For the last 43 years the Marine Corps Marathon has been an annual tradition in Arlington, and for the first 42 of those races Al Richmond has been a runner. This year, however, will be the first that Richmond won’t cross the finish line as he has announced he is retiring from the race. Northern Virginia Magazine spoke with Richmond, a Marine Corps veteran, and what the race has meant to him.
How did this become an annual occurrence for you?
The Marine Corps has a thing for fitness, so at headquarters we’d go out at noon and run 3 miles, because twice a year we had to run the physical fitness test, part of which was a 3-mile run. It kind of almost became a habit frankly. There was one time I was not going to run it because I had a physical incident. The week of the marathon, I was sitting at breakfast and reading the paper and there was an article about this person who said he was the only person who had run every Marine Corps Marathon. My wife looked at me and said, ‘you ran it, you got to do it.’ I went ahead and ran it that year to keep the streak going. It’s kind of what I call a rite of fall. Ok, it’s fall, start to get ready to run the Marine Corps Marathon.
What made you decide it was time to stop doing the race?
First of all, I’m 79, almost 80. But mainly, this has been an incredibly active year. I just didn’t have time to train. I did not want to be a DNF, did not finish. Last year, my daughter and I barely got in on time. The most I had last year was a 16-mile-long run, we barely made it in with 20 minutes to spare before being pulled off the course. I haven’t run 3-miles hardly this year. There’s no way I can get ready for it, there’s no way I can do it and not be a DNF.
Will you still participate in some capacity this year?
My daughter, who’s run with me the last four or five years, she’s running it, and my great nephew from California, who’s run it the last couple of years, is out here and he’ s running it. So we’ll be down there on the sidelines. It’s going to be weird to be on the sidelines cheering rather than running, but that’s our participation.
The 43rd Marine Corps Marathon is Sunday from 7:55 a.m.-3:10 p.m. There will be events all throughout the weekend, including a Health & Fitness Expo, the MCM Kids Run and the MCM Finish Festival are available to the public. Full information on road closures are available here.
