What happened to the Marine Corps Marathon?

I was curious about that detail as well. Seems like the race has lost its cachet a bit. The wikipedia page for the race doesn't even have the 2022 winners on it yet. Maybe nobody cares about it these days.

I think a lot of people didn't register after the late cancellation in 2021 (when all the other fall races went forward). There was trust lost, and that trust needs to be rebuilt. The races that happened last year were the races that got entries this year.

MCM is also mostly a marathon for those who want to complete a marathon rather than those chasing fast times. And that's the group with the largest decline in participation.

MCM also did not pull as many cheering crowds this year as it has in years past. I was at mile 26, and it used to be 3-4 people deep there when the top 10 runners came through. Not this year.

The 2021 winner finished in 3:34 and was awarded a $50 Amazon gift voucher.

What?

The MCM had a cutoff, and added a half mar, and 10k. Many prefer the half. And, there are now, many more marathons to choose from. MCM cutoff at 12,000. Like Boston that used to require qalifiers, who now allows 5 hr marathoners that raise $$ in charity, MCM has changed for those that just want a finishers medal, rather than actually run to break a time goal.

MCM peaked when Wejo won it in 1998 and has been in decline ever since.

There is no half, only a 10K and a 50K in addition to the full.

Participation in many marathons is down by 30-50% since 2019 so MCM's decline is not unique. It is striking though that this race used to be capped and would fill up immediately. Three years later they were begging for signups in a blast email to former participants.

As another person alluded to, several races went on last fall while MCM canceled again for the second time in a row (just like Army 10 Mile). These races aren't cheap and people found alternatives.

Also, the race just isn't that popular with the local sub-elite crowd for some reason. I ran my first marathon there in 2011 but haven't run it since. Many rather wait until Richmond or Philly in November when the weather is more reliably cool and courses are faster.

I usually go down to watch every year but this year I didn't really feel like it as I knew hardly anyone who was running it.

And man, 2019 was no party. Raining all morning, walking to the metro in the rain sucked, standing in line for drop-bag sucked, walking to the start in the rain sucked, running in the rain isn't usually that big a drag (worse for poor volunteers) but the rain came down so hard at points (probably the hardest rains I've raced in) and the wind was whipping pretty good too at points. And don't forget the puddles. Hilariously, coming out of Haines Point some dude got all pissy at me for splashing him. This is after the halfway point and everyone's feet had to have been drenched. Luckily (hah!) going over the 14th street bridge the rains stopped and the sun came out and it was a beautiful run after that...not! Of course that meant it was humid as all get out. But that's life, you finish the run, get your awards and get ready for the next adventure.

If they had a good elite field some more eyes would be looking at it and more people would be aware of it. And these days it's not even hard to get good runners to show up as most races have cut their prize money or not increased it in two decades. Put up $5k, $3k, $1k for top 3 and $1k, $500, $300 American money and some 2:10-2:14 type people would probably show up. So $20k of the budget to prize money and it would seem like a more competitive and legitimate event to a lot more people. Then again I just looked up that it's almost like they don't have prize money on purpose as it's 'the largest marathon in the world that doesn't offer prize money'.

There's a small group of people who pick races based on prize money possibilities. Then there's an even larger subset of people who picks a race based on how competitive it is, as they want to run with fast people. And then there's an even larger chunk of people who go to a race because they talked to their local fast person about the race, and the local fast person said it was a good one to do. And that local fast person said it was good because in their mind a competitive race is a good one to do.

Yeah I was there for that one and it was crazy but I thought the rain actually helped. Kept us cool. The sun did come out in the afternoon and made for spectacular post race celebrations. I thought the whole event was terrific and am surprised that it is struggling so.

MCM was my first and one of my favorites (did it the year after Oprah, like a LOT of people). I lived there, but moved a few years later and have gone back and run it several times since then. Some of the luster wore off for a few reasons:
1) More competition from other races targeting first timers (here in Cincinnati the Flying Pig directly targets rookies), and a lot more competition in the fall in general - Chicago, Columbus, NYC, Twin Cities, Philly are all fantastic races.
2) Changes in the course - Crystal City is kind of a crappy part of the race - and it feels a little more disconnected from the monuments than it used to be. I recall in the early years running right next to the Reflecting Pool by the Lincoln Memorial, and now you're on the roads a little bit removed. I'd have to study it a bit more but I seem to recall enjoying the old course more than the last few times I did it. Part of that may be the crowd support mentioned previously.
3) Some logistics challenges with enhanced security measures. A few times, I've stood in a LONG line to go through a metal detector. That may be a necessary evil, but it does seem to make pre-race less fun.

It bums me out as I think MCM should be a must-do event for any avid marathoner (regardless of your politics!). October in DC is usually beautiful, monuments are great, and the Marines do a great job in supporting the race. There is just so much more competition in the fall than there was back in the 90's when I first started running marathons. I don't think trying to attract elites is the way to go - they should offer some prize money, yes, but I don't see how that would attract big numbers of people, and the top tier talent will find a faster course to race in the same time window. MCM has a niche to it, and they should try to exploit what makes them different.

Marines of course are all different but in general Marines today appear to embrace powerlifting more than Marines did decades ago. I get the sense that a higher percentage of Marines are over 190 pounds today than decades ago.

While that's often a prevailing idea in the circles a lot of LRC runs in, this isn't a huge dealbreaker for the majority of the public, particularly when OP was talking about overall race participation.

The generation of "baby boomers" have aged.

MCM peaked long before that. Check out the times (and other credentials) of earlier winners like Jeff Scuffins and Dean Mathews. Even more significantly, check out the number of runners (including masters) who finished under 2:30. Also, no prize money, and a course that was considered fast for that era, but that still had a net uphill, with the steepest uphill at the end. There were simply a lot more decently fast runners who didn't require prizes and laboratory-perfect course conditions.

I think you can't overstate how the last second cancellation last year really turned people off... who was to say it wasn't going to happen again this year.

As another poster said, the race also just isn't popular with the local sub-elite crowd. The bragging about no prize money is kind of annoying. I'm not even sure if they give out comp entries. The poster who says that a little prize money will attract a critical mass of fast runners, people going for the money and also people singing up if they feel they are going to get good competition.

When you have none of that it creates the opposite effect where a lot of people end up not showing up.

The MCM used to attract a very high percentage of the best runners in the D.C. area, along with a very large number of the more middle-of-the-pack runners who ran in the shorter local races, of which there were many. From what I've seen over the last twenty-five years or so, I have the impression that there have been almost no recent D.C. area runners in the 2:15-2:25 range, and even very few in the high 2:20s to low 2:30s. The old Washington Running Club had tons of them, and the D.C. Roadrunners Club and a few other area clubs also quite a number of pretty good runners. (There were also a fair number of good female runners, including Laura Dewald, a WRC member and 2:34 marathoner in the early 1980s, when that put her among the fastest in the world. She also had no problem running the MCM; it was just a thing that local runners routinely did.)

As I recall, that simply reflected the fact that the race was organized and run by the U.S. Marines using a ton of military volunteers. I think it was a perfectly reasonable choice, and it shouldn't make a difference to anyone who isn't making a living from the sport.