Here's the story of CCW's Running Group!

(The most recent entries are listed first. Maggie writes it.)

October 15, 2025   We did it! We have a specator party at Mile 19 for Marine Corps Marathon organized thanks so support from Andres, Yi and Steve! Register here. Read how the event developed with lots of resources and race insights posted in theOctober entries below.

October 9, 2025  I met with my Stop Soldier Suicide team this week online and we are pulling together an energy-filled WhatsApp thread for our group of folks coming from around the country to participate in the Marine Corps Marathon.  To support out of-towners on our team (they are coming from all over the country) especially, I am excited to consider specatating the MCM a bit more today, and I revised my Oct. 3 entry below just a little bit for specificity.  My experience and tips are based on when I was spectating at the MCM for a couple years, but then running the Marine Corps Marathon in 2023, and running its 10Ks in 2022 and 2024.  

Disclaimer: This year the MCM will be bigger than ever with all 36,000 running the 26.2 and we're apprised of additional security measures, so  I hope I'm giving ideas that work for2025. I am referencing this Map of MCM Course.  

I like the following locations for viewing with a variety that work depending on your ability to get to them, given road closures, encumbrances:  

• Mile 2.5 just beyond the bend-- good for the early riser in Arlington. Runners FLOOD past you on their freshest fast energies.           

• The Mile 17 spot after the water stop (shaded.) That position enables you to celebrate the runner passing her first of 3 gauntlets described at the base of this page.      

• The Mile 19 "Bend" as path turns left and South at the National Mall (super spirited and an important place to encourage --because it's the 2nd of 3 gauntlets.)       

• Mile 22-23 with lively Crystal City crowds, hilarious signs, and store fronts and the Fireball Shots fella. It's after the 3rd and last gauntlet.        

• Another location that provides easy viewing and even possibly jumping onto the trail to walk briefly with runners is between Miles 24 and 25. Runners are pretty SPENT at that point and moving more slowly. I recall one year that it was easy to (as a spectator when I didn't even know better) to step off the sidewalk onto the race course and walk right along WITH the straggling runners in the afternoon. No one stopped me around Mile 24 and I didn't know better... and was able to walk side by side with a 75-year-old bent sideways finisher on his last mile or two, at the way back of the pack almost up to the finish line. It was VERY late in the race with last finishers. A great memory! (I just offered endless gab to distract him from pain. I have THAT for the world-- LOL!)

• Don't even bother trying to see your runner cross the finish line. (Explained with  map below.) New restrictions exist for meeting runners after the race. See details.

• The MCM web site offers an app to track your runner here.

• The MCM web site lists some of their favorite viewing locations on its "Before you go" updates page.

Tip for posters and getting SEEN by your runner:  

1. Rather than using white cardboard, I cheered my NYC marathoner sister with a BLACK cardboard painted with white or neon lettering. It really stood out.

2. I had a string through my sign and around my neck to free my arms for my camera.

3. Less is more. Runners can't read more than about 6 words before they are past your sign. Each letter should be at least the size of a hand.  

4.  Cowbells win the day and help draw eyes. If you are in a crowded place, your runner might not hear your voice. By contrast, overpasses/bridge create an echo chamber as well as shade. Such are on the route leading to the Georgetown Waterfront and through Rock Creek Park.

5. Spectators wanting to be noticed by their runner sometimes come out in enormous, noticeable costumes-- like those big inflatable dinosaur outfits.

6. Where did I see the fewest spectators (so it could be a great place to encourage and to be seen by your runner?)   

• Way out on Haynes Point  in the section after the Blue Mile  around Mile 14 . To my recollection, that's where runners are circling back toward the National Mall. Shaded and pretty, and I don't remember crowds.

• Mile 23-24-- closest Metro is PENTAGON.  It is very exposed to the sun, however.

• On the 14th Street Bridge (Mile 19-20) which is quite long... and where there's no shade. But it's such an awesome place to congratulate your runner that she BEAT THE BRIDGE!
  
  Map of MCM Course.  

