Biking around Wash for Marine Corps Marathon

[83b]

It’s a very compact course, so the only trouble you’ll have hitting lots of spots on a bike will be the rest of the spectating hordes that will make the sidewalks crowded.

Looking at the standard course, you could hang out with her around the start then use the Mount Vernon Trail to hit multiple spots along the route. Crossing the course is borderline impossible, so you’ll want to start inside the loop that makes it up. Your bike route might look something like this, which would let you see her (1) at about Mile 4.25 as they turn onto the bridge into DC, (2) at Mile 10 as they pass the Memorial Bridge, (3) at Mile 11.5 (if you’re quick!) as they pass the TJ memorial and head towards Haines Point, (4) then just before Mile 15 as they’re heading into the city to go around the National Mall, then (5) as they’re heading back into Virginia at Miles 20-21 (wherever you want to camp out along that stretch), and then (6) back up the MVT and Memorial Ave towards the finish.

Hope that’s helpful! I’ve had friends do something similar before and they thought it was fun.

[bobco85]

I did this last year (my sister did the running, I did the cheering-biking-cheering part). From my experience, the whole area gets very clogged, and access is far more limited than usual. My sister wanted my family to be in Crystal City to cheer her on to give her that last bit of energy to finish.

I stayed on the VA side, so I cannot comment on how easy/hard it is to get around DC during this event (my guess: it’s next-to-impossible).

Forget driving (traffic with road closures plus trying to find parking). Forget taking the bus/train (limited service). The only real option in my opinion is to go by bike.

This is what my plan was last year:
1. Cheer in Rosslyn/Courthouse (first few miles of marathon)
2. Bike to Crystal City via US-50, Courthouse Rd, Columbia Pike, Joyce St, and Hayes St
3. Cheer twice (the course doubles back on itself in Crystal City around miles 22 and 23)
4. Bike to Rosslyn (reverse route in step 2)
5. Meet friends in Rosslyn at the post-race meet-up area

If you are not at the finish line area well in advance (before the marathon even begins), it is impossible to be there to cheer someone on the last leg to the finish. Factoring in the bike travel time from Crystal City and the massive crowds between the finish line at Iwo Jima and Lynn St, you’ll end up meeting at the family pick-up in Rosslyn.

Note: I did not think the MVT (Mount Vernon Trail) was a viable option because you would have to bike around the course by heading west through Courthouse before reaching the Custis Trail around where Lee Hwy passes under I-66 (the trail follows alongside I-66) to take that back to Rosslyn to then get on the MVT, then taking that to the Crystal City connector near National Airport.

Addition: 83(b)’s route actually looks pretty good (I will try it in the future). The only criticism I would have of it is that the final mile will not work. You’re better off using the MVT to get to Rosslyn due to the crowds.

Hopefully this helps give you a better idea of the situation.

[PotomacCyclist]

I’ve never biked during the MCM but I did run it a couple years ago. (Well, more like ran, then walk/ran and slogged through the last miles. Anyway… )

Here’s an interactive map from the MCM website: http://www.mcmlocator.com/map

The start line area will be packed. I wouldn’t recommend bringing a bike there. Too many runners headed to the start corrals and so on. The early miles in Rosslyn and around Spout Run in Arlington are a bit more isolated, with few spectators. I wouldn’t recommend biking there either.

After the runners cross Key Bridge and head to DC and Georgetown, you enter the first big spectator area of the race. A lot of energy and crowds along most of those streets. You may want to start out there, but this would mean that you wouldn’t see your wife near the start of the race. I don’t think you would be able to bike from the Pentagon across Key Bridge and into Georgetown during the race.

The Georgetown section runs from about Mile 4.5 to Mile 5.5. M St NW is normally a very busy street with a lot of tourists. On race day, there will be a lot of spectators lining the road. If you start your day there, I’d recommend that you stay on the north side of the street. As mentioned above, you aren’t going to be able to bike across the street (race route) during the race. Just too many runners except at the very back of the pack where the runners get spaced apart a little more.

From the north side of M Street, NW, in Georgetown, you should be able to head downtown by riding along Pennsylvania Ave. You’ll head around Washington Circle at 23rd St., which is a little harrowing for some, but car traffic may be light on race day. You could continue to the closed-off section of Penn. Ave. in front of the White House and do a little sight-seeing. The pedestrian plaza is usually open to cyclists (except when a dignitary is present or an official function is going on in one of the nearby buildings). After passing by the White House, you could turn south on 15th St. NW and head down to the National Mall. Car traffic will probably be light on race day.

