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Weather Or Not, 37th Marine Corps Marathon Is Ready To Roll
WASHINGTON Theres a good chance participants in Sundays Marine Corps Marathon could be running with the wind or against it while getting drenched by Hurricane Sandy come race time. But event organizers seem unfazed by a forecast that is calling for an 80-percent chance of rain on race day.Weather is not an issue for Marines, Race Director Rick Nealis joked Friday during a briefing on the annual Marine Corps-sponsored event. Come on, the Marine Corps is amphibious. We go to sea with the Navy. Marines love the rain, Nealis assured the crowd at the National Press Building in Washington, D.C. We call it liquid sunshine. Weather considerations aside, event organizers are pleased with the level of involvement in this years marathon and other events slated for the race weekend. Marc Goldman, a marketing manager for the Marine Corps Marathon, noted that 30,000 running slots sold out in just 2 hours and 41 minutes when registration for the event opened in March. These people really wanted to be here, Goldman said of the race participants. They come from every state and 54 countries. ------------------------------ Retired Marine Corps Col. Al Richmond, who is among a handful of people who have run in every Marine Corps Marathon, plans to run his 37th race on Sunday. At 73, Richmond said he has two goals in mind: Finish the race and live. ------------------------------ Special attractions at this years race: Rob Riggle, comedian, actor and Marine Corps Reserve lieutenant colonel, will serve as the grand marshal to start the race. National Geographic Channel's "Rocket City Redneck," Dr. Travis Taylor, will run in an experimental suit designed to give service members full-body protection; British Maj. Iain Church will attempt a Guinness World Record for running the fastest marathon while wearing a 75-pound protective bomb disposal suit; Single blade runner and Army veteran Lt. Cameron Kerr will run in the 10K race. Kerr, selected at last years marathon event to embark on a polar expedition to Antarctica, lost his left leg while serving in Afghanistan. The Bordoni family who will join six Marines from the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines to run in honor of Cpl. Christopher Bordoni, who was just 21 years old when he was killed by a suicide bomb attack while serving in Afghanistan Lauren Lee, a 2012 contestant from "The Biggest Loser," is set to run her first marathon. Posted by: Sherry 2012-10-28 |
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