Marine Corps Marathon Time-lapse and Photos

There’s no bigger race in Washington DC than the Marine Corps Marathon, and – in the case of this weekend, no better weather than today’s for the race.

The Girl and I headed out before sunrise to stake out our spot for another one of my time-lapse, similar to the Army 10-Miler one from last year.  My goal was to get the entire race in the picture – from the very first lead runner to the very last one.  So naturally, the best place to do that is shortly after the start – just a few hundred meters up the road.  I’d set the camera to take a photo every second and then just let it cruise, clicking away.  After over 1,300 photos, a near-video like composite comes together.

So – without further ado – here’s the time-lapse:

35th Annual Marine Corps Marathon Timelapse Video

Of course, while I had one camera working on the time-lapse (an older one)…

…I had my regular camera to take pictures of all the folks going by – and boy where there quite a few interesting ones.

Of course, I can’t start with the people photos without starting with the first racer.  This guy had a solid lead on the ‘lead pack’, but I’m fairly certain it didn’t last long (otherwise the lead pack wouldn’t have let him get out there).  Plus, a few miles later he was nowhere to be found:

Once those guys went by, the masses started rolling through quickly.  I like the guy below – checking his watch.  Don’t worry man – I’m fairly certain it still shows 26 miles to go, you haven’t even taken care of that .2 miles yet.

Yes…there’s a LOT of people. While the above time-lapse takes less than 60 seconds to watch, in reality, it was over to 30 minutes.

The fact that this guy below was superman didn’t differentiate him from his friends in the pee-stop 200m into the race.

There’s confusion…and then there’s this guy.  Given the lack of bib, he looks like he’s rather bewildered at how he was out trick or treating and then the next second ended up running with 30,000 people.

There may be 30,000 runners, and another few thousand worth of spectators…but that doesn’t mean this guy below wants to hear any of them.  It’s the sound of silence for him.  Well…unless Wonder Women there to the right takes him out.

Of course, while there are plenty of ‘runner-only’ folks out there, there’s also a number of triathletes, like these folks from Team-Z:

Or perhaps this Ironman Louisville competitor:

It takes special dedication to run as a hot dog…with mustard.  A clear and unwavering allegiance to the beef and bun.

Speaking of unwavering – there are numerous Marines and other Active Duty military folks running and walking the event, more about that though in a minute.

Oh…btw…people are still streaming by:

So many people that even Peter Pan and Tinkerbelle showed up:

And a trio of lobsters:

And even SpongeBob Square Pants:

Soon it was time to leave my spot as the last runners went by, followed by the Marines marching by, bringing up the rear:

Though I suppose that the true-rear was being brought up by these Marines below cleaning up the spare clothing tossed at the start:

After I was set near the start I crossed over the bridge and into the district, just in time to watch the leaders go by and then a bit later the masses start to fill in the roadway:

After another bit of time the leaders came back by Lincoln where I was standing.  Amazing to look at their running form:

Even the second pack had amazing form, the guy to the far left there being one who ran in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Trials:

But, it’s honestly a bit more fun to watch everyone else come on by:

It’s also amazing how many folks are wearing Garmin watches.  In this picture below, almost every person except the two closest to the camera are wearing a Garmin from what I can tell.

As much as you watch the time on your watch, just don’t get picked up by the SAG bus!  Though none of these folks had anything to worry about.

If you need a pickup though – this high school band will take care of you:

Though, some folks don’t need a band to remind them why they’re running.  The man’s shirt below is sadly quite common at both the Army 10 Miler and Marine Corps Marathon.  I remember multiple occasions seeing shirts with dates of those Killed in Action mere weeks prior to the race.  Often times labeled with not only the soldiers rank/unit, but also simple descriptors such as: Brother, Son, Husband.  Very sad, but also helps to bring in focus some of the losses that don’t make the evening news.

It’s also quite common for Marines (and other armed branches) to carry either American Flags or service flags:

Meanwhile, you continue to find more Ironman racers out there:

And, if the real Washington Monument wasn’t enough, you’ve got a little mini-monument to the left there:

Last but not least we headed near the Smithsonian Metro station for a brief time before finally calling it a day, after a number of hours of cheering.

Oh – did I mention I did this all in my Travelocity Travelling Gnome costume?  Sorry, only have a picture from last night, but it’ll work:

Hope you enjoyed the pictures, and thanks for reading!

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