End of Race Runners' Village Map (notice the orientation on the compass rose, with SOUTH being to the WAY LEFT on this map.)  It shows the path runners walk after the finish line (orange dashed line) and the vast area that is marked off-limits by the red dashed security fence line.  Frustrating to spectators is that the security fence separates public from the 36,000 race participants across a huge area that I estimate is at least a 1/2 square mile. Where to send your spectators for the end of the race? Here's my best guess for the hillside that is above the final 0.5 miles (especially for back of pack runners like I watched on their final 100 yard climb in 2024.)  See lower left corner and imagine being slightly lower/left/South and whether you could get there from the very crowded Roslyn Metro  on a route west beyond the security fance at top/West of map. In 2024 and prior, a fence line extending to the south and bordering the Arlington National Cemetery was the very last part of the racecourse for the best vantage point for "front row spectating" closest to the finish line. 

The space I describe above is not within viewing distance of the finish line, disappointingly. Soldiers will be at finish to high five runners and pass out medals; runners ONLY can take the iconic selfies at the Statue of Iwo Jima / aka: US Marine Corps Memorial.  But their family/specatator group ready to greet them is held off at a farrrrrr distance without the chance to take a "crossing the finish line photo."  

I note that there is a purple part of the End of Race Map showing where family in 2025 can meet the runners when they are done with runners-only fun in the Runners' Village. That is farther away from the finish line than it ever was in the past years of my experience post-race.

The "Charity Village" marked on the End of Race Runners Village Map is something new to me that makes me curious. I don't know what that is. I think the public in past was allowed onto that wide open hillside park space at the edge of Arlington National Cemetery, and in an open area to the left of what is labeled Charity Village, but the security fence and gate guards may, this year, cordon off more to the left/South of the finish line than I recall seeing in the past. A runner with a medal might be able to cross in and out of the public space beyond and south-- I don't know.  For these "unknowns," I am hoping there is still battery in my phone to manage texting my own spectators to "reunite" with them well after my finish.  Smart folks carry a mobile charger since one wants to photo EVERTHING FOR HOURS that day-- LOL!

October 7, 2025  Maggie can help you coordinate Operation Spectate for Big Red Spectators to the Marine Corps Marathon before October 24. After that, Cornellians can use the WhatsApp thread  at https://tinyurl.com/ccw-whatsapp for info and logistics.  Leaders can put their Big Red viewing party onto the Cornell Events page to draw The Red if you contact the VP Programming director with all of your details and give him plenty of notice-- I recommend not less than 10 days notice. See directory at https://cornellclubdc.org/board

October 3, 2025  Cornell Alums KC and Maggie are on the "taper" mode before we do the 50th Anniversary Marine Corps Marathon, raising money for our charities.  We will gather Oct 11 on the Mall for short runs with the group, and have done our last really long runs. We are now going into low key to make ourselves "hungry for the road" when the race starts at 7:20 on October 26. 

I have just posted an invitation to spectators onto our running group's calendar   for that date. Folks can chatter at our running group's WhatsApp thread (see https://tinyurl.com/ccw-whatsapp) if folks want to pull some Cornellians and cowbells together to watch as runners try to "beat the bridge" when they race past the National Mall.  We are suggesting as a viewing sight the turn for runners (see where the 19 is on the map?) just beyond the Smithsonian Castle where runners turn South from running west along the National Mall (Jefferson Street) left onto 14th street so that they can "beat the bridge." It's a lively spot (might want to select the West side of the street and tell your runner which side to look if you are at the bend from the Mall.)  That's where you'll hear the drumming of the drill corps which historically has located itself on the front/east side of the Holocaust Museum.  (From the last part of the 18th mile, runners are passing the Smithsonian Castle, and the runners focus ahead of themselves as they move TOWARD the turn to the left, so it's a prime place to stand and hold a sign. After runners turn, they are probably drawn to look to their left sides at the drum corps on the LEFT side of their route, though.  The drum corps puts on a show, and it's very loud at that section.)

All runners will have started between 7:20 and about 8 am but must get to the bridge by 1:15 in order to complete their second of 3 gauntlets and not be "swept from the course."  (After 1:15 they have to re-open the roads to vehicle traffic and slower runners who fail to meet the 3 gauntlets (explained on this MCM page with map) will not qualify as "official finishers" or get a finisher's medal.) Both of CCW's runners are hopeful to get to the #19 bend and its related "Beat the Bridge" 2nd Gauntlet leading away from the Mall well before 1:15 for their last 6 or 7 miles. (Once on the bridge many late pack participants hit "the wall" and simply walk the rest of their marathon. KC is fast, but even Maggie hopes to get to the bridge earlier than 12:30.)  

