through the efforts of the marathon coordinators and with support from secretary of the navy, j. william middendorf, the inaugural running of the mcm was held on november 7, 1976. the 1,175 participants ran a course through northern virginia and finished at the marine corps war memorial, becoming the first of thousands of mcm runners over a span of 38 years to take the final hill and finish at the iwo jima memorial. kenneth moore of eugene, oregon, finished the inaugural event with a time of 2:21:14, becoming the first mcm winner. he was awarded a trophy—provided by secretary middendorf—for his achievement.