In which we fly out of Melbourne and run the Marine Corp Marathon in Washington DC

After a pretty successful and not too painful Melbourne marathon there was a couple of days of making sure that all of the ducks were lined up, (actually in our case all of the budgies). Thanks go to a wonderful volunteer in our next door neighbour who has only recently moved in but volunteered to mind the 80 odd budgies we currently have flying.

All of the flights were organised and the accommodation and getting to the airport and the ESTA for the USA and the equivalent for Canada and a COVID shot and a flu shot and all of the running gear in the carry on and we were away. We tried something different this time with Skybus taking a new route from the Box Hill railway station. Bus from our place to Ferntree Gully, train to Box Hill and Skybus to the airport. All up about 2 hours but meant we didn’t have to park a car at the airport for a month and more than $350. Started off a bit shaky when our first local bus was fifteen minutes late but from there everything went smoothly.

First flight was Thai airways to Bangkok. Nice plane, good food and friendly service. Arrived in Bangkok about 10 pm with 5 hour layover. Second flight at 2 am with EVA, the Taiwanese airline. Again, very comfortable. We were in business class so had a chance to lay flat and get some sleep. Arrived in Vienna at 8.30 am after a couple of hours sleep and several meals with each airline.

We stayed at a very interesting hotel in Vienna. It was either the agglomeration of several buildings or a convent or part of a nurse’s quarters or something along those lines. The corridor from the lifts to our room was over 70 metres long according to strava. It seemed endless. It did give us a deal of privacy but it also meant that the hot water took forever to warm up. All of that cold water going down the drain while it warmed up was painful to a couple of aussies used to saving water where possible.

We walked quite a bit around Vienna looking at canals (drains) and architecture. Of most interest to me on the first day was the Hauptallee. This is the long flat piece of road where Eliud Kipchoge ran sub 2 hours for the marathon distance in the Ineos 1:59 challenge. I could see why they picked this bit of road. Flat, straight and long. All it takes is good weather conditions and it is perfect for fast times. Needless to say I had a bit of a run on the course. We looked at the Danube river and attended a concert of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons in the Karlskirche (St Karl’s Church).

I did the Danau Park parkrun on Saturday morning. This is a 3 lap run to make up 5 km in a park that had been reclaimed as part of an upgrade for the Vienna international Garden festival of 1964. I was pretty pleased with the shakeout but annoyed that it was a D for Donau rather than V for Vienna. I already had my D at Dorset but finding a V parkrun isn’t that easy. There’s only one parkrun in Vienna so maybe I could claim it anyway. Went around in 21.34 showing I was in reasonable shape after Melbourne. I ran back to the hotel to get a longer run in. Did a bit of the hauptallee and around the soccer stadium. Was not lost at any stage but probably did a couple more kms than expected.

We had a look at the big palaces at Belvedere and Schonbrunn over the next couple of days. Both extremely impressive structures and spaces but I do struggle with the idea that small sections of society have/had so much when the peasants starved. A philosophical debate for another time. Just when we thought we were getting the hang of the underground it was time to leave.

On to Washington

One of the curiosities of the ticket that we were flying on was that it is a Star Alliance around the world fare. It was booked through Air New Zealand but we fly with allied carriers. For this next leg We were ticketed with Air New Zealand for a United Airlines flight that ended up on an Austrian airlines airplane. Got us to where we needed to be.

There’s been a bit of conjecture about passport control and politics in the USA but I can speak to Anne and myself that the nice man at passport control was extremely professional and courteous. We had a short conversation about why we were coming to the USA. (to run marathons) and about marathon running and then he wished us well and sent us on our way.

Our Airbnb in Washington DC was in NOMA which is a shortening of North Of Massachusetts Ave, It is an eclectic area with Gallaudet University, a large african-american community, close to Union Station and the political centre of the city. It is a longish walk to the Capitol building, the White House and the Washington monument. We settled in and then on Friday made the trek down to pick up bib number for me for the Marine Corp marathon on Sunday. The actual bib pick up was easy. The adjacent expo was crowded and uncomfortable. We didn’t hang around.