(Additional Tips for spectating may be gathered here in an undated and possibly not reflective of new restrictions blog post:  https://www.tammyontherun.com/blog/marine-corps-marathon-course-tips  

Arlington viewers who don't want to cross the river into DC might want to focus on the miles after the 14th street bridge (20-24.)  You could find the "Fireball shots" person who is often well labeled and, yes, serving shots along the right side of the south-heading stretch a little before Mile 22  in Crystal City (Arlington.)  I think it's all to celebrate making the 3rd gauntlet on time. That memorable-to-me server has situated his group something like 500-1000 meters prior to a 180 degree bend in the course. The merry posse is well labeled and holding signs as well as tiny cups of beverage.  Serious runners blow past the guy. Exhausted and overheated runners don't do the shots. Maggie's right hip is earning her fireball shot this year because after beating the bridge, she will likely be walking most of the subsequent 4  miles (as is the case for many fund-racers who are not hard-core distance runners.)

Sept 8, 2025  She did it! KC ran from East Falls Church waaaaaaayyyyy out to Wiehl-Reston in her training run. Maggie ran across bridges over the Danube this week, also. Training is going well and we appreciate everyone's donations to our charities for which we'll run the Marine Corps Marathon!

Sept 4, 2025  In the exciting build-up to our marathon together, the Stop Soldier Suicide team coordinator is drawing the team's strangers together with excellent hype! I will share some of it here in case it inspires others who hype up charity runs.  He has organized t-shirts to deliver this month. He is organizing Zoom meet-ups on a schedule with these thematic discussions:  

• September 9: Fundraising Q&A – tips, tricks, and how to maximize your impact

• September 23: Previous MCM Finishers – stories, lessons, and encouragement

• October 7: High Point / Low Point of Training – let’s be real about the journey

• October 21: Event Week / Last-Minute Updates – logistics, what to expect, and team coordination

I just love the running community!  "We do it together!"   

Secondly, I want to report the MAJOR uplift I got from a different organization with which I had my first meet-up for running this week at 6 am in the Capital Heights neighborhood.  I've wanted to do this for FIVE YEARS and finally achieved a start with them! Twenty of us gathered with Back on My Feet and through it I had lovely early morning exercise and the positive feeling of meeting new friends, folks who have met and are connecting and overcoming challenges --in part by embracing healthy routines and skills for life. 

Sept. 3, 2025- Kassandra is planning her LONG RUN for Saturday. Send her good vibes by using the WhatsApp thread for our running group at https://tinyurl.com/ccw-whatsapp

QR code at the bottom of this page.  

I'm eager to get more sign-ups for the Darrell General (Marine Corps Marathon 2 time winner) event, so spread the link widely and bring a friend to his talk followed by exercise together! Find that Saturday, Oct. 11 event listed at the Cornell Club of Washington Calendar!  While you are registering, notice and sign up to help our CCW with a Community Service opportunity on Oct. 12, too!

August 27, 2025- My generous sorority sisters and  CCW folks put me (Maggie) past the halfway point of fundraising for for Stop Soldier Suicide . Here's where you can make a donation.  And that makes me so happy!

Thanks to all who turned out!  CCW turned a planned CCW run into a  celebration with a successful "half-marathon" training run/walk of close to 14 miles yesterday from the Library of Congress out to my home in Falls Church. Although 2 short-cuts turned into long-cuts, the run/walk was completed in about 3.5 hours, finishing after dark.  For marathoners, it's good to hit this mark with over 2 months to go till the Marathon!  

August 26, 2025- Big Miles this week! The generosity of Don and Ellen and other Cornellians have propelled Maggie forward to her halfway point for charity fundracing! She's lacing sneakers for a 13 mile training run/walk tonight. Thank you for supporting her charity!  Donor links for her and for Kassandra are at the top of this page!  See our photo here and at CCW's Instagram.  If you are going to the outdoor movie at the Wharf  on Thursday, high five CCW's runners that you see! 

