A fairly difficult course, very hilly at the start, very crowded, didn't get into a running groove until mile 10 when we finally had some space to run without constantly dodging people, lost my running buddy at mile 17 due to a knee injury (she had to slow down), ate a cookie at mile 21 and got my stomach upset, got a major calf cramp at mile 24 and finished limping pretty badly

not eat that cookie at mile 21, seemed like such a good idea at the time :), I think the ups and downs of the course got to my calves, I do live in the flatlands, I think I was pretty well trained and ready for this race

got my medal from a Marine, despite the crowd got some food, found my sister, collapsed for a while, waited for other friends and husband to finish, took a very crowded metro back to the hotel


I think I'll always be slow, but it was a PR for me by 18 minutes, I need to stay a bit mentally tougher during the last few miles


I rated this event a 4, mostly because it is a very crowded race, lots of food at the finish line, even for the late arrivals, I can't say enough good about the marines and volunteers who support this event and the spectators are awesome!!! I would recommend this event; it is an amazing event!