photos, so you will just have to imagine them.
I give the 50th anniversary swag four stars.
Sharing post-race snacks with my dog
I packed four pancakes and a protein shake in my drop bag, so I brought my banana and watermelon home to share with my dog.
My do loves food. If he could figure out what you wanted, he would do pretty much anything for food. (Unfortunately, he also thinks that "food" encompasses discarded napkins, cupcake wrappers, and occasionally business cards, so his discernment could use some work.)
His excitement usually results in a puddle of drool on the rug while he waits for his share of the snacks, but his enthusiasm is pretty adorable.
I give sharing post-race snacks with my dog four and a half stars.
7h 52m
) Intervals went fine except that I forgot the zoo loop was closed due to the shutdown and had to turn around early. 
