Metro News Release

For immediate release: October 22, 2008

Metrorail to open at 5 a.m. Sunday for the 33rd annual Marine Corps Marathon

Pentagon buses to serve Pentagon City

On Sunday, October 26, Metro will open at 5 a.m., two hours earlier than usual, for the 33rd annual Marine Corps Marathon. The race is expected to begin at 8:15 a.m. and end late Sunday afternoon.

Due to the marathon route, Metrobuses that normally use the Pentagon Transit Center on Sunday will be relocated to the Pentagon City Metrorail station between 4 a.m. and 4 p.m. Customers who normally travel to the Pentagon Metrorail station and transfer to a Metrobus will need to ride to the Pentagon City Metrorail station on the Blue and Yellow lines to catch their bus.

More than 30,000 runners, volunteers, and spectators are expected to use the Metrorail system to get to the race. Metro expects the most heavily used stations will be the Rosslyn Metrorail station on the Blue and Orange lines, Arlington Cemetery on the Blue Line, and the Pentagon Metrorail station on the Blue and Yellow lines.

On race day, Metro will operate additional Blue Line trains between 5 and 8:15 a.m., and again from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Blue Line trains will operate every 7 ½ minutes between the Franconia-Springfield and Stadium-Armory Metrorail stations. All Blue Line trains will continue to leave the Largo Town Center Metrorail station every 15 minutes.

Metro encourages race participants to use a SmarTrip card or a plastic cover to protect their farecard. In previous years, race participants have had their farecards damaged while participating in the race after they became covered in sweat.

For more information on Metrorail and Metrobus, customers are encouraged to call (202) 637-7000, TTY (202) 638-3780, or visit Metro's Web site at www.metroopensdoors.com.

News release issued at 9:45 am, October 22, 2008.