The Marine Corps Marathon is Sunday, October 25, and we think it’s the best free show of the fall. Thousands of runners, Marines along the course, strangers yelling your name off your bib. Not this weekend but the next one, so this is your heads-up to plan, especially if you’ve got a runner coming to town.
Runners start at 7:20 a.m. on Route 110 in Arlington (wheelchair racers go at 7:05 and duos at 7:07). Then they pass the Lincoln Memorial at mile 10 and again at mile 16, along the National Mall for miles 17 to 19, and over the river to Crystal City before the finish at the Marine Corps War Memorial. There are bands along the way, too: a blues band at mile 6, the Quantico band at mile 10, a DJ at mile 23.
How we’d watch it from I Street: eat first. Breakfast is free at the hostel on weekends from 8:30 to 10:30. Then walk straight down 7th Street to the Mall; there’s an aid station at Jefferson Drive and 7th Street SW, and that stretch is loud. When you’ve cheered your people past, walk back up to Gallery Place-Chinatown or Mt Vernon Sq and take the Yellow Line straight to Crystal City. It’s a direct ride with no transfer, which is a big deal on race morning. Long Bridge Park around mile 24 is where tired legs need the most noise.
The insider tip: buy a Metro one-day pass the night before. Metro opens at 5 a.m. on race day, and the marathon’s own guide warns that weekend waits can run about 15 minutes. Everyone going into the start and finish areas gets screened, so leave the big backpack in your locker. If you’re meeting a runner at the end, the Finish Festival is in Rosslyn at Wilson Boulevard and North Lynn Street from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with family meet-up towers lettered by last name.
Running it yourself? The Health & Fitness Expo and packet pickup is at the Building Museum, a short walk from us near Judiciary Square, Wednesday through Saturday (Oct 21 to 24), 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday morning also has the MCM 8K and the Kids Run in West Potomac Park. Race-day details are on the official race-day page.
More to do this week
- Tregaron Unplugged, Sat Oct 17, 1–3 p.m. Free jazz, Hindustani flute, West African drumming and a sound bath spread around a historic Cleveland Park estate. Registration is required. The Red Line runs from Gallery Place straight to Cleveland Park. Register here.
- Howard vs. Morehouse, Sat Oct 17, 3:30 p.m. Howard’s Homecoming game at Greene Stadium (2400 6th St NW), with Yardfest on campus Friday and Saturday. Tickets go through Howard Athletics; the full week is on homecoming.howard.edu. Take the Green Line two stops to Shaw-Howard U and walk up Georgia Avenue.
- Passport to Patriotism closes Sun Oct 18. A free exhibition at the Art Museum of the Americas, put together by Art in Embassies, about how American symbols read at home and abroad. Open Tuesday to Sunday with a half-hour lunch break at 1. More info.
If your runner needs a bed close to the expo and a direct train to the course, we’ve got capsules and private rooms: book direct here.
Top photo: Marines from Arlington, VA, United States / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (source)
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