Race-day weather · Wyndo for runners
Marine Corps Marathon weather
October 25, 2026 · Arlington, VA · scheduled start 7:20 AM (America/New_York). What the start usually feels like, year by year — and a live start-time read once the race is inside the 7-day forecast window.
Countdown
104 days to race day
The live race-day forecast unlocks 98 days from now, when October 25, 2026 enters the 7-day forecast window — a start-time read for the scheduled 7:20 AM start. Until then, no made-up long-range forecast — the history below is what race morning usually looks like.
Typical start temp
50°F
median of 20 years
A warm year
58°F
75th percentile start temp
Rain at the start
20%
4 of 20 measured years
Race-morning weather history
Wild late-October swings: 2016 warmest on record (~80F at finish); 2011 coldest start (~35F). Wyndo tracks what this calendar slot has actually served up at the start hour — temperature, dew point, wind, and rain — including the years when weather canceled or disrupted the race, and reads the live forecast for the start once race week arrives.
Median start temp
50°F
p75 (a warm year): 58°F
Median dew point
40°F
at the start hour
Rain at the start
20%
4 of 20 measured years
Warmest start
66°F
in 2019
| Year | Start temp | Dew point | Wind | Precip (start hr) | Day's high |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 39°F | 37°F | 3 mph | dry | 62°F |
| 2024 | 38°F | 34°F | 4 mph | dry | 59°F |
| 2023 | 66°F | 61°F | 6 mph | dry | 76°F |
| 2022 | 40°F | 37°F | 3 mph | dry | 63°F |
| 2021 | 53°F | 51°F | 5 mph | dry | 67°F |
| 2020 | 47°F | 43°F | 6 mph | 2.1 mm | 60°F |
| 2019 | 66°F | 64°F | 13 mph | 2.4 mm | 80°F |
| 2018 | 50°F | 47°F | 7 mph | dry | 58°F |
| 2017 | 63°F | 62°F | 7 mph | 1.2 mm | 66°F |
| 2016 | 61°F | 55°F | 7 mph | dry | 83°F |
| 2015 | 58°F | 52°F | 8 mph | 0.3 mm | 71°F |
| 2014 | 57°F | 33°F | 8 mph | dry | 70°F |
| 2013 | 42°F | 33°F | 5 mph | dry | 62°F |
| 2012 | 59°F | 47°F | 9 mph | dry | 61°F |
| 2011 | 34°F | 31°F | 7 mph | dry | 53°F |
| 2010 | 46°F | 36°F | 5 mph | dry | 65°F |
| 2009 | 49°F | 37°F | 7 mph | dry | 62°F |
| 2008 | 43°F | 40°F | 5 mph | dry | 64°F |
| 2007 | 53°F | 39°F | 10 mph | dry | 59°F |
| 2006 | 44°F | 29°F | 9 mph | dry | 60°F |
Slot climatology, honestly framed: each row is the weather at this race's usual calendar slot and start hour (ERA5 reanalysis at the start line) — including years when the edition was canceled or moved, because what the slot serves up is exactly the question. A computed slot date is not a claim the race ran that day.
Your heat-adjusted goal for the marathon
The same cited model as the full calculator, pointed at this race: the median start-hour conditions this calendar slot has served up — climatology, not a forecast.
Training for this race?
Wyndo can email you when conditions turn good for a run near Arlington, VA — and stay quiet when they don't. (A race-week forecast alert keyed to race day is coming next.)
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Race facts
- Start line
- Route 110 between Arlington National Cemetery and the Pentagon
- Scheduled start
- 7:20 AM (America/New_York) — Official 51st MCM (2026) schedule: wheelchair/handcycle 07:15, duos 07:17, all runners 07:20 EDT — much earlier than the historical 07:55. MCM 8K and Kids Run are Saturday Oct 24; the traditional Sunday MCM10K is absent from the 2026 schedule.
- Field size
- 2025 (50th anniversary) finishers ~30,100 — a surge year; 2024 ~16,200; expect 2026 regression toward ~20k
- Registration
- open (phased first-come general entry, no lottery in 2026) + charity + Runners Club; 2026 sold out
Wyndo is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Marine Corps Marathon (officially the "Marine Corps Marathon") or its organizers. Race names are used descriptively to identify the event; schedules and start times belong to the race — always confirm details on the official site. Weather guidance here is informational, never medical advice, and event alert flags on race day belong to the race's own medical team.