Marine Corps Marathon #Run3rd Dedication Poster

By Matt Killinder. Open in new window to enlarge and read dedications.

Submitted by Matt Killinder @MKillinder

Run3rd. When I first heard about its true meaning, it struck me to the heart. When I was growing up, Sean Astin was someone I looked up to. When he told me about #Run3rd at the Louisville Wizard Con, and shared with me that he was going to run the Chocolate 5K in Downtown Louisville, I knew I had to run too, thinking and feeling those same three dedications he runs for.

The #run3rd is like a prayer. As you run for yourself you are believing that the training will pay off for a great run, that your joints and muscles will stay strong, and so forth. When you are running for your family, you look towards them for strength, and hope the best for their well-being and safety.  Finally, running for others. Friends or strangers alike may say to you say, “My uncle just got cancer” or “I need to pass this final exam.” It’s in those times where we always hope for the best for people. It’s a subconscious prayer letting people know your thoughts are with them, and at the same time it’s a driving force that pushes you through the run.

Before Sean ran the Marine Corps Marathon, he asked people for dedications. Friends, family and strangers sent dedications via Twitter and Facebook using “#Run3rd” to Sean, and he had them compiled onto one sheet of paper. He then took that piece of paper and ran with it in his pocket during Marine Corps Marathon. It was in that moment, I felt Sean deserved something for his dedication to run for himself, his family and us. I created this poster for him as a memory to our soldiers and all the people he was running for. In this picture, the silent prayer of #Run3rd is portrayed.

“I run first for me, I run second for my family, and third I run for you…”  —Sean Astin

Sean Astin's Marine Corps Marathon Race Report

Submitted by Sean Astin @SeanAstin
October 26, 2014


Gunnery Sergeant Christopher Reese hung the #USMC “Eagle Globe & Anchor” Marine Corps Marathon Medal around my neck. It was a great day running 26.2 miles through our Nation's Capital. My official finish time is: 4:29:11.

It's way slower than I trained for, but the Sun & Wind needed to show me who was boss. I was the Official Starter for the race, an incredible honor.

The shirt I wore was given to me the day before by an Army Green Beret, Travis Myers. We were visiting at the RunDisney booth during the Marathon Expo. When I mentioned that I had read in the program about his group, he literally pulled the shirt off of his back and handed it to me. It's called Wear Blue: Run to Remember. Halfway through mile 12 the Wear Blue team came into focus. On the left side of the street, there were signs, like a realtor would use, planted in the grass. On the cardboard signs were the faces and names of the fallen. Sometimes the pictures had the Marine's or Soldier's children in their arms, or their families, or their pets.

They just kept coming, one after another after another after another. It went from beautiful, to poignant, to sorrowful, to deeply moving. At the end of the endless row of portable memorials, a gorgeous woman, Lisa Hallett, looking fitter than all of the runners jumped onto the "track" to jog a ways. She explained that her husband had died overseas and that she had three children, the youngest of whom he had never met. She kept thanking me for wearing blue and supporting the service members.