Today was the Cherry Blossom 10 miler. It's a big race, and a serious race (the purse brings in a dozen or so second-tier Kenyans and Ethiopians). It's a beautiful race. It's flat, it winds along the river and harbor and through avenues of cherry blossoms. The amateur field is also fast; after a 6:02 first mile I was still running in a crowd.
They also run a very nice 5K, starting after the main event. It follows Independence to Memorial Bridge, across to the gates of Arlington Cemetery, and back. P__ ran that, but not before she watched the elite runners finish the 10 mile. I'm a big fan of combining a 5K with a longer race. It makes the day a family event rather than yet another day devoted to the guy or gal who already spends all weekend training by him- or herself.
The elite runners are a sight to behold. Local hard-man Michael Wardian, the six-time winner of the National Marathon and perennial top-three in world ultra championships, was already 30-seconds back when I saw the group go by on an out-and-back, them at mile two, me just past mile one. And I haven't yet mentioned the elite women. They started ten minutes ahead. Standing in the corral watching them preparing to start, I was captivated by several pairs of sinewy legs that reminded me more of the starting corral at the Kentucky Derby than a (human) running event.
The race is extraordinarily well put-on. They have the best race t-shirts of any event I've attended: cotton short-sleeve unless you pay for the technical t-shirt (I'll post later on why cotton makes the best race t-shirt) with a legitimately artistic design that evokes the feel of spring in DC. It's the single best time of year to run in one of the best places to run. Warming up on the walkway around the Washington Monument, seeing the sun rise over the Capitol, fist-bumping nearly everybody I've ever met running in DC -- it's an event that makes me glad to be part of this community.
My first mile was a mistake, but it was downhill, so it's not all my fault. I pulled it together after that, having banked 20 seconds or so, and ended up with fairly even splits for the two halves of the race. I PR'd at the intermediate distances that I bothered to notice, and overall. I am learning to drain the tanks in general: today I hit the redline at about mile seven; felt the blinders coming on around mile nine; a couple of hundred yards from the end wondered, thickly, whether that was what it feels like to pass out while finishing a race (no, I didn't). After cheering D__ across the line (he now owes me a beer!) I slowly jogged the 5K course trying to find P__. I didn't catch her on the course, but it was a good warm-down.
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