Marine Corps Marathon 2012 preview: 37th annual race set for Sunday

The 37th annual Marine Corps Marathon, the fifth largest marathon in the United States and the ninth largest in the world, is set to take place Sunday in Arlington.

The 26.2-mile course starts up Jefferson Davis Highway before looping west toward Maywood and then back over the Key Bridge. The race continues up Canal Road, then back south where it hooks around the East Potomac Golf Course. The race loops around the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial, then over the George Mason Memorial Bridge. The marathon finishes at the Iwo Jima Memorial.

Jeff Scuffins holds the marathon record for fastest time on the men's side. Scuffins finished it in 2 hours, 14 minutes and 1 second in 1987. For the women, Olga Markova set the mark at 2:37:00 in 1990. Recently, Janet Cherobon was just off that record performance, finishing in 2:39:19 in 2010.

Last year, Charles Ware, of Wheeling, Ill., won the men's division. Ware clocked in at 2:19:16, which was the fastest finish since 1997.

In the women's division last year, Tezata Dengersa, of Ellicott City, Md., finished in 2:45:28.

Kenneth Moore won the first MCM in 1976 with a time of 2:21:14. Susan Mallery won it in the women's division in 1976, checking in at 2:56:33. She also won it in 1977.