The Last Sunday of October is here and almost 20,000 people will be participating in the annual Marine Corps Marathon. Marine Corps Marathon is an annual event in which 26.2 miles race is organized in Virginia, Arlington, and Washington D.C. it was first held in 1976 and in year 2008 it became the 5th-largest-attended race of America. The race is also called The People’s Marathon as it draws the most number of racers from the general public. It is held every year on the last Sunday of October, a few weeks before the Marine Corps birthday.

The race which started in 1976 in Arlington is going to celebrate its 34th anniversary this year. The first race was attended by 1,175 participants and the number has now increased to more than 20,000 participants. There are many participants who take part in the race every year regularly. Four people among the racers are taking part in the race since 1976 and are titled Ground Pounders. The winners of 2008 marathon include Andrew Dumm and Cate Fenster who topped the men’s and women’s category respectively. Both participated in the marathon for the first time and it was the first time in the history of the race that both the winners were first-time participants.

The managers of the race have been making preparations for this year’s marathon for quite long time. They have made a special websites for the race finishers where the profile and pictures of the race finishers are uploaded every year. A message board has also been established at the website to take suggestions from the public. This year the managers have been using online community websites like FaceBook and Twitter to publicize the event.

Another interesting event would be happening during the marathon and that is – foot massages. Massage Envy has sponsored the event and will provide free foot massages to the participants of the marathon. Massage Envy is claiming to set a world record by providing 200 foot massages simultaneously. The goal is to massage some 200 people at the same time to make place in Guinness Book of World Record for the most people being massaged at the same time in same location.

Marine Corps Marathon