Wagging Tales: 1/2 Marathon & Leprechaun Spirit

This morning was the Rock 'n' Roll USA 1/2 marathon in Washington, DC. As I mentioned in my last post, I've been struggling with some sort of sore throat bug. I knew this wouldn't be a record breaking race for me but luckily, I was feeling about 80% healthy when I woke up at 5:00am. Once up, I got dressed, got my gear bag together, and I headed to the metro to catch a train to the race. When I got on the train at 6:20am, the car that I was in was about half full. After only three stops the train was packed! There were so many people - not only on the metro but at RFK Stadium and on the race course. It felt a bit like the madness I experienced back in December in Las Vegas.

6:00am - Headed to DC, waiting for the train

Runners making their way to the starting line

Someone told me that there were 21,000 participants. I'm not sure if that's accurate - there were crowds of people everywhere! Most people were wearing green and shamrocks too, to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. My attire was selected by "Anonymous." (Thanks Anonymous!) The blue Dodgers t-shirt was perfect because when people on the sidelines would yell "Go Dodgers!," I knew that they were cheering for me.

The race course was scenic and took runners on a special DC site-seeing tour. We ran past the Capital Building, the Washington Monument, and the White House. There were also some interesting people throughout the race including: Elvis, the Incredibles, a leprechaun, and lots of drunk spectators wearing green.

Although I didn't set a PR, I'm satisfied with my finish time of 1:54:51. I had a number of challenges going into this race (illness, inconsistent training, etc) so considering, I'm cutting myself some slack. It's early in the season too so I think (barring any injuries) that it can only get better from here - I'm looking forward to it!