On the men's side Andrew Dumm broke away from his more experienced competitors and went on to win the 33rd Marine Corps Marathon in 2 hours 22 minutes 42 seconds.
Another marathon novice, Cate Fenster, from Wooster, Ohio, led wire to wire and won the women's race in 2:48:53, holding off Arlington's Lindsay Wilkins by 11 seconds.
According to the Washington Post:
Dumm, 23, a graduate student at American University, had only just caught up to the lead pack a few miles earlier when, near the halfway point of the 26.2-mile race, he dramatically dropped the pace -- and the early leaders. For the next 13 miles, a combination of Dumm's aerobic strength, mental toughness and some good fortune made his audacious move pay off.
At Hains Point, notoriously the loneliest portion of the course and moved from the late to the middle miles for the first time this year, Dumm seized the lead. "It was an early spot for a move but I was trying to get some separation," said Dumm, a University of Virginia graduate and Fulbright Scholar. "I know Hains Point is a psychological barrier. . . . Maybe being a novice freed me up to make a bold move."