You do not want to tell him the real reason. You want to keep your memories of the 2012 Marine Corps Marathon to yourself. An evening train from Penn Station to Union Station, one night at a hotel, and a wake-up call at four in the morning. A bus packed with nylon silhouettes, a hazy walk to the Pentagon before sunrise. Men in uniform searching your running belt, browsing through pouches of caffeinated gel, single packs of Advil, nutrition bars. The national anthem, then a gun start. Thirty thousand runners. Four hours and twenty minutes. The Virginia woods on each side of the course, an
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I'm a marathoner myself, and the Marine Corps Marathon was the first of the five marathons I've completed so far (though not in 2012). Most of the memories listed here are drawn from mine: the train from New York City to Washington, DC, the super early bus ride, and that god-forsaken stretch of highway.
There are two reasons why I decided to make Aidan an ex-Marine. The first is that a few serial killers I'd read about had backgrounds in the military, and I wanted to borrow that. The second is a memory I have from the time I ran the Marine Corps marathon. I was standing with the rest of the runners, waiting for the start. People were still milling around. A woman near me tripped on the edge of a sidewalk; in a time so brief she might not even realized she was falling, a Marine extended his arm, stopped her fall, and pulled her upright.
Obviously, there was nothing sinister at all about this particular interaction—the Marine in question was only being helpful, and he might have saved that runner's marathon. Still, the speed and acuity of his reflexes stuck out in my mind. The awareness this Marine had of his surroundings, and of someone else's movements—there was something fascinating about it. It felt powerful. When I was working on Aidan's character, I thought, "Who would I never want to be in a fight with?" The answer in my mind was clear: "A Marine."
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Lesley