August 14, 2025  I'm so pleased to have added Kassandra's donor link to the Aug. 9 posting directly below! Both she and I are training hard and looking for folks who would wish to join us on a training run. See our calendar above and join us as we choose parts of the MCM trail to run short and long distances.  Or... super wild SOCIAL idea:  WHO would want to be on the Marine Corps Marathon route screaming support at us on October 26?  Our charities are giving us posters to hand out, so let us know if a cheerleader leader is you and where the runners would see you on the route. (Map and Gauntlets provided here.)  It can be several locations of convenience to the cheerleaders.  WHY?  If you've never been to the MCM, it is a huge, positive event with infectious feel good energy and tremendous funds are raised for worthwhile charities. I was a spectator for a couple years before realizing "resistance is futile" and had to get a bib.

Give yourself this fun on the last Sunday in October, and if we can make a Cornell Running Group event of it under your leadership, e-mail me your interest and I'll get the word out for meeting point(s) for cheering on the route.  Remember, Kassandra and I are doing it for charity this year-- her first marathon, my second. See our donor links directly below.

August 9, 2025  We've achieved donor link pages in order to make our participation in the Marine Corps Marathon go a further distance for these charities:

• Maggie:    fund-racing for Stop Soldier Suicide.  "I would love it if motivated folks would make even the smallest donation to our cause by visiting my donor page:  https://StopSoldierSuicide.donordrive.com/participants/MC4Dan . I hope you feel the uplift of being part of an important program! "

• Kassandra, with a pal she has recruited, is fund-racing for Alzheimer's Association and you can donate using her donor link.

Thank you for showing the care that Cornellians have for others! "WE ARE DOING IT TOGETHER!" No donation is too small! Every PENNY is ENCOURAGING!

July 30, 2025  Kassandra reports that the Marine Corps Marathon has SOLD OUT its regular bibs. But have no fear! Runners can sign up with the charity called Stop Soldier Suicide here . That charity was chosen by our CCW running group for our focused community service effort.  By individually agreeing to fundraising at least $1500, an individual gets a bib to run the marathon plus this support: All runners will receive one-on-one fundraising support, personalized fundraising page, access to exclusive Team SSS rewards, supplies for your cheer squad, in-person opportunities to connect with Team SSS teammates, including team lunch the day before the marathon, and special recognition for top fundraisers. 

A second option?  You can use Maggie's contact information to join the Alzheimer's Association's team.  For AA, your goal is around $1000. (Since we already fundraised for them this year, you might be okay if you fall slightly short and I can help you connect with their leader, Carrie, who has 50 bibs to hand out while her supplies last. She is organizing a team called "Team Oorah! to End ALZ."  Ask Maggie for the email to get those details.) 

Whichever means you use to get your MCM bib, let Maggie know so that she can post on these pages your donation page and help you fundraise for your good cause!

July 29, 2025  So proud that runners in our group have become CCW event organizers who are registering people to dine out on their Big Red Food Tour (Thank you Monica, Laura and Michael) and do a Hike and Winery Visit. Thank you Josef / Yiming!  Who can co-host one of the summer outdoor movies that Sandra put on my radar? It's easy!

July 28, 2025  It's up! The link to register for CCW's Oct. 11 Meeting with Marine Corps Marathon Winner Darrell General!

July 26, 2025  It was an Early Bird Special!  Way to beat the heat when Kassandra met the 7 am crew for a 5 K around the National Mall. Kudos to the early risers who got there to join our super star: Jordan (who is a founding member of our running group) and new joiners Hailey and Thalia. Welcome aboard! 

July 18, 2025  So happy to reach this goal:  I've been learning about how to be involved in a Back on My Feet team.  See the inspiring video.)  They have a mostly running group that meets near Foggy Bottom, and a mostly walking group that circles up in the Capitol Heights neighborhood.  Exercise lasts and hour. This amazing national organization is very well organized. Orientation and paperwork is online and takes about 2-3 hours to accomplish and get your first gatherings scheduled through their portal.  Gatherings are 2 or 3 days a week at 5:30 and 6 am, M, W, Friday, so explore the web site and if you join a team, please let our group know. (I'm starting in August, so I hope I might see Cornellians there!)

