11/13/2025
🎉 Congratulations, Paul! 🎉 Adriana and the entire Bristol Total Fitness team are so proud of your incredible accomplishment — way to go! 💪👏
From Missing the Bridge to Crossing the Finish Line: My Marine Corps Marathon Redemption
The 2024 Setback: Missing the Bridge by Seven Minutes
In 2024, I attempted the Marine Corps Marathon with high hopes and my usual stubborn determination. The morning was perfect - cool, crisp, and full of energy - but around the 10-mile mark, my pace began to slow. I didn’t realize how much that would matter later on.
Still, I kept moving.
Walk, run, walk, run - whatever it took.
Along the way, I saw buses picking runners up. I assumed they were people who didn’t think they’d be able to finish. So, I ignored them completely, stayed focused, and kept pushing forward, determined to reach the finish line no matter how long it took.
What I didn’t know was that those buses were sweeping the course.
I had no idea there was a strict time cutoff at “The Bridge.”
I had no idea the race would close before I got there.
I had no idea I was running on borrowed time.
Then, just around the corner from the bridge, someone stopped me.
“You didn’t make it.”
The bridge had just closed.
My race was over.
And I had missed the cutoff by seven minutes.
I was forced to stop after 19 miles, and I ended up riding back with the medical team — exhausted, frustrated, and carrying a moment that stayed with me all year.
That seven-minute miss is what fueled me through 2025.
The 2024 Setback: An Injury That Took the Season Away
Before that race, my training took a huge hit. From late May through early September 2024, I dealt with a brutal back flare-up that made running impossible. Pain shot down my leg. I couldn’t run at all or do any weight lifting.
So, when I went into the 2024 marathon, I wasn’t fully trained, but I was hopeful. And hope can only carry you so far.
Still, making it 19 miles under those circumstances was something to be proud of.
But missing that bridge by seven minutes?
That lit a fire in me.
2025: Healthy, Focused, and Stronger Than Ever
This year, I came at it differently.
I wasn’t just trying to run the marathon - I was preparing to conquer the part that beat me.
And a huge part of my success in 2025 came from working with Adriana at Bristol Total Fitness. She’s been my personal trainer since 2013, but this year especially, her programming and guidance helped me build the strength, stability, and conditioning my body needed for the challenge.
I came into training healthier, more balanced, and physically stronger than I’ve ever felt heading into a race. And that foundation absolutely carried me through the hardest moments on the course.
Race Day 2025: Energy, Crowds, Music, and Determination
The 2025 Marine Corps Marathon started long before the first step - with a 5 a.m. arrival at the Pentagon, chilly air, and 40,000 runners buzzing with energy.
The weather was perfect.
Arlington crowds were loud.
Georgetown had live bands and nonstop cheering.
Signs ranged from hilarious (“You’re running better than our government!”) to downright inspiring.
I felt great as the miles ticked by… until I approached the exact area where things unraveled last year.
Facing the Route That Beat Me Last Year
There’s a spot where you run down a road, loop around, and come back the other direction. In 2024, this is where I started falling behind. This year, I felt steadier - until I saw the buses again.
But this time, I knew exactly what they were there for.
And right behind them?
A street sweeper, like a giant reminder of what happens if you fall too far back.
My mind went straight into panic. All the memories from last year flooded in — the disappointment, the moment I was stopped, the medically escorted ride back. I started spiraling, thinking I was about to live the same ending twice.
But I kept going.
Walk, run, walk - whatever it took.
I leaned into every bit of strength and training I had this year.
Gradually, I noticed something encouraging: runners ahead of me. I wasn’t alone. And I didn’t hear any buses behind us.
The Gauntlet → The Pain → The Pushing Through
Heading into the stretch around the monuments brought back all kinds of emotion. Last year it was empty, eerie, and lonely - a sign I was far behind.
This year, I had people around me.
This year, the race was still open.
This year, I had a shot.
Then my back started to hurt again - shooting pain if I pushed too hard. I knew exactly where the medical tent was (they’re the ones who drove me back last year), but stopping before the bridge was not an option.
This was the moment I’d trained for.
The Bridge: Redemption in Real Time
Finally, the bridge came into view.
No one stopped me.
The course wasn’t closed.
The buses weren’t behind me.
And I knew I had done it.
The moment my feet touched the bridge, I got emotional. I pulled out my phone for the first time since the start line - and took the photo that ended up in my post.
This was redemption.
The bridge felt endless - no shade, no water, just pure mental grit - but I didn’t care. I had already won the part that beat me last year.
Crystal City, Chaos, and the Final Stretch
Just when I thought the hardest part was behind me, a Marine shouted at several of us that we had five minutes to clear an upcoming street before it closed.
Five minutes.
Quarter mile.
Downhill.
I dug deep and hustled, making it with time to spare — and suddenly everyone around us started celebrating.
We were officially through every cutoff.
The rest was just survival.
My back pain intensified. I walked most of the last miles. But every so often, I surged forward simply because I wanted the finish line so badly.
The Final .2 Miles: Because Marines Love a Challenge
After 26 miles, the course hits you with a steep uphill — the final punch in the face. But once you crest that hill, it’s a short straight sprint to the finish.
Crossing that line was powerful.
Not just because I finished a marathon.
But because I finished this marathon.
The one that beat me last year.
The one I trained all year to redeem.
And as a veteran, walking through rows of Marines cheering and high-fiving was the perfect ending.
State #13 (Virginia + Washington D.C.) is officially in the books for my Journey of the Rhode Runner.
Thank You, Bristol Total Fitness — and Adriana
I want to give special credit to Adriana, whose training this year made a world of difference. Her strength work, conditioning sessions, and guidance kept me healthy through the season and strong through the entire race.
The difference between 2024 and 2025 wasn’t luck -
it was staying healthy, training right, and having the right support system.
Thanks to Bristol Total Fitness, I didn’t just run a marathon -
I redeemed the one that beat me last year.
