"n good morning. this is "news 4 your sunday." >> hello. i'm pat lawson muse. on sunday, october 22ndnd, tens of thousands of runners will lace up their shoes in washington and hit the ground for the 42nd annual marine corps marathon, and it promises to be bigger and better than ever this year. joining us this morning, mark goldman, who's marketing sponsorship manager of the marine corps marathon, and laura finney is a wear blue run to remember volunteer. thank you both. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> i know this is a very busy day for you. the big race happens at 7:55 right on the dot and you are

>> 30,000 runners registered for the marathon back in march from 50 states, 59 countries, all arriving in the national capitol in arlington this week to accomplish their goal of running with the marines and running 26.2 miles in the nation's capital. >> tell us what is new this year? >> what is new is we get to use the course that was so popular among the runners in 2015. last year the marathon had to make a series of adjustments based on the impact that safe track and the metro was going to have on marathon morning when it didn't open early. this year the marine corps marathon is opening metro early. we have access to the roads at the timeline that we need, so we will be able to use a course that will give rineunners the b experience on event day. that's really an important change for the runners on event day. >> not just the runners but spectators. >> spectators get to

they do just as much running sometimes as the reasoners moving around spot to spot trying the see loved ones out there. >> laura, you competed in three marathons. this year you were the wear blue run to remember volunteer, you have run before on charity team though. >> correct. >> who are you running in of? >> lance corporal ryan attel, killed in iraq in 2004. >> what were those runs like for you? >> they were greatly impactful. training through the marathon, you have long -- early mornings that you need to wake up, and i knew that i was training to -- for something bigger than myself. i was tlaniraining to honor his service and sacrifice and the service and sacrifice of so many others. >> so your goal is to get hundreds of volunteers? >> we are hoping to get 300 volunteers on the wear blue mile, which is mile 12 of the course at haines point and each will hold

flag bearing the name of a fallen service member. >> mark, every year washington sort of braces for this. i know it is a big undertaking for you, but it is such a huge event. it is so meaningful, so impactful. what's the experience like for you? >> i see some unique scenes on event day just from being in the position of the organizer, watching over the start line as the runners arrive from the darkest moments in the morning until those frantic few moments before the event starts where they're running to get into position, and then you get the see the finish looking when they're arriving in various states of euphoria or discomfort or agony, but they get there. and they cross that finish line and each one much them is honored by a marine at the finish line when they give them their medal, and it means something to each one of them

whether you're running for someone else or running for a cause or just running to reform your lifestyle, we have 7,000 runners that are running their very first marathon with the marine corps marathon, and that's a significant portion of the population. they're doing it because there's just such an emotional connection that this event forges with those that participate. one runner quoted on facebook said, you know, runners, be prepared to chase this experience the rest of your life, and i think they do. it is that special. >> so tell us about the course. >> so the runners will start in the marathon on route 110 in arlington. that's the start line between the pentagon and arlington national cemetery. they will continue through downtown roslyn, across the key bridge where the peacock zone is, hosted by your team here, and then through georgetown and do

haines point which has become a point of connection with the runners with what this event is about, honoring the military and those who have served the country to provide us the freedoms we enjoy. so they move out of the wear blue mile and run the national mall on both sides, down to the capitol and back, over to crystal city and arlington and around the pentagon. then because the marines are tough, they send them up the hill to the finish like at the marine corps memorial. >> 22.6 miles. the marine corps marathon. we will continue our talk, tell you what you need to know right after this. ♪

cnarrator: ed gillespie and i wants to endis ad. a woman's right to choose.

charge of a woman's personal decisions, not women and their doctors. as governor, ed gillespie says, i would like to see abortion be banned. if ed gillespie would like to see abortion banned, i would like to see i would like to see i would like to see that ed gillespie never becomes governor. welcome back. talking about the marine corps marathon, 22.6 miles and a 10k run on sunday as well. >> 10k starts at the same time as the marathon and it is back at the national mile. >> tell us about the blue mile, laura. >> the blue mile is at m

there will be 238 service members honored on that mile. when the runners run through it they will experience a different atmosphere. the chitter chatter going on the race course ends, it is just silent. it is footsteps. you will see people saluting the posters, you will see people kneeling in front of the poster of the loved one they're running in front of and you will see encouragement of other runners on the course. >> what an experience. mark, you have updated the app? >> we have 30,000 runners but hundreds of thousands of people invested in the event from afar, whether spectators on the road side or across the country following their loved one participating. the app has all of the essential information for people with the event schedule over the weekend, maps and details, but the important runner tracking information so you know how your runner is progressing along the course. >> it is wonderful to be able to follow them and find out where they are. also your website features