As you approach Madison Drive, you’ll see another big spectator area. The course runs along that road to the Capitol Reflecting Pool. (Don’t laugh at the shape of the course around the Pool. Well, I guess you can laugh. It is sort of… embarrassing or risque.) Madison Drive and Jefferson Drive will both be very crowded with spectators. It’s a good viewing spot as long as you can manage to fit among the other spectators. There will be a lot of people there.

The other crowded spectator area is the section in Crystal City back in Arlington. This is about Mile 22 to 24. I don’t really see a good way to bike to Crystal City on race day. Normally it’s fairly easy to bike from the National Mall to Crystal City, but not during the race. You might try heading under the National Mall on 12th St. That will take you under the race course and to the south side of the Mall. From there, you could go to the Smithsonian Metro entrance at 12th St and Independence Ave. SW. (The 12th St. underpass normally has some faster cars, but probably not on race day. Be careful there.)

On the Metro, you could take either the Blue, Orange or Silver line to the L’Enfant Plaza station. Then transfer there to the Yellow Line in the direction of Huntington. Three stops later and you would be at the Crystal City Metro station. You should be OK to get off there and up to street level and the race course without having to cross the course. The race course loops down along Crystal Drive and back up (north). Good viewing spots but also very crowded with spectators.

The Metro station is on the west side of the course, while the Mt. Vernon Trail is on the east side of the course. But you should be able to reach the MVT without crossing the course. You could either walk your bike south along the sidewalk or take a side street (S. Bell/S. Clark) down to 23rd St. S. Then head east and past the intersection where the runners make a U-turn. You can cross Crystal Drive just to the south of the runners without impeding them. You could turn right (south) and ride down Crystal Drive for a block, down to 26th St. (There is no 24th or 25th St. there.) Take a left turn onto the access road.

http://goo.gl/maps/usHje

This will take you up a couple blocks while avoiding the crowds along Crystal Drive. The road turns back to Crystal Drive but you can stay on the parking lot area in front of the curved residential buildings from there. That takes you to the Crystal City Water Park. On the south side of the park, there is the connector trail to the Mt. Vernon Trail (MVT). The connector loops up a short hill to the main MVT. At the trail intersection, head north or left and stay on the trail until you reach Rosslyn (where the trail meets Lynn St.). That’s usually a tricky intersection because of car traffic, but there won’t be any car traffic at all on race day.

I’m not sure you would be able to bike from that intersection to the finish line. Maybe instead of riding all the way back to Rosslyn (where the post-race festival takes place), you could turn off the MVT and cross the GW Parkway here, although this can be risky sometimes: http://goo.gl/maps/Djw03

Head up to the Memorial Circle area and west on Memorial Ave. (or the sidewalks). I don’t know what the car traffic will be like on race day, but some of those road-trail intersections can be difficult on normal days, so take care here. You should be able to ride up to Marshall Drive, close to the finish line, without crossing the course. But I doubt you’ll be able to get too close to the finish area because of the crowds. So Rosslyn might be the better choice.

I hope all this isn’t too confusing. You can cross-reference everything on the MCM map link above and also on Google Maps. (Turn on the Bicycling route feature, located in the drop-down menu under the Map/Satellite view toggle pane.)

[PotomacCyclist]

As for your wife, I’d say that the course isn’t that hilly except for the early miles in Rosslyn. There are one or two steep downhills there. If she is well-prepared for downhills (which put a lot more stress on the quads than flat or uphill running) and in contention for an age-group award, race down the hills. Otherwise, I’d suggest walking down the hills. They aren’t that long and she won’t lose too much time. She will save herself from the quad muscle stress early in the race, which improves her chances of being in good shape in the 2nd half of the race.

That was one of my big mistakes. (Also, I didn’t run nearly enough in training.) I hammered down those hills because I felt good in the early miles. Running fast down a steep hill causes a lot more microdamage to the quads than flat/uphill running does. This caught up to me by the last 3rd of the race when everything started locking up. I saved a couple minutes by sprinting down those hills early on, but I probably lost a half hour or more in the latter part of the race when I was forced to walk multiple times.

Pro runners and elite amateurs can and should run down those hills. But I think most other runners could do better by taking it easier on those short hills and saving the quads for the rest of the race.

In any case, good luck to her on the race.

[Tim Kelley]

It’s also a lot of fun to get up early and ride the closed streets ahead of the race. Just make sure to beat the 10K over the bridge or else you’ll be weaving through runners!

[Author]

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