army 10 miler

on sunday, i ran the army 10 miler race. it was a beautiful day to run a race and we were really lucky to have such great weather, considering that on saturday it was freezing, raining and miserable all day long! however, one great thing about dc is that you can have really crappy weather one day and then have really great weather the following day! and that's what we had.

the race was pretty fun, although since the start and finish were at the pentagon, there were all these extra security measures. at the starting line area, you were not allowed to bring the following items: camelbaks or any other hydration systems, water belts, fitness heart monitors, bags, backpacks, coolers, strollers, baby-joggers, skateboards, rollerblades, bicycles, animals, water bottles, fanny packs, ipods, radios/headphones, cell phones, or blackberrys. while i did see some people on the run with their ipods, i also saw a couple runners that were not allowed to enter the starting line area with their ipods. so they were kind of strict about it. their reasoning for all the restrictions were that this is an army event held at the pentagon and we are a nation at war; therefore extra security measures need to be enforced.

besides that, the race went off without a hitch. while my plan was to do the run nice and easy, i ended up running faster than my plan of 10 minutes per mile and finished the race averaging 9 minutes and 6.5 seconds per mile, finishing in just over 91 minutes.

highlights of the race include:

• seeing men run in really short USA flag shorts
• eating a bratwurst sandwich postrace that i got from the army stationed in germany tent
• at mile 8, seeing 2 runners dressed up as wonder women
• at the end of the race at the garment pickup line, i was a women wearing a teeshirt that said "leslie ww2 vet"
• at the same garment pickup line which had at least 75 people waiting to get their bags, i all of a sudden heard a bunch of cheering and the line opened up and parted like the red sea. i then saw a 90 year-old man walking down the middle. i guess he was waiting in the back of the line and someone said to him, sir, you don't have to wait in line! i guess this guy runs the army 10 miler every year and is an army vet! it was awe-inspiring that this 90 year old man still runs 10 miles!!!

race photos will be sent out tomorrow, so if i have any, i'll try to post them up on the site!

until soon...