Tens of Thousands Prep for Marine Corps Marathon

Tens of thousands of runners hit the streets on Sunday for the 36th Marine Corps Marathon and MCM 10K.  Both events start at 8:00 a.m. on Route 110 and take runners through Northern Virginia and Washington, DC.

This year the MCM sold out of all of its 30,000 spots in a record breaking 28 hours. There are an additional 10,000 people signed up for the MCM 10K.

In 2009, the MCM became the fourth largest marathon in the United States, and the eighth largest in the world. It’s currently the largest marathon not to offer prize money to winners.

More than 400 service members overseas will participate in “MCM Forward” during which they run the 26.2 miles in conjunction with Sunday’s race in Virginia and DC. This event began in 2006 in Iraq.

Preparations are going on now along the running course, particularly around the Marine Corps Memorial. One of the marines helping to set up near the memorial this morning said everything is very organized and on schedule, but there is still a fair amount of work to be done before Sunday.

“We’ll be out here today until the job is done,” he said. “Hopefully that means by mid-afternoon.”

Runners are encouraged to use Metro, which will open two hours early at 5:00 a.m. Many heavily traveled routes throughout Arlington will be affected, so drivers should take the following closures into consideration:

• 4:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.: Eastbound Washington Boulevard will be closed at I-395 toward Memorial Bridge
• 4:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.: Route 110 will be closed in both directions to all traffic. North Meade Street will be closed from Fairfax Drive to Marshall Drive. There will be no access to Lynn Street or Meade Street from Route 50. North Lynn Street, from Route 50 to North 19th Street, will be closed. Ft. Myer Drive will be closed from 19th Street to Route 50. North Moore Street, from 19th Street to Wilson Boulevard, will be closed. Wilson Boulevard will be closed east of North Nash Street.
• 4:00 a.m.-9:30 a.m.: Westbound Washington Boulevard from Memorial Circle to I-395 will be closed.
• 7:15 a.m.-11:15 a.m.: Eastbound Lee Highway, from Kirkwood Road to North Lynn Street, will be closed. Westbound Lee Highway, from North Scott street to Kirkwood Road will be closed to through traffic (local traffic will have egress by taking Scott Street to Veitch Street. Citizens leaving the area can use Westbound Lee Highway to Spout Run and exit the area via the George Washington Parkway).
• 7:15 a.m.-12:00 p.m.: The Key Bridge will be closed.
• 7:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m.: The southbound I-395 HOV lanes from Washington, DC will be closed.
•  7:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m.: 12th Street South from Eads Street to Crystal Drive will experience intermittent closures (local traffic is permitted in one lane from Eads Street to Army Navy Drive). Use South 15th Street to access hotels. Crystal Drive will be closed from 12th Street to 23rd Street. Rotary Road will be closed throughout Pentagon South parking. Columbia Pike will be closed at Joyce Street (access Pentagon via Boundary Channel).
• 7:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.: Army Navy Drive will be closed from Fern Street to South 12th Street.