New event from Marine Corps Marathon, The Quantico Crucible 5km

Marine Corps Marathon has bucked the trend by adding a new event to their race calendar at a time when most of the established races are being side-lined.

The Quantico Crucible 5km on Saturday 17 April is an in-person event in which participants aged 10+ run the distance while besting three on-course challenges and then complete high intensity fitness drills.

The name and format of the event are a bow to a US Marine’s final challenge in recruit training, “The Crucible”, a 54-hour training exercise where recruits are broken down into squads before facing tasks that test their physical strength, skills and the values they learned throughout training.

Only those who make it through this challenge are handed their Eagle, Globe and Anchors, symbolising the completion of the gruelling journey to earn the coveted title of U.S. Marine.

The Crucible 5km will take place in the early evening at Marine Corps Base Quantico. Each runner will receive a keepsake 8-pound (3.6kg) sandbag to be used while completing some of the physical challenges.

The sandbags will feature the official event logo inspired by the gold stripes on red flash as seen in the rank insignia worn on Marine uniforms.

Registration opens on 6 January at www.marinemarathon.com. For USD 40 participants receive the official event shirt, bib and a finisher medal. Participants will be divided into small groups and runners may select from multiple start times beginning at 17.00.

posted Wednesday January 6th