Marine Corps Marathon: Course, Route Profile & Map

Course & Elevation

The course heads north on Route 110 and turns west in Rosslyn. Between kilometre 2 and 4 comes the only real climb of the day: about 35 metres of gain in one piece on Langston Boulevard, averaging around five percent and briefly steeper. From there the route drops back to river level via Spout Run Parkway and the George Washington Memorial Parkway, crosses Key Bridge into Georgetown and runs M Street and K Street into Rock Creek Parkway, an out-and-back loop that turns at Shoreham Road.

From the Kennedy Center to kilometre 40 it is essentially level. The route follows Ohio Drive into East Potomac Park, rounds Hains Point and then works the National Mall - out along Madison Drive to the Capitol, back on Jefferson Drive. At mile 20 the ramp onto the 14th Street Bridge arrives, the famous Beat the Bridge, followed by Crystal City and the Pentagon. Over 71 percent of the 42 kilometres are flat and the course collects around 210 metres of climbing in total.

The character of this race does not come from its profile. The MCM is the largest marathon in the world with no prize money, which is where the name The People's Marathon comes from; the course is staffed by active-duty Marines, who also place the medal around your neck at the end. At mile 12 on Hains Point sits the wear blue: run to remember Mile, lined with portraits of fallen service members and with a volunteer holding a flag for each one. The finish is at the Marine Corps War Memorial, the Iwo Jima memorial - and the last 400 metres to it go uphill.

Pacing Strategy

The first pacing trap comes early. The climb in the third and fourth kilometre arrives before you have settled into rhythm, and because it is the only sustained one in the race it tends to get run at race effort. Take it noticeably easier than planned, and do not use the long descent to the parkway afterwards to win the time back - the speed there is paid for later in your quads.

From Georgetown to Crystal City the course is flat enough to invite metronomic running, which is exactly what makes it dangerous. Rock Creek, Hains Point and the National Mall are long, straight, shadeless stretches with no reference points, and Hains Point is open to the water and can serve up a headwind. Hold a pace you could still lead at kilometre 35 rather than banking time on paper.

The race is decided on the ramp onto the 14th Street Bridge at mile 20 - the first real rise in two hours, arriving just after the point where a marathon usually turns hard, and carrying the cut-off that matters: Beat the Bridge at 13:15. Crystal City and the Pentagon follow before Route 110 pulls up to the Iwo Jima memorial. You run those last 400 metres at close to four percent with 42 kilometres in your legs; plan them as a section of their own, not as a finishing sprint.

Training plan for Marine Corps Marathon: 12-week build

Expect three and a half to five and a half hours of work for a typical age-group runner. The required 14-minute-mile pace and the three gauntlets - Independence Avenue at 12:33, the bridge at 13:15, Crystal City at 13:49 - set the ceiling; miss one and you may keep running but you are not scored as a finisher. The demand is steadily aerobic for most of the distance: a flat course with long straight stretches, broken by two short climbs and a handful of turnarounds.

Because it is flat, the MCM asks for pace durability rather than climbing strength. Long runs at target marathon pace on level ground are the main stimulus, backed up by long sessions that finish at race pace. The many turnarounds and tight corners on Hains Point, the Mall and in Crystal City add up to a real cost in rhythm, so changes of pace and cadence belong in the plan, not only steady continuous running.

Two short climbs deserve specific work. The Langston Boulevard hill, 35 metres over 700 metres, is harmless if it is run under control - practise exactly that, taking rises at low intensity early in a long run. The finish ramp is the opposite case: a short four-percent climb after a full 42 kilometres. In the last weeks, tack a short rise onto the end of your long runs so your body knows the stimulus.

The last Sunday in October in Washington usually means a cool start shortly after sunrise and mild, often sunny late-morning hours. There is no shade at all on Hains Point or the National Mall, but there are twelve water points and ten aid stations on course. Plan clothing you can shed after the start, and rehearse your drinking in sessions that resemble those long open stretches.