FinishFinish

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Kick, crawl or backstroke up and down the 25-yard lap pool

at the Lab School of Washington; your first swim is free.Root on the runners from the comfort of a kayak rented fromThompson Boat Center.

You’re not running, but carb-load anyway

at Bebo Trattoria, owned by former “Iron

Chef America” competitor Roberto Donna.

Buy sneakers with marathon credentials atGotta Run, whose co-owner Peter Sherrywon the 2003 race.

Start

Finish

Marathonroute

At the D.C. Armory, find ironman bargainsat the Health and Fitness Expo.

Watching a marathon can work up athirst. Quench it at the sports-lovingtavern 18th Amendment.

Play a round or try miniaturegolf as racers run by the EastPotomac Golf Course.

Start training for next year’s marathonon the park trails at Dawson TerraceCommunity Center.

Roll with the racers on a bike from RevolutionCycles, which stocks equipment from trainingwheels to carbon-fiber race bikes.

Achy or not, yourmuscles can alwaysget a massage atTara Salon and Spa.

The Arlington MemorialBridge offers top-notchviews of the area aroundMile 11 on the span’s D.C.side and of the start andfinish near its Virginia end.

At the public parkby GeorgetownReservoir, catcha bucolic breathernear Mile 6.

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RoadTrip Marine Corps Marathon: A Spectator Sport

WHERE: Washington and Arlington.

WHY: Marathon cheer, sports by the course and carb zone.

HOW FAR: About 26.2 miles from start to finish.

On your mark. Get set. Don’t go. The Marine Corps Marathon hits Washington this week, and the competition offers plen-

ty besides a foot-pounding spectacle and mind-boggling traffic (human and car), even forthose not running the 26.2-mile course.

Race-related fun starts Thursday afternoon with the Health and Fitness Expo at the D.C. Armoryand doesn’t quit until the Post Race Celebration on Sunday afternoon in Crystal City. Throughout theweekend, non-marathoners can mix with the 30,000 hopefuls from 55 countries who will be competingin three races. Between contests, festivals such as Crystal Run in Arlington will keep families active.

The marathon, in its 32nd year, is nicknamed “The People’s Marathon” because of its relatively easycourse and zero prize money. First-timers will account for nearly 40 percent of racers, but the event alsodraws serious athletes. Ruben Garcia, for one, returns to defend his 2005 and 2006 wins. And specta-tors will want to watch Carl Rundell, who finished second to Garcia both times.

The race route differs a little each year. For example, in 2007 construction has forced a detour awayfrom Rock Creek Parkway, usually a favorite stretch. Yet cheerleading opportunities still abound, racedirector Rick Nealis says. Another cause for applause: Extended daylight saving time means slightlycooler conditions than usual. “This should keep some runners out of the medical tents,” Nealis says.Now that’s something to cheer about.

— Ben ChapmanMarine Corps Marathon starts at 8 a.m. Sunday near the Pentagon at routes 110 and 27 in Arlington. Fordetails, call 800-786-8762 or visit www.marinemarathon.com. Crystal Run is 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Crystal Drivebetween South 18th and 32nd streets in Arlington, 703-412-9430.

Find Road Trip maps and addresses at www.washingtonpost.com/roadtrip.

SOURCE 10-21-07 DC EE N8 CMYK

N8CMYK

N8CMYK

N8 Sunday, October 21, 2007 The Washington Postx

MORE ON THE MARATHON The Post divvies the course among 12 people for a test run. Learn about their experiences online and in the Sports section Friday.

MAP BY JEROME COOKSON FOR THE WASHINGTON POST; PHOTOS BY BEN CHAPMAN FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Thrillville: Off the Rails Multiple platforms

Rated Everyone 10+

LucasArts

$29.99-$49.99

BO

OK

BO

OK

CD

CD

DV

DD

VD

GA

ME

GA

ME

A-

A-

B+

B

TITLE BASIC STORY SAMPLE GRAB GRADEWHAT YOU’LL LOVE

MR. BROOKS BY BEN GLASS — ELEMENT FUNDING

“ ‘At the table one never grows old.’

Isn’t that reason enough to come

home at the end of the day, roll up

one’s sleeves, fi re up the stove and

start smashing the garlic?”

— Jones’s mantra

The author’s refi ned gourmandise is present on

every page, from her engaging memoirs to the

recipes at the end.

The Edinburgh, Scotland, novelist

spins a richly imagined story in which

an elderly woman (with her young caregiver)

unravels the troubling chain of events that led to

her institutionalization many decades before.

The stairway to heaven apparently

leads to angel-voiced Krauss. She and Plant

sound incredibly sweet as they harmonize over

Burnett’s ethereal folk arrangements.

“I hear Rosetta singing in the night / Echoes of

light that shine like stars after they’re gone /

Tonight she’s my guide as I go on alone /

With the music up above”

— Krauss coos solo on “Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us”

The new-school production chafes away the

songbook’s old-school charms. And who

allowed that Margaritaville bongo beat to end

up on “Close Up the Honky Tonks”?— C.R.