I had thought to do the parkrun on Roosevelt Island on Saturday morning but it was cancelled due to the government shutdown. This was a theme for this part of the trip. All of the Smithsonian museums, the National arboretum and some of the parks were shut. It was extremely disappointing as we had made time to visit the Smithsonian’s. We have no plans to return to Washington any time in the future and if we’d known this was likely we would have spent more time in Vienna and less in Washington.

Marine Corp Marathon 2025

Sunday rolls around. The metro is running from 5.00 am and start time is 7.20 am. I had a couple of good hours of sleep but was awake and moving before the alarm went off, a fairly normal occurrence, A pastry, some yoghurt and the rest of the gatorade and out the door. Join up with all of the runners on the metro platform. It’s actually very comforting to see the crowd on the platform because you know that you are on the right track at the right time. Pretty much follow along with everyone all of the way to the start area. A couple of comfort stops and head to the start. Boy, was it a long way from the back to the front. I was in the red wave at 3:30 expected finish time so behind the really quick guys but with lots and lots of people behind me. Don’t trip over whatever you do.

The gun here is a howitzer. No missing it when it goes off. First the wheelies and then us. A slow shuffle down to the timing mat and then away. I set off with a plan to run conservatively. Nice plan. Crowd through Rosslyn was amazing, noisy and enthusiastic and we rolled along at around 4.40 / km. I was comfortable but found myself chasing runners when they came past which is not a good thing to do early in a marathon. Out of Rosslyn we headed out into an area of parks and bush which was really pretty and then back into town. There were a couple of up and down hills which wasn’t good for my pace judgement but I was still rolling along sub 3 hr 20 pace which was a bit quicker than perhaps wise.

Coming through the half we meet what is called the “Blue Mile” This very poignant stretch has posters with images of fallen servicemen all along it. It reminds us that we are very fortunate to be able to be out running and that we should be grateful to be doing so. Back around the point and up along the golf course and we start to get to the business end of the marathon. At mile 17 we head into the Wahington mall. At one time there was concern that the marathon wouldn’t take place as this area is under the control of Parks and they are not being paid during the shutdown. I don’t know what compromise they came to but we got to run. Mile 18 and 19 have crowds. Lots and lots of supporters out in the mall. Anne was here somewhere. She even has images of me but I couldn’t see her. There was still not a lot of running room and with some of the construction going on it was important to watch where we were going.

Starting to tire after 20 miles (32 km). I’ll have to admit I prefer kilometres. Miles seem to take forever to tick over and 10 miles doesn’t seem as satisfying as running 16 kilometers. We head back down to the Pentagon and Pentagon city. The crowds build again. There’s a bit of round and about through the streets and a carpark and a building site. I think some of the compromises are coming home to roost. Back up past the Pentagon and past the start area. In to the last mile (kilometres), The watch heads up to 42 kms but there’s still a bit to go. We see runners head off to the finishing chute up a very nasty little hill. Gosh!

Up the hill and into the chute. I think I recorded 42.6 km and that seems common to other people’s distances. Time of 3:22.16 was 4 and a half minutes quicker than Melbourne two weeks ago and finished 2nd in the Age group out of 358 and 1511 overall out of 30,182.

I gathered up my belongings and met up with Anne and Dave Howlett. The finish line party was just a mess with so many people looking for friends and family. There were also problems with the Rosslyn metro so we took the opportunity to head to the next metro station and get out of there. Popped into the local brewery on the way home for two beers and some chips and then a shower and a nap.

We left Washington Monday and headed here to Harrisburg in Pennsylvania for a couple of days. Thursday we move on to New York for the Marathon and Age Group Championship on Sunday. I’m still a little sore from last Sunday so it will be interesting to see how it goes, Still that’s two marathons down and one and a half to go. Over half way.