Well, I ran in the Army Ten Miler (ATM) Race in Washington DC this past weekend. It was cold and rainy but, the race was great. There were 20 thousand runners. That's a lot of people.... This is the larget 10 mile race in the country. I felt great and the run just flew by. The crowds and the sites along those historic streets kept me so occupied that at times I forgot that I was running. The race started in the parking lot at the Pentagon with some very loud blasts from very large Army canons that were setup at the starting line. They definitely made you know that this was a US Army sponsored event. There were lots of military types from all over the world participating. Many of them shouting "Hooah". Seeing all of these young soldiers and military folks made me feel like my son Kyle was there with me. Kyle is a US Army MP in training and is stationed in Ft. Leonard Wood Missouri. I hope that in the coming years we will be able to participate in this event together.
The race began by crossing over the Potomac river via the Arlington Memorial Bridge, past the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, past the Kennedy Center and the Capital.The race proceeded down Independence Avenue and back over the Potomac to the Pentagon. Click here to see the Course Map
The Race was very well organized and the events started out the evening before the race with distribution of Bib numbers (my bib # 2266) and computer timing chip in the Marriot Hotel just down the road from the Pentagon. We also stayed in this Marriot so it was very convenient. This hotel was a connected to the Metro station in Crystal City (just down the road from the Pentagon). In the morning all of the runners had to hop on the Metro subway train and take it one stop to Pentagon Station for the start of the race. It was so strange to see thousands runners in their running gear getting all crowding on the subway at 7AM in the morning. (by the way the DC Metro is super clean, modern and nothing like the NYC subway system)
Unfortunately it was cold and rainy most of the morning with the temperature in the 40's. The rain did subside while I was running but, as soon as I came through the finish line at the Pentagon it started to pour. It felt refreshing after the ten mile run. Okay, at least for a little while until my body temp started coming back to normal. Now "refreshing" felt more like shivers and chattering teeth. I couldn't find Jill in the crowd. She had my jacket and dry clothes. As it turned out the security was so tight that they would not allow her back into the race activities area at the Pentagon. I looked around for her for about an hour and a half before I decided that there was a good chance that might not never find Jill in this crowd. I borrowed someone’s cell phone and gave Jill a call on her cell. We finally found each other and I was able to put my dry jacket on. I was sure that I would catch pneumonia after walking around post race in just my running shorts and shirt. I was not alone because there were plenty of other runners wondering around this crowd looking for there dry clothes as well. Jill felt so bad but, I kept telling her that it was not her fault that they did not let her back into the race area to give me my clothes. I was just glad to finally find her and that she was there to support and share the experience with me.
Jill waiting with me in the rain for the start of the race
(Pentagon in the background)
The race was a great experience and it was the largest running event that I have participated in to date. This was my first time experiencing the feeling of the adrenalin rush and being in a large crowd of runners and supporters.
The winner of the race was Capt. Dan Browne who is an Olympic runner that participated in Athens this year. I thought to myself “what other sport besides running gives an “average Joe” like me the opportunity to participate in the same event with Olympic athletes.
I can't wait to do it all again next year. Maybe the sun will be shining and I will be running with my son Kyle.
Me coming through the finish line
Click Here for more pictures of the race
Click here for the official Army Ten Miler Website
