Cherry Blossom 10 Miler- My NEW PR!

Yesterday, had an awesome run in Washington, DC at the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler.  I took the train in Saturday morning, quickly dropped my bag off at the hotel my family was staying at (more like bag check since my parents weren’t getting in until early afternoon) and headed over to the Expo at the National Building Museum.  When I got there, the line to pick up bibs and shirts was out the front door and literally around the building.  Since I was volunteering, I got to sneak in the back door to head to the volunteer check in.  The organizers had sent out emails reminding people that it was a. easier to take the metro than attempt to try and park in DC (in any major city with public transportation, this makes sense since parking is usually horrendous- this coming from someone who’s lived in Chicago, NYC for a few months, been to DC and living in Philly), have your confirmation sheet with your bib number. My volunteer job was to point people towards the 10 mile pick up or the 5k pick up.  Despite the big sign pointing to the 10 mile or 5k packet pick up, people still asked which way to go.  No matter how many times I announced where the solutions office was too look up numbers, people still asked where it was.  There was a steady line of people the entire 3 hrs I was there.  My suggestion would be for the 10 miler pick up to have two rooms- one for numbers 1-10,000 and a second room for 10,001 onwards and then a room for the 5K.  I will say kudos to them for having a shirt exchange so if you had a L and wanted a M or something, you could do that.

There was also an opportunity to meet Bill Rodgers, the guy who managed to win 4 straight NYC

With Bill Rodgers at the Cherry Blossom Expo

marathons, 4 straight Boston Marathons, 22 Marathons total and 4 Cherry Blossom Runs (I’m wondering if 4 is his favorite number?).  He is a super nice guy.  He was talking with people for a few minutes per person and really asking people about races they’ve participated in all the good stuff that comes with running.  He signed my bib for me in addition to a picture of him from one of his Boston Runs.  Needless to say, he was getting a steady flow of runners coming by to meet him

On race day, we left the hotel around 7 since we were only a few stops away from the National Museum where the race started.  we got to the race at 7:32 (the race started at 7:40).  My sister was coming later to the 5K (but never made it because she overslept).  I ended up racing to the orange wave (my parents were in the green wave behind me) and we were off 10 minutes into the race.  We started at the Washington Monument and then headed out from there.  The entire course there were Cherry Blossoms in full bloom.  The race itself was a steady stream of runners.  Usually after a few miles, things thin out, but that never happened.  There were 6-7 runners across in the roads, a good 5-6 runners across if it was on the running trails.  Steady stream, the entire time!!  There was a gorilla with a cow bell cheering on runners, two teens dressed up as statue of liberties, and a guy with a sign at mile 7.5 with a sign that read “Free beer and oreos“.  Yes, the guy was handing out beer (yuengling) and oreos to runners.  The course was fairly flat, but there were some pretty sharp curves in there and then a mild hill at the end.  I couldn’t see the finish which, wasn’t ideal, but eventually I saw the wonderful line that welcomed me home.  I finished the race in 1:42:53 which is a PR for me in a 10 mile race!

Overall, a really good race.  I have a guaranteed entry into next year’s run since I volunteered this year.  The race changed to a lottery system this year since it sells out rather quickly.  I will say the expo either needs to be moved to a bigger location or the bib pick up needs to be changed because picking up bibs was horrendous.  Apparently some people took over 40 minutes to get their bibs.  Good run though overall!!