Marine Corps Marathon organizers have launched an unprecedented security effort in preparation for Sunday's 26.2-mile race, even holding a military-style drill in which approximately 80 law enforcement and security personnel from 10 organizations discussed potential race-day scenarios, including a bomb threat, a chemical attack and a natural disaster.
Race organizers and local, state and federal law enforcement officials stress that they have received no specific threats concerning Sunday's race and that they don't want to alarm runners or spectators. But several factors convinced organizers to increase security preparations, which had already been significantly bolstered after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, race director Rick Nealis said.
Some of the field of 13,000 runners pass through metal detectors on the way to the start of Sunday's Army Ten-Miler.
(Jonathan Ernst For The Washington Post)
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| _____ Marine Corps Marathon _____
• Retta Feyissa wins the Marine Corps Marathon in 2:25:35.
• Mary Kate Bailey becomes the first active duty Marine to win the women's race since 1979.
• Marines help organize the race.
• Some marathoners run in memory of the fallen.
_____ Top 10 Men _____
1. Retta Feyissa, Bronx, N.Y., 2 hours, 25 minutes, 35 seconds.
2. Terrance Shea, Rochester, Mich., 2:25:57.
3. Chris Juarez, San Antonio, 2:26:03.
4. Jose Miranda, Mexico, 2:26:26.
5. Carl Rundell, Birmingham, Mich., 2:26:48.
6. Benjamin Palafox, Mexico, 2:30:36.
7. Paul Rades, Silver Spring, 2:31:18.
8. Mark Croadale, United Kingdom, 2:32:54.
9. Chris Farley, Arlington, 2:33:50.
10. Mark Goodridge, United Kingdom, 2:34:31. _____ Top 10 Women _____
1. Mary Kate Bailey, Long Island, N.Y., 2:48:31.
2. Kimberly Fagen, San Diego, 2:51:17.
3. Suzanne Clemmer, Gastonia, N.C., 2:59:11.
4. Eleanor Stewart-Garbrech, Jacksonville, Fla., 3:05:47.
5. Jill Metzger, APO AE, 3:06:26.
6. Sage Stefiuk, Fayetteville, N.C., 3:06:36.
7. Kirsten Ward, Arlington, 3:07:25.
8. Amanda Rasmussen, Colorado Springs, Colo., 3:08:37.
9. Connie Buckwalter, Lititz, Pa., 3:08:46.
10. Kelly Jaske, Washington, 3:08:56.
_____ On Our Site _____
• Photos
• Course map
_____ Live Online _____
• MCM's Rick Nealis took questions Thursday. Read the transcript.
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He said these included the timing of the race, which falls two days before the presidential election; the Marine Corps' continued prominence in Iraq; the assault on the lead runner during this summer's Olympic marathon in Athens; and the fact that the race falls on Halloween for the first time in its 29-year history. The marathon course will take more than 22,000 registered runners past virtually all of the Washington area's most notable landmarks, including the Capitol, the Pentagon, and the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial.
Race organizers said about 55,000 spectators are expected in the start-finish area near the Iwo Jima Marine Corps War Memorial on Sunday; the race has drawn an estimated 250,000 spectators along the marathon route in the past.
Two weeks ago the Department of Homeland Security sent an information bulletin to organizers of the marathon and of last week's Army Ten-Miler -- which started and finished near the Pentagon -- to describe the current threat level and offer guidance.
"Obviously we're in the nation's capital and we have the icon of the Marine Corps that everyone in the world knows," Nealis said. That has led to "more focus on safety and security -- more than last year, more than [after] 9/11."
Race organizers and law enforcement officials said the race will feature several noticeable security changes. For the first time, there will be five screening points around the entrance to Zone 6, race organizers' term for the area that encompasses the start and finish lines. Marines and law enforcement officers will examine runners' bags at the checkpoints, and organizers are strongly discouraging spectators from bringing bags, coolers or glass containers to the start or finish areas.
The security briefing that was sent to registered runners said there would also be screeners at the pre-race Expo, which begins Thursday at the Hyatt Regency in Crystal City. Nealis said the Expo screening likely will consist primarily of observation by Marines and civilian law enforcement.
Shuttle buses from the race's parking area in Crystal City will be open only to runners with bib numbers until 9 a.m. on Sunday -- another new measure, organizers said -- and participants have been told to arrive two hours early for the race.
Because of changes to the course, the portion of Memorial Drive that passes over Route 110 will be closed to spectators during the beginning of the race.
Dozens of jersey barriers will be brought to the course -- two per flatbed truck -- beginning on Saturday. About 20 buses will be used in Northern Virginia to offer additional protection to the course, according to Lt. Don Grinder of the Arlington County Police.
The county, which coordinates security during the Virginia portion of the race, has canceled leave this weekend and will use approximately three times more personnel than in past years, partly because the new course includes more heavily intersected roads such as Lee Highway and Crystal Drive and partly because of heightened security concerns, Grinder said.
"We've been doing this for 29 years, but we had to put so much more effort into [this year's race] that it felt like we were starting from square one," Grinder said.
The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department has also raised its race staffing levels from past years, but declined to provide specific personnel numbers, and the U.S. Park Police has stepped up its pre-race intelligence gathering in the past two years, acting chief Dwight Pettiford said.
