Nice and flat, lots of community support and tons of bands. I started in corral 3 so navigating the crowd wasn't an issue (unlike the Cherry Blossom 10miler). Started out around an 8 minute mile pace to get the blood flowing. I didn't make it to the portajohn line before the race so I was keep an eye out during the race. Around mile 5 I found my mecca with 15 portajohns and took a 1 minute pitstop. Worked out well because I ended up catching the group I had been running with even with the 1 minute pitstop. Around mile 12 my left foot started to hurt, my knees were aching, but hearing the finish line was enough of a motivator to push me to the finish line. Rounding that final loop, the blast of wind in my face, the sun beating down, sweating my a$$ off, but I pushed through and finished strong.

I PR'd by over 13 minutes from last year, so I felt really good about that. Considering the course was flat compared to Baltimore, I expected a 5-10 minute bump, but was really happy with the 13 minute PR.

Hm, maybe not race in the 25-29 age group considering 800 of the top 1000 people were males 25-29? Must have been a lot of Navy dudes.

Walk to the beer tent! Though 64 calorie beer doesn't quite do the trick...


The heat.


Tons of fun. Logistically, they couldn't have done a better job, except maybe having the bus drivers know where they're going?? Just a thought???? Lots of volunteers, cheerleaders, good bands, medical personnel, and ice towels at the end are MONEY.