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Description
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NOT A SOUTHEAST ROADRUNNERS EVENT. The 22nd Marine Corps Marathon, staged in Washington D.C., recorded here because eleven Juneau runners took part and that is worth keeping. Southeast Roadrunners made this their end-of-season trip for 1997, travelling to the capital rather than holding the usual season-closing run at home; the previous year the club had gone to New York.
ONLY THE ELEVEN JUNEAU RUNNERS ARE LISTED BELOW. The marathon had a field in the tens of thousands. These are the club members the Juneau Empire named, not the race - the placings beside them are their positions in the full field.
The course began near Arlington National Cemetery, wound through Georgetown, past the monuments and the Capitol Mall, and finished back near Arlington at the Iwo Jima Memorial. Conditions were 40 degrees with steady chilling rain, which the Juneau contingent were reported to have enjoyed rather more than most. "Around Mile 17 we noticed runners not used to the cold rubbing on Ben Gay," said Nancy Thomas. "Needless to say, the Juneau runners felt right at home."
Steff Thomas was the top local finisher, 1,589th overall in 3:31. Vice President Al Gore also ran, finishing in 4:55 - behind every one of the Juneau runners.
SOURCE AND PRECISION: results from the Juneau Empire, "Run club supplies a few good men (and women)". Times are printed only to the minute, so the seconds shown here are zeros rather than measurements. Overall places at the marathon ranged from 1,589th to 9,253rd and are recorded in this description because there is nowhere else to keep them. Race-day weather is NOT recorded for this event: the weather service covers Southeast Alaska only and would have stored Juneau conditions against a race in Virginia.
The event is kept OUT of the veteransdayrun series even though it replaced that race for the year. Series membership drives the all-time course records, and a 26.2 mile race in Virginia sitting in a series of Juneau 8Ks would make those records meaningless. |