The Marine Corps Marathon is just days away, and thousands of runners are preparing to lace up their shoes. For one marine stationed in Northern Virginia, completing the race is not just a major milestone, it’s also a full circle moment. News 4’s Walter Morris has her story.
The Marine Corps Marathon is just days away, and thousands of runners are preparing to lace up their shoes.
For Corporal Mehdrina Jean Charles, a marine stationed in Northern Virginia, the Marine Corps Marathon this weekend is a full circle moment.
"It just feels like I am holding myself to a higher standard than anybody else," Jean Charles told News4. "All of us Marines have pride being in the uniform, but it just means the world to me, because I know I worked hard to be here, and I'm here now."
Jean Charles saw a Marine Corps uniform for the first time 13 years ago. She was born in Saint Marc, Haiti -- where, after the devastating earthquake in 2010, the sight of a Marine helped her feel safe when she needed it most.
"At the time I didn't know it was a Marine," she said. But she still had "a warm feeling, like it was something I wanted to be a part of, like it was bigger than myself."
Now, all these years later, she and her twin sister are both Marines themselves.
Mehdrina Jean Charles is stationed at Quantico, while her sister recently landed in Iwakuni, Japan.
Jean Charles says the decision to join the Marines was easy, but becoming one was more difficult. It was two years of hard work.
"It was a lot of sweat and blood and tears," she said.
Now, on top of Marine life, she's getting ready for another big challenge: her first marathon. But it's the same pride, hard work and determination that will keep her on track when she runs the Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday.
"I'm a little nervous, but I'm excited," Jean Charles said. "That's all I've been thinking of this whole week, just thinking about, you know, how I'm going to run it, my strategy when running it, the pace that I'm going to be at."
She's been training for the last five months, on 5 mile runs during the week and 10 plus miles on weekends.
"Regardless [of] if it's raining, if it's hot, if it's, you know, cold outside, I'm training for a bigger purpose."
Another full circle moment: one of the marines that helped Jean Charles in Haiti is on base in Quantico, and has been helping her get ready for the race.
"I'm like, '26 miles? I've never done that!' and he was like, 'It's all in your head.' Once he said that, it's like the same feeling that I felt when I first saw him came completely back, because I was like, 'Wow, I feel the warmth all over again,'" Jean Charles said.
She told News4 she's aiming for mile times between 10 and 11 minutes, to carry that warm feeling across the finish line Sunday.
And there's a familiar family push to keep her on pace.
"I talk to my grandma about it, and that's something she's excited to see me finish, you know? So that's another reason I can't stop. And then my sister and I, we compete over everything, and she hasn't done a marathon yet. So I'll be the first one," Jean Charles said. "I know I can't give up because I can't let her win."
