Fredericksburg Area Runners Capture Second, Third At Quantico 12K

QUANTICO, VA — Two Fredericksburg area runners placed at the 2019 Quantico 12K on Saturday, Aug. 24. The Quantico 12K and Quantico Tri drew 1,210 participants as part of the MCM event series, which leads up to the Marine Corps Marathon on Oct. 27.

Fredericksburg native Dana Hayden, 42, finished second among the top female runners in the 12K with a time of 51:54. “This was an incredible course and a great event since I recently started running longer distances,” Hayden said. “I am hoping to register for this year’s Marathon with a MCM Charity Partner to run in honor of my sister-in-law, who was diagnosed with cancer.”

Runners can earn a Distinguished Participation medal by participating in the year's qualifying MCM event series. This year's qualification will finish with the Marine Corps Marathon in October and the Turkey Trot in Alexandria Nov. 13. Over 350 runners currently qualify for the Distinguished Participation medal.

Nearly 650 runners participated in the 12K, a 7.46-mile run. Also finishing among the top females at third place was Catherine Miller, 53, of Spotsylvania, with a time of 53:28. Miller also placed third a few months ago at the Belleau Wood 8K and attributed coming back due to the encouraging support of the Marines.

An additional 563 people participated in the Quantico Tri, which included swimming in the Potomac River at sunrise, biking through Marine Corps Base Quantico, and running the trails at the Officer Candidate School.

Marine Corps Maj. Kevin Soeder, 41, of Stafford, earned third place among male competitors by seeing the finish line at 1:01:41. This was the second top finish for Soeder.

See full results at www.marinemarathon.com/results/quantico-tri.