tell us about that feature. >> it is a cool app the runners can enjoy to get additional motivation on event day. you download the app and the marathon has positioned along the course through gps-enabling messages that will play when you hit certain locations, whether they're motivational or informational, but runners can also invite their loved ones to record cheer messages that will play for them at different times throughout the course. so you've got your own cheering squad right in your ears. >> it could be just the boost you need to get you over the finish line. >> exactly. >> laura, did you need that kind of motivation when you ran? >> absolutely. when you get to tend of 22.6 miles you will take any motivation you can get. >> the events start, of course, on friday and saturday, and are there tickets for any of those events? >> most of the events for marathon weekend are sold out already, which happy that there was such enthusiasm for that. the kids run, still some spots left. >> that's on saturday? >> that's on october 21st

the pentagon north parking lot, a one mile run for kids age five to 12. >> and a lot of the events are taking place at national harbor, is that right? >> mcm weekend begins with the health and fitness expo at the guy lord. the guy lord hosts the expo, 100,000 square feet with technology, fitness, exercise, wellness, diet and food, and it is open to everybody. it is one of the largest shows in the d.c. area and you don't have to be tied to the marine cops marathon, anyone can come and stroll the floor. >> training for a marathon has to be the experience of your life. what are your tips for people getting ready, the runners who are getting ready to do? especially the ones who have never done it before. >> trust your training. your training is done. you're at marathon week, and just trust it and go out there and have a great race and enjoy yourself. >> you were telling me during the break about this -- this thing that

>> beeper madness, tell me about this. >> your long run is done, you are getting ready for race week and you question everything, did i do all of my training correctly, is that thing i feel in my knee something that's starting to act up, and you just can't question anything. you did your training, you put the miles in, and now it is time to have fun and enjoy the day. >> mark. any advice for spectators, the people who are going to the race? >> it is important for the spectators to have the app and the data right at their finger tips so they can cheer their runners and make sure they're visible. in some way make sure they have a color or balloon that the runners can point them out in the crowd as they won by. >> it is going to be a big day. i know you're ready and the runners are ready. >> everybody is. >> mark goldberg and laura finney, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> you can go to marinemarathon.com. nbc 4 is sproud to be a sponsor.

running, chuck bell, and you will see jim henley and david culver covering the race out there live along the course. of course, at the finish looking there's of course the finish festival to look forward to. when we come back, this morning some special events marking domestic violence awareness month and a special milestone. ♪

all this month we are focusing on domestic violence prevention. the nia foundation helps survivors and families find emergency housing. joining me are shanae ma guy, founder and ceo. also joining us this morning, tonya burton, who is the board of directors with the nia foundation. shanae, we know there are events taking place around the county and a number sponsore

foundation. tell us about some of them. >> we have an ongoing event with more than java cafe, located on main street and laura. what happens if you go in every day of the month of october on fridays from 3:00 to 7:00, they will donate those proceeds to the nia foundation. we have another upcoming event that we're partnering with the prince georges family justice center, which is the pancake social. our theme for that event is flipping the community's perspective on domestic violence. ms. mccain will speak more to that this morning. so we want to get the mettage o -- message out we're here if you need us for domestic violence. there are ample avenues for us to help assist in the situation. >> denese, it is your one-year anniversary at the center. >> yes. >> talk about some of the things you have accomplished over the

first year. i'm happy to say one thing we did was increase our partnership. when we opened the door there were 19 color organizations, now up to 22. nia foundation is one of the organizations. what we did was took a look at where the real need was and we identified gaps in services and resources. we all know that housing is one of the major problems that oftentimes we can provide counseling, supportive services but we have no place to send them. nia foundation was our go-to organization that really stepped up and provided that emergency housing. so we've been able to fill that void. in addition to that, we've also brought on another civil legal service provider, maryland legal aid. many times our clients need more than just that protective order to ensure their safety. so we're now addressing more systemic issues that take on a broader legal framework. lastly, mental health services. c

areas we have oftentimes overlooked that survivors need a lot of help to deal with the emotional trauma and other things that have occurred in their lives. so we're doing great things. that's just to name a few with regard to increasing our partnerships, but we're moving. >> tonya, you mentioned -- we talked about emergency housing. tell us about some of the other programs and services at nia. >> so nia has a number of programs that we run on a regular basis. we partner with, as was said, a number of organizations within the justice center. we try to reach out to participate in those events. separate and apart from that, nia foundation has a really great kind of fund raiser event we do that not just brings in funds for us and helps support the efforts that we do, but also kind of helps encourage others. so we have the nia maya wall and we sell tiles. we decorate those

