The Washington DC Marathon is the major new marathon slated for 2002. We scheduled an interview with John Stanley, the race organizer to find out what makes this race so special and why he thinks he can find 20,000 runners who will agree with him. The interview went long, so here is the first in a two-part interview...
In Part I: Everything from why the race is special, the course, the Expo and a plug for Gatorade...

MG: How did you come up with the idea for the Washington DC Marathon?

DC: We have tons of friends in the local community here who were constantly put out of the other major area marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon. They could never get in: year after year after year. So after really kind of putting two and two together, we realized that there was a definite need for a big city marathon in Washington DC.


MG: You mentioned the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM). Besides the season in which the race is run, how is your race different than the MCM?

DC: Well, the Marine Corps Marathon spends a great deal of time in Northern Virginia, while The Washington DC Marathon takes place entirely within the District of Columbia.

We go through historic neighborhoods of the city that are not utilized in any other marathon, and runners get to see things that runners who actually live in the city and run down the street get to see from time to time, but, in an organized race or event, something most people don't get to see. So we're highlighting the history of the country and the history of the District of Columbia. The race will go through historic neighborhoods from Capitol Hill to West End to Chinatown to Dupont Circle to Anacostia. It's a completely different race with character, feel. It's being embraced by the people of the District of Columbia because it's their race. The MCM doesn't really identify the city. This is really Washington DC's race.


MG: You mentioned a number of the different areas that the race will go through. What would you say, if you had to pick three or four or five highlights of the course as your personal favorites, what might those be?

DC: There are so many highlights that it's hard to pick just a few…

You start out facing the Lincoln Memorial, and the first two to three miles of the course runs through the National Monuments of the city, which are great. Those are places that are also utilized in the MCM.

Immediately upon passing the Capitol you're going through the historic neighborhood of Capitol Hill and that is an area that is not utilized by any other marathon. Capitol Hill has the old Victorian homes, the old colonial homes with the wrought iron and the different color paint. You can basically see, in your mind, carts and buggies pulling up and people in their formal attire way back when getting out of those carriages.

The area of Anacostia, which is completely under-utilized in terms of events in this city is another favorite. You go by Fort Dupont Park, which is probably one of the largest open spaces that the District of Columbia has: and it's gorgeous. It's like being in a forest when you're there. I think that runners will really enjoy running through that area.

After that, we've got Massachusetts Avenue, which is considered Embassy Row in the District of Columbia. As you're running on Mass. Ave. runners will pass the Indonesian Embassy which is a grand, grand structure - something that you would not see in a New York, or a Boston or a Los Angeles or a Chicago. The architecture is a feast for most people's eyes. And the fact is that most people don't realize how close they are to downtown DC, because you think that you are, for all intents and purposes, in a suburb, but you're within two to three miles of the downtown area. And it's something that most tourists really don't get to enjoy because they don't come into these areas.

On top of that, at the very end of the course you run through Chinatown and there's the Friendship Arch, which is very detailed. Chinatown is like being in Bejing or certain parts of China. All the signs are in Chinese even at the MCI Center all of the signs are in Chinese. It's a great part of the city. Tourists do get to see this area, but runners will see it from a different perspective: from running in the middle of the streets and seeing the incredible development that's going on there, it's something that I think a lot of runners will appreciate as they head toward the finish line.


MG: Sounds like a regular tour of the city. You should have some tour guides on the route!

DC: Well, I think that when most runners finish the race, and even as they're running it, are going to be glad that they did it. It really is a special, very very unique tour of the city and tour of the monuments. Getting to look at the cultural diversity, which makes Washington DC just a great place to live... There are so many different cultures here because you have every single embassy from every single country that the United States recognizes located in the city. And you have pockets of different populations and different groups here and you're going to be able to see a great number of those communities at their best.


MG: Why a Spring Marathon?

DC: Of course we had to pick a time of year that wouldn't conflict with the Granddaddy in this area, the MCM. But, at the same time there's no better time to do things in the District of Columbia than in the spring.

DC by definition is a tourist Mecca in early spring because you've got the international Cherry Blossom Festival that begins on the same day that our marathon takes place. So the city will be already beaming with hundreds of thousands of tourists both from the local area to other states to international. This should appeal greatly to people who are running because you're going to have a huge group of people cheering you on and that's always important for runners as they're going through the different miles and having people cheer you on. It's a completely unique situation in the District of Columbia. And we think that there's no city and no race, even other races that takes place in this city, that is quite like what we're offering runners from every part of the world.



MG: You're offering special prizes and discounts for DC-metro area runners in addition to the regular prizes and awards. Are you specifically targeting DC runners?

DC: Obviously we're trying to talk to our core runners in this area. We're trying to appeal to local runners in three different areas: Virginia, Maryland and the group that's in DC. We're trying to encourage local groups by giving a discount to local running group members, which is not something that you see in many other marathons. So we're pleased about that. We have put up a structure of prize money for local DC runners which will go 5 deep for Men and Women and 3 deep for Masters runners and Wheelchair racers - so we're looking for the best from DC. And, while we are very much trying to appeal to the local folks, this will be major race and we are planning for thousands of runners from around the country and around the world who will come and enjoy the city and the race.


MG: You're planning a couple of other events around the marathon, the expo and so forth. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

DC: The expo is planned for the 22- 23rd at the Ronald Reagan Building International Trade Center downtown. And just a little factoid about that - it's the second largest office building in the world, after the Pentagon, based on square footage. It's a beautiful building. It's an area with high traffic and very accessible to the hotels and downtown, so we're welcoming everybody - the Expo is free and open to the public. We're expecting well over a hundred vendors for our first show. You'll have vendors talking about the latest in health and fitness. You'll have the latest running equipment, you'll have the latest in nutrition and sports medicine. And people who've got something to talk about with an audience that's attuned to health and fitness and running.



MG: At this point, I'll let you put in a plug for your sponsors... Is there anything you want to mention about them?

DC: One of our sponsors is Gatorade - and we're proud that they recognize that this is a major marathon that will grow in prestige and stature from year to year and they've wanted to align themselves with us in the very first year. We're also pleased to work with Gatorade because the other marathons in this area currently don't work with Gatorade, and we know that runners actually like to drink Gatorade. We also have Iceland Spring water as the official water of the marathon. MarathonGuide.com is also a sponsor of the race. And we're talking to others and should have about three other announcements about sponsors in the coming weeks.