The National Half Marathon

The groundhog lied!  Here it is the beginning of Spring and I was surrounded by a bunch of runners dressed homeless chic.  Outside the privacy of your own home on laundry day, a race is the only time that it appears to be okay to wear a trash bag, bleach-stained sweatshirts, and tattered sweatpants – all for the sake of staying warm.  But when we cross that start line, clothes go flinging in all directions faster than a stripper can say “Would you like to go to the Champagne Room?”

 

So, how do you get 15,000 people to go into Southeast DC on a Saturday morning?  That’s right – you organize a race.  The National Marathon and Half Marathon start and finish at the DC Armory by RFK Stadium.  To relieve local traffic sooner, the race actually started at 7am.  Unfortunately, our friends at WMATA wouldn't open the Metro's station doors until 6am.  This gave our runners two options:  Drive or Be Late.  Fortunately, getting to the parking lot was not a big deal.  However, I definitely saw some late runners coming off of the Metro.  As if running a race 13.1 or 26.2 miles was not bad enough, these poor guys first had to race to the the start line while the rest of us were running away.  *Ouch*

  

Though I’m a DC-native, starting from this side of town almost felt like being able to run through a completely different city.  I saw parts of DC I typically never saw -  Southeast…H Street…Adams Morgan sober by daylight.  The course was also a bit hillier than I realized DC could be.  Now, I understand why we call it Columbia HEIGHTS. 

Since the course ran through areas of DC that weren’t convenient to the Metro stations, there were not as many spectators to support the runners as I have experienced in other area races.  Either that or everyone else decided it was just too cold to come out to cheer on some crazy runners who think this is the best way to spend a Saturday morning.  Lucky for me, this was my first race as a High Cloud athlete.  While proudly running in my new team gear, I was very energized by the fellow supporters of DC Tri Club and Team Z who cheered me on as I ran by. 

Well, for me and my sick running fetish, it turned out to be a GREAT way to spend a Saturday morning.  The awesome timing of year gave this grizzly bear some motivation to come out of winter hibernation.  I got to run 13.1 miles through my neighborhood city, get some Vitamin D, and shake my fist at the windy, cold winter we had.

 

With another new medal in hand, I say to you – let’s get another race season started.