well, my doomsday is almost upon me: the marine corps marathon takes place this sunday, october 31st.

i thought i'd put together a post of all the available information for those interested in coming to watch and cheer me (and friends) on. i understand getting up early on a sunday morning to yell at some delusional runners might not be your cup of tea, but in previous races, i have found that it makes a monumental amount of difference to see and hear your friends on the race course.

first off, my personal recommendations and ideas: if you come out, the best way to get a glimpse of me is to let me know which points you'll be watching from, and also to maybe make a sign. it'd be much easier for me to see a sign with my name on it than for you to pick me out of a sea of runners.

the race starts at 8:30 am. i believe my pace will be 9:30-10 minutes a mile. however, it could take me as long as 10 minutes to cross the start line, so adjust for that. you can get updates on my time and status sent to your cellphone via SMS here.

i think the mall is a pretty good viewing point. naomi and becca might have more and better ideas for viewing points since they ran it last year (and if you guys do, please leave them in comments), but maybe on constitution in front of the museum of natural history, between miles 11 and 12, on the righthand side of the road? (i'd guess that i'd be there around 10:30am) then you'd be able to cross the mall to get across to independence avenue, before i hit mile 15 (probably around 11am). also, any point during the 14th street bridge would be fantastic, because apparently that's where a lot of people hit the dreaded wall. a map of the whole course is here (PDF file) so you can get some idea of what i'm talking about.

anyway, the race starts at 8:30am, but i wouldn't worry about finding me at the start line. the beginning of the 14th street bridge is really where i could use some help. i estimate that i will be there around sometime around noon, maybe a bit before if i'm doing a good clip.

the marine marathon site also suggests this:

After all the marathon runners get over the starting line you have time to watch the starting of the 8K before walking across the Memorial Bridge to the Henry Bacon Drive (near the Lincoln Memorial). This is the 10-mile point. A runner's pace will dictate how quickly spectators have to get to this location. Next you can walk around the Lincoln Memorial to Independence Avenue, which is approximately mile 16. Runners will head into East Potomac Park and down along Haines Point. Spectators should return to the start/finish area by crossing the Memorial Bridge. Find a great spot along Marshall Drive or Route 110 to help your runner ascend the 110-foot elevation on their way to the Iwo Jima Monument and the finish line.

the best way to get to the race is the metro to arlington cemetery stop. more spectator information is here.

at the end of the race, people reconvene near the iwo jima memorial. a map of the finish area is here (PDF file). i can rendezvous with you all at the linkup area #1, which is A-F (A for Andrews). apparently it's still really hard to find your runners at these areas, so holding up a sign or a balloon or some sort of identifier might not be a bad idea. it would also be great if you could bring along water/gatorade so that i might replenish my sure-to-be-severely-dehydrated-ass post-race. it'd also be wonderful if you could bring along pretzels/orange slices or something to throw in my mouth during the race. sugar+ salt are good.

that's all the information i can think off. in the days to come, i guess it'd be a good idea to settle on 2 or 3 viewing points where we all know to look out for each other.

eek!