In six days, runners will take over the streets of D.C. and Arlington for the 50th Marine Corps Marathon, and one of the highlights is the “Wear Blue Mile.”
In just six days, runners will take over the streets of D.C. and Arlington, Virginia, for the 50th Marine Corps Marathon, and one of the highlights of the race is the commemorative “Wear Blue Mile.”
As runners approach the halfway mark of the race, they will turn calm and silent — Mile 12 on Haines Point in the District has no crowd and no cheering. Instead, a sea of blue signs showing the picture and name of a fallen service member will line the route, along with family members of the deceased.
Every few paces runners will see another face, another name and another date of death, and even the age of the service member when they were killed. On each “Faces of the Fallen” poster is also an American flag with a black ribbon.
John Cox, who has run the race 39 times, said the Blue Mile is a relatively new addition, but a very moving one.
“You can’t help but be impacted by it, because there’s so many faces and their sacrifice was for you,” Cox told WTOP. “And you see the reactions of the people who are running for individual people who are there, and they stop and acknowledge, and have their moments. It’s sobering for me.
