Marine Corps Marathon: The spectator's guide

October 23, 8:37 AMDC Running Fitness ExaminerAmy Reinink

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The wait for the Marine Corps Marathon is almost through!

First, if you're planning to attend the Marine Corps Marathon as a spectator, thank you. There's no way to fully express how much the runner you're planning to support appreciates you being on the race course to elevate their spirits and push their pace.

Marine Corps Marathon might be one of the nicer races to attend as a spectator. Metro makes it easy to jump from spot to spot, and the race course loops back to a central spot more than once.

A few tips: Sign up for the remote runner-tracking feature, which will send updates about your runner's progress to your cell phone after a runner crosses the start line, every 5K along the course and at the finish line.

Check out the Marine Corps Marathon's spectator guide. The guide suggests a few good-looking watch spots:

Start at the Arlington Cemetery Metro stop, which will spit you out right at the starting line. After watching the start, stroll across the Arlington Memorial Bridge to the Lincoln Memorial, which isn't such a bad place to spend an hour or so waiting for your runner to reach the 10-mile marker. Stay here another hour to catch your runner at mile 16.

From there, walk east to the National Mall, where you can catch runners at the 18 or 19 mile marker before zipping across the river via the Smithsonian Metro stop. Get off at the Crystal City stop to catch miles 22 and 23.  Finally, Metro over to the Rosslyn stop to the finish line.

Note: Runners with multiple fans in their support crew might want to station some friends at Hains Point. This may require a friend with a bike, and certainly won't be the easiest watch-spot to access, but runners will appreciate seeing friendly faces at this sparse part of the race course, and spectators will enjoy the bucolic surroundings at Potomac Park.

Have you run or watched the race in previous years? Share tips for spectators by posting a comment!

Are you running the race? Be sure to check out the DC Running Examiner's series with tips for visualizing a successful race by breaking it up into manageable chunks (find it here).