The 2009 Marine Corps Marathon isn’t until October, but that didn’t stop former U.S. Marine Hank Hart — he started the race in March.
That’s because the red arches that runners pass under at the start of the race were brought to Hart’s Alexandria yard on March 31.
As the winner of Comcast SportsNet’s “Start Marine Corps Marathon from Your House” Contest, Hart, 62, went on a short training run with the race director and several others to officially kick off the marathon’s registration season.
“It was great, a really unique experience,” Hart said. “A once-in-a-lifetime thing.”
He said his daughter signed him up for the contest without his knowing, and so when Comcast kept calling he told them — over and over — that he was a Verizon subscriber.
“I didn’t associate them with the MCM at all,” he explained, but said he was glad that they eventually got on the same page.
Hart, a 17-time Marine Corps Marathon veteran, is already pounding the pavement in preparation for the 26.2-mile race in October, which is full.
“We’re in the window — it’s not long now,” he said recently. “If you plan on finishing the same day, you’d better start hitting the pavement pretty soon. I’m just [maintaining] now. Just maintenance.”
The former aviation supply officer is also steeling for training sessions in the often-oppressive Washington summer heat.
“Yeah, it is [tough],” he said. “But you know, so what? You get up earlier. Six to eight miles, it’s OK.”
Hart says he will run eight-minute miles, about four miles at a time, as part of his training. He will work his way up to six, kick it up to eight, then top out at about 10 per training session.
“I just get beat up,” he said. “I’ve only got so many miles left, then that’s it.”
His first MCM was in 1977 — “almost a curiosity more than anything,” he says.
He had just quit smoking, was about 29 years old, and just said, “Hey, I’ll do this.” He described it as a pretty low-key event and that it “paled in comparison” the size and scope of the current race, which has 30,000 entrants each year.
Hart said his goal was to finish in fewer than four hours this year.
“It takes me longer now; got to put on my knee brace, ankle brace,” he said.
His sons, James and John, both former Marines, and daughter, Mariah, 27, also have run the marathon. James, 29, was deployed to Afghanistan, while John, 23, has served two tours in Iraq.
“I’m very proud of them, honestly — immensely proud of both of them,” Hart said, noting that James was on his way to Afghanistan on Sept. 11, 2001.
And like many marathon veterans, Hart loves the event as well.
“I think [the race] is a real motivator for everybody — it boosts morale, it’s physically uplifting, and it’s certainly good promotion for the Marines.”