Those looking for analysis or

explication in this 2-hour-

42-minute portrait will be

sorely disappointed. And

maybe very bored.— Greg Zinman

Refi nements aside, the included Half-Life 2 and

its sequels, Episodes 1 and 2, are a few years

old. And Portal, which tops out at about three

hours, could be longer.— Evan Narcisse

Amusement parks have never

been known for great music, but

it’s hard to imagine tunes worse

than some of the ’80s-rock-style

original songs here. — Christopher Healy

The park’s best ride has to be the

never-in-real-life Whoa Coasters

that do such things as launch cars

into midair and scoop them off the

track into giant mechanical hands.

The incredibly deep multi-player experience

of Team Fortress 2 and the innovative

design of Portal make the Orange Box

a magnifi cent value.

There’s much here for fans

of ludicrously silly movies:

Hurt is delightfully bad as

the devil on Costner’s shoul-

der, Demi Moore plays a mil-

lionaire cop and “comedian”

Cook gets his comeuppance.

Sixteen years after asking

permission to fi lm the monks

of the Grand Chartreuse in the

French Alps, fi lmmaker Philip

Groening got his chance to

document their ascetic

way of life.

The drums thump and the lap steel wails as

Yoakam pays tribute to his mentor, the late

California country icon Buck Owens.

This compilation offered by renowned

development studio Valve spins off fi ve games

from its classic fi rst-person shooter, Half-Life 2.

Maverick producer

T Bone Burnett teams

up with the bluegrass

songbird and the Led

Zeppelin yowler for a

surprisingly supple

singalong.

Raising Sand Robert Plant and

Alison Krauss

Rounder

$18.98

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox By Maggie O’Farrell

Harcourt

$23

A tasty tribute to the sophisticated

palate, written by the senior editor

and vice president at Knopf who

discovered Julia Child and cooked

alongside James Beard

and other greats.

The Tenth Muse: My Life in FoodBy Judith Jones

Knopf

$24.95

Groening pulls off a painstak-

ingly patient, mesmerizing

fi lm by dispensing with a

soundtrack or narration and

fi lming only with available

light. A second disc fi lls in the

historical gaps.

“As we walk down the street /

I feel a tremblin’ in my knees /

And just to know you’re mine /

Until the end of time / Makes my

heart skip a beat”

— “My Heart Skips a Beat”

Yoakam eschews

sentimental

genufl ection,

instead reviving the

Owens hit parade

with a spirited kick.

“Finding someone you think would be

fun to kill is a bit like, well, it’s a bit like

falling in love . . . that special one comes along,

and your heart beats faster, and you know that’s

the one.”

— Mr. Brooks gives an acolyte (Dane Cook)a little how-to lesson

The clever and

humorously vexing

teleport puzzles of the

game Portal will quickly

turn into an obsessive

addiction.

O’Farrell’s quietly devastating,

spellbinding story deftly draws

you in with characters so

believable that you care for

them just pages in.

A successful family man

(Kevin Costner, far right) hides a

dark secret: He’s addicted to killing people.

Oh, and an evil manifestation of his conscious-

ness (William Hurt) tells him to do it.

Walk around the midway

and schmooze with visitors:

Get their opinions, wow

them with trivia and even fl irt a little.

D-

B+

A-

It’s so

unrepentantly

bonkers that most viewers

will be repulsed, confused or

frustrated.

— G.Z.

The superior fi rst half gives way to a

few disappointing plot twists that feel

forced and are likely to jar readers out

of their bookish reveries.— Sara Cardace

Did they get together to make sweet music

or just sweet bucks? This thing feels like a

premeditated stocking stuffer.— Chris Richards

Industry jargon and frequent name-dropping of

publishing execs may distract readers whose

interest is food and the chefs who

changed culinary history.— Reviewed by Alexis Burling

“ . . . we are lent features,

gestures, habits, then we hand them on.

Nothing is our own. We begin in the world as

anagrams of our antecedents.”

— The title character considers her heritage

“Anyone who does not give up all he has

cannot be my disciple.”

— A translation of the monks’ chant at a nocturnal Mass

You’re not only the builder of a theme park, but

the manager (hiring and training staff) and a

guest (taking your coasters for a spin).

B-

Into Great Silence Not rated

Zeitgeist

$29.99

Mr. Brooks Rated R

MGM

$29.98

Dwight Sings Buck Dwight Yoakam

New West

$16.98

The Orange Box PC, PlayStation 3,

Xbox 360

Rated Mature

Electronic Arts/Valve

$49.99-$59.99

WHAT YOU WON’T

MediaMix A Quick Take on New Releases

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Proofed by: phadkep Time: 13:04 - 10-19-2007 Separation: C M Y K HIGH-RES PROOF. IMAGES ARE RIPPED. FULL PROOF INTEGRITY.Product: SOURCE LayoutDesk: SOU PubDate: 10-21-07 Zone: DC Edition: EE Page: RDTRIP