GMU Police Operate Drones For Aerial Security At Marine Corps Marathon

ARLINGTON, VA — George Mason University police provided aerial security support for last Sunday’s Marine Corps Marathon, one of the world's largest marathons, which started and finished in Arlington.

Members of one of George Mason University's five police unmanned aircraft system teams assigned to the Marine Corps Marathon stood on a rooftop, watching the sun rise, before launching multiple drones into the airspace above Arlington that provided aerial security for the race.

The 26.2-mile race started on Route 110 between the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery, continued into Rosslyn and entered D.C. through Georgetown, then the National Mall. Participants returned to Arlington, continue past the Pentagon, Crystal City and finished at the Marine Corps War Memorial.

This was the first year that that drones replaced expensive-to-operate helicopters to provide aerial security since the first Marine Corps Marathon in 1976.

This year’s race was also the first time that the Federal Aviation Administration “had enough confidence in a law enforcement drone team to authorize flights in what is some of the world’s most restricted airspace,” George Mason University said in a news release.

“The drones provided real-time video feeds to the unified command center in a manner that is a game changer for decision makers in a massive security operation involving hundreds of law enforcement officers,” the university said.

Since the attacks on the Pentagon in Arlington and the World Trade Center in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001, race organizers have been tightening security at the Marathon Corps Marathon and other high-profile races. In the years after the 9/11 attacks, race organizers began requiring Marine Corps Marathon participants to go through security checks as they made their way to the starting line.

Race security became an even higher priority after the bomb attacks on the Boston Marathon in April 2013. In recent years, Boston Marathon organizers have instituted a no-drone zone by members of the public — not police agencies — over the 30,000 runners and spectators along the 26.2-mile marathon route in Boston and nearby towns.

Rick Nealis, director of the Marine Corps Marathon who is retiring in January after serving as race director since 1993, said many factors make road races a challenge to secure.

“In stadiums, turnstiles, hardened buildings, you can control who’s going in, and do all the safety checks and have a secure event,” Nealis said in an interview with The Associated Press. “On roads, in an open venue, when you take 26.2 miles of open space, it’s the beauty of the sport and at the same time, in this day and age, part of the risk assessment. Unless we decide we’re going to run around a track in quarter-mile loops hundreds of times.”