An 11-member skydiving team carried a 7,800 square foot American flag high above the Start Line of the 38th Marine Corps Marathon. Shortly afterwards, a 105mm Howitzer M2A1 fired the celebratory salute to signify the beginning of the race and over 31,000 runners began their run.
This year’s course featured a slightly restructured route that flattened the terrain of the race. Runners ran through Rock Creek Park instead of past Georgetown Reservoir, which was a tough stretch in past years. This modification added to faster finishing times.
One of these time was that of Girma Bedada. Bedada blew through the course and won the marathon with a finishing time of 2 hours, 21 minutes, 32 seconds. Quickly pulling away from the pack shortly after the first mile, the 33-year-old Ethiopian crossed the finish line before Patrick Fernandez. Fernandez finished the race with a time of 2:22. Richard Morris of Burkeville, Va. rounded the top three men in 2:24.
As expected, Kelly Calway was the first female finisher and ran the course in 2:42:16. At mile marker eight, she separated from her group and didn’t look back. Calway was followed by Virginia Slaby with a race time of 2:48. Emily Shertzer trailed Slaby by less than a second and came in third. Calway, part of the United States Army Running Team beamed upon her finish.
“It is awesome to win representing the U.S. Army,” she said. “This is the last thing that I am doing before I’m shipping out. It means the world to me to run this race – representing the Army, soldiers going overseas, their families, wounded warriors.”
Calway, from Manitou Springs, Colo. is set to deploy to Kuwait.
The group known as the Groundpounders, men who have run every Marine Corps Marathon since its inception in 1976, participated in the run. As did locals such as Navy Lt. Alexandra Bailly of Washington, DC and David French of Annandale, Va. Bailly and French ran to honor colleagues and friends killed in the Navy Yard on September 16. Runners participating in their first Marine Corps Marathon topped 20,000.
Much of the pre-race talk centered around the government shutdown and security. With only two days remaining before organizers would have been forced to postpone the race, a negotiation was reached and the government re-opened.
Meanwhile, with the fresh memory of the Boston Marathon, the race was steeped in security this year. Organizers spent nearly $1 million on this weekend’s activities. It is the most money spent by the Marine Corps Marthon in its history.
A 10K was incorporated and completed in this year’s marathon. Last year, the MCM10k was forced to be shut down in progress due to suspicious package around the fourth mile.
38th Marine Corps Marathon
Arlington, VA, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013
MEN
1 Girma Bedada (USA) Columbia, GA 33 5:23/mi 2:21:31
2 Patrick Fernandez (USA) Alexandria, VA 26 5:26/mi 2:22:51
3 Richard Morris (USA) Burkeville, VA 25 5:29/mi 2:24:01
4 Timothy Richard (USA) North Little Rock, AR 25 5:33/mi 2:25:56
5 Michael Wardian (USA) Arlington, VA 39 5:36/mi 2:27:05
6 Jake Buhler (USA) Edmond, OK 26 5:36/mi 2:27:07
7 Japheth Ng’ojoy (USA) El Paso, TX 25 5:38/mi 2:27:50
8 Chris Pruitt (USA) Arlington, VA 31 5:42/mi 2:29:40
9 Eric Delion (USA) Winchester, CA 30 5:42/mi 2:29:49
10 Ben Payne (USA) Ft Walton Beach, FL 32 5:46/mi 2:31:31
WOMEN
1 Kelly Calway (USA) Manitou Springs, CO 29 6:11/mi 2:42:15
2 Gina Slaby (USA) Virginia Beach, VA 32 6:24/mi 2:48:03
3 Emily Shertzer (USA) Jonestown, PA 33 6:24/mi 2:48:07
4 Emily Potter (USA) Southern Pines, NC 34 6:29/mi 2:50:24
5 Claudin Mangum (USA) Raleigh, NC 32 6:30/mi 2:50:47
6 Rachel Booth (USA) Springfield, VA 32 6:32/mi 2:51:24
7 Samantha Bower (USA) New York, NY 23 6:37/mi 2:53:31
8 Christina Noordstar (USA) Tierra Verde, FL 242 37 6:40/mi 2:55:00
9 Paula Pridgen (USA) Charlotte, NC 27 6:42/mi 2:56:04
10 Amanda Allen (USA) Boston, MA 26 6:44/mi 2:56:40
For full results, visit: http://www.marinemarathon.com/