Surrounded by a gaggle of television cameras, Michael Wardian grinned ruefully and patted 1st Lt. Chad Ware’s back. “Congrats, man,” he said, shaking his head. “That was awesome to see.”
It’s likely spectators at Sunday’s 36th annual Marine Corps Marathon felt the same way. Ware, a 27-year-old old Army Reserve lieutenant from South Bend, Ind., had just completed the marathon’s challenging route through the District and Arlington in only 2 hours, 19 minutes and and 16 seconds — the fastest time the Marine Corps Marathon has seen in 15 years. In the process, he beat — by just four seconds — Arlington native and Marine Corps Marathon fixture Wardian, who was running his sixth marathon.
“I really didn’t think he was going to be able to run that fast,” Wardian said, laughing, after the race. Nearby, runners had just begun to cross the finish line in droves.
There were 43,000 of them in all, and they ran despite unusually chilly weather, shedding hats and jackets as the sun came out, wending their way through Arlington National Cemetery, into the city and back again. Some wore Halloween costumes. Some wore signs taped to their shirts — the name of a deceased relative, or a buddy who didn’t make it out of Iraq.
Kirsten Kelly, who participated in the event’s smaller 10K run, said she ran for a friend who had been killed during a military training mission. Michelle Ellenburg, who was running her third marathon, said she ran for a friend who was participating in the Marines’ wheelchair marathon. Ware said he ran for God, his wife and “all the soldiers.”
And Marine Lance Cpl. Michael Boucher, who lost both legs in an improvised explosive device explosion in Afghanistan in June, said he ran — or rather, rolled — to help other wounded warriors get back on their feet. Boucher, who’s currently being treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, parachuted into the marathon’s opening ceremony, strapped to a “master jumper” from the Army Rangers, before participating in the marathon on Sunday.
Holding his service dog, Rocky, on his lap, a gift from veterans outreach organization Team Extreme, Boucher said the marathon was “awful at first and good at the end.”
“For the guys that are overseas, it shows that even if you are critically injured or disabled, if there’s a will, there’s a way,” he said.