we've had kids come in to help decorate them as part of their service credits, and we've done things with folks inside shelters to kind of give them a voice inside the wall. so we're building it like one section at a time, but our hope is that when we finish with it the wall will act as a visual representation of our collective voices just saying, hey, we're not going to stand for this anymore. it tells a story and we really hope that it is going to be something very powerful. we know we've had a lot of success so far. >> what's the story behind you name, nia? >> nia was a pigeon. i was attending church one sunday morning and the message was nehemiah 4:14 and he talked about nehemiah built the wall to protect the community. i had a close family member to be a survivor of domestic violence, and it pretty much was a shelter that helped her. once going through that with her, i realized we

something more. we need to do something that's not necessarily being done. i know we have the shelters but they're not always available. so my vision was to let's do an emergency safe housing. we can do this. i spoke to the community and they backed me up, and that's how nehemiah, miah was born. >> it is the niah foundation and we're talking about domestic violence prevention this morning. back in a minute. ♪

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welcome back. ladies, domestic violence cases as you all know have dominated the headlines recently. the boyfriend of a montgomery county teacher who was missing and turned up dead has been indicted in her murder. the attempted murder case against a prince georges man accused of setting his girlfriend on fire is moving

prosecutions serve as a deterrent? denise? >> i don't think they do much good in that regard. the reality is domestic violence is a very serious issue, and anyone that is involved in these situations including the abuser, if it is their intent to harm they don't think about consequences. they are only concerned about the immediate action of controlling their victim, and oftentimes that does unfortunately lead to very tragic situations such as those we've heard about. i think reality is that we to look at the numbers. statistically one in three women are potentially victims of domestic violence, one in four men. so it is an underreported crime to begin with, so we're just seeing the tip of the iceberg and those making the news but it is going on every day. >> tonya, also a survivor will get out but wind up back in a bad relationship. how do you break that cycle? ho

>> i think that's part of the beauty of the partnership between us and the family justice center. you know, all of us being together, there's help there both physically and emotionally, even spiritually. i think what has to happen is we have to treat people, victims in a way that strengthens them in every one of those areas because they're vulnerable just like anyone else who's been damaged or been in a bad situation. and by doing that collectively all in one place so that they don't have to search to find those resources, i think it is really making a difference. >> shanay, my understanding is it takes an average seven times to get out? >> yes, to get out, and that's because they find themselves going back into that situation. again, i'm so proud that we now have the prince georges family justice center because as tonya and janice stated, it is really a one-stop shop. you can get all of your need

taken care of. i think the community that has come to see us knows we care about them and we're there to help them not have to be in that same situation. so i'm just super excited about what we're doing and doing about the county for prince georges counties. >> denise, one of your programs is stay in touch. >> yes. that's a program that was actually initial yalted ted by e of the sheriff, giving bobbie harvard credit, it was her brain child. but the reality is it enables survivors to come back, to get the on-going after care. we think we give them service, help them with a protective order and send them out the door, but like anything else it is something that requires ongoing attention. they come together as a group. they're able to talk about their issues but also learn how to stay safe, know what healthy relationships look like, learn other skills and tools to enable them to feel empowered and

>> tonya, at the nehe foundation you teach it to young people which is key, isn't it? >> yes. we've been reaching out to different young groups, groups of folks and coming together with the boys and girls clubs. we've been -- and then, of course, we have, as i mentioned about the ball, we actually bring people in to help us, generally the teenagers who need that kind of public service hours, and get to introduce them into the good work that the nehe foundation has been doing. it helps them be aware. so even teenagers who haven't reached out and said they're impacted, it makes them aware of what is going on so they understand when it happens to them there is help and it is not unusual. >> all right. earlier you mentioned the pancake social. tell us where that happens and how people can get involved. >> okay. so we're partnered with the prince georges family justice sent earp. the pancake social will be held at the sports and learning complex in landover maryland on saturday, october 21st. it is a free

georges county residents. we need them to go to register. we are talking about slipping, perspective on domestic violence in our community. it will be an awesome panel discussion. we have awesome speakers coming out and it should be a good time. >> denise, the hospital has a 5k run coming up? >> they do, the prince gorges hospital, it is saturday at 8:00. everything to bring awareness around the issue of domestic violence. >> denise mccain of the family justice center and tonya burden. you can watch all of our "news 4 your sunday" at nbcwashington.com, simply search community. i'm pat lawson muse. thank you for being with us. ♪

right now on "news4 today," one person shot and another assaulted near the university of maryland campus. the latest on what we've learned from police. no end in sight. that's what we're hearing from the cal firefighters. we're on the ground as the death toll continues to rise. first, it's a big game. the redskins set to take on san francisco, how they're lining themselves up for a "w" at fedex field today. >> well at 6:00 on the dot on this sunday morning, thank you so much for joining us. i'm adam tusk. >> and i'm angie