July 4, 2025  I'm so pumped! Scoring on contacts, I've negotiated terms with Coach Darrell General to offer in-person advice and photo ops to anyone interested in a unique October offering in the final "need to taper now" weeks of Marine Corps Marathon preparation. We have tentatively set the event for Oct. 11 or 12. I told him about Jessica! I told him what our little group is doing for charities! And he's on board for an 8-9 am hour before our exercise that morning at the Mall, even if I barely charge anything for participation (that we will offer other Ivy League Alumni Runners as well, so make a date and spread the word.) Just think about how neat it will be for your to have your photo with the actual WINNER of the MCM when the MCM turns "50" this year!  There are only 49 of those folks alive, and his triumph led to a career of helping others and drawing people like you and me into the energizing, community building and serving world of running!  The timing will be perfect for Jessica and me to attend and feel the excitement of count-down to her first marathon!  Watch for a registration link soon and don't miss this special event for our running group.  Bring me down to earth! I'm so happy! (I have to go out for a run!)

June 30, 2025  Josef and Maggie met up at Tatte in Chrystal City to brainstorm our next running events. We discussed finishing a run at Island Time Bar and Grill at Columbia Island Marina. It closes at 7 pm and opens at 11 am, so it's hard to plan around to keep runners out of the summer heat. But the running trails near there show off part of the Marine Corps Marathon Route (both the bridge and the route around the Pentagon) so it's a great place to show Jessica and other marathoners.

June 29, 2025  Justin and Maggie had fantastic runs! We stretched together under the big tree out in Falls Church with the picnic table by the Idylwood Park's parking lot,  and shared updates to this web page's announcements. We beat the heat by starting at 7:15 am.  Maggie ran-walked 8 miles and earned her bagel!

June 25, 2025 Maggie attended our CW Happy Hour event in Ballston to offer a Marine Corps Marathon Organizational Meeting. The purpose was to recruit runners for a charity team run at the Marine Corps Marathon in late October (and CCW event organizers for other purposes-- thanks, Josef, for stepping forward for such!) Here's what was offered, but there were no new folks interested in joining the Marathoning Team:

Cornell Runners interested in joining our effort to build a charity fundraising team and run the MCM Marathon in late October will have a first time opportunity to meet one another and make some plans at 7 pm at a table during the CCW Happy Hour event in Ballston.   <--Register for that event here.         If that timing is not good for you to meet, there will be other opportunities to get aboard our team; try to come June 29. You do NOT have to be a marathoner to take this run/walk event on as a first-time marathoner.  Contact Maggie at Librarian MS   @ gmail . com (no spaces) to let her know when you can meet or phone call for details and watch for us to post a FAQ and training support on these pages.  Yes, YOU CAN BE A MARATHONER! And do GOOD at the same time!

Important!  By June 30, 2025 Kassandra and Maggie will have formed a team that supports one of these causes . Note that the fundraising teams offer the MCM bib to people who commit to raising a set amount of funds (such as $700 - $1500 donations per runner.)  We are presently leaning towards Girls on the Run, or Hire Heroes, USA (Vet support) or Stop Soldier Suicide, or or HEAL Palestine (details coming), Inc. VOLO Kids Foundation  (which is inexpensive at only $700 fundraising goal per runner)  American Foundation for Suicide Prevention ($1000 or $250 for Virtual 10K.) Our Committed Teammates will make the final choice of which charity...  and we are open to what's a meaningful to OUR  CCW runners! Lobby away!

Budget FAQ: How much does it usually cost to get a bib for the MCM if not on a charity run?  $240.  Compare that to your "minimum requirement" for a fundraiser bib to assess if you can pay the difference if you do not reach your fundraising goal by encouraging sponsorships among your friends and our CCW running community events.  Expect costs like buying sneakers across the training season to support healthy running. And expect to pay $$$ for the MCM swag you'll want to buy when you go to collect your race packet. 

Congratulations to Andres for his Sat.  March 31 Walk for Hope. In honor of a colleague lost to tragedy, his effort raised at least $150 for Suicide Prevention programming.