There are some races that are starting to become traditions for my Dad and I to run together. One of those has become the MCM10k. (Someday I'll be up for a marathon, but not for awhile.)
Last year when I ran it, it was the longest race I had ever ran in DC. (I have since run a 10 miler and a half marathon through DC.) It was a fantastic race and was pretty well run. The expo was a little frustrating, since they had a tent outside the DC Armory to retrieve your bib then you had to go inside to get your shirt and explore the expo. My Dad and I went together and the lines were ridiculously long for bibs and just getting into the armory. But otherwise the expo was great. There were rumblings the whole time of increased security at the race because of the Boston Marathon bombing, but as far as we could tell it was fine. The morning of the race it was freezing--I remember wearing my fleece lined leggings and the heaviest running jacket I had at the time. We walked right up to our corral and got in with plenty of time to spare and had a great race. We ran the whole thing together and finished right around 1:12:40. Afterwards we got our medals and got our picture taken together, got our water and bananas (with some watermelon a little further down) and met up with my Mom and husband and went home via the metro.
This year was totally different. For the expo, we walked right in without any lines and had no problem getting our bibs or shirts. There was some security at the race--they had the mall fenced off and had security checking bags as you entered. We immediately got into the long lines for the bathrooms about half an hour before the race was due to start and stayed there until 5 minutes before gun time. (The bathroom would have to wait!) At that point they had closed off the corrals so we had to hop the fence to get in. We were further back than I would've liked, but it still worked out well. This year my Dad and I got separated, and I finished at 1:11:31, and they had bananas, boxes of goodies for the runners along with protein shakes, water and watermelon. That hill at the very end got me again though, and I started to walk a little than halfway up. (And one of the MarathonFoto photographers got pictures--Argh!) All the freebies this year to me seemed to be after the race, but I was fine with that. We got finisher jackets this year made with a cheap fabric, but with a zipper and knit cuffs but worked better than the aluminum blankets since it had actual sleeves. It was in the low 60s when we started the race, and stayed around there but with the wind it got cold really fast. I was happy I brought a variety of running clothes to my parents the night before, but I didn't account for it to get warmer not colder! Fortunately I managed to stay comfortable in leggings, a short sleeved shirt and a mid-weight hoodie.
I will probably do this race again next year. Both times I paid around $50, and felt like I got a great deal for what I got: A nice fleece lined race shirt, a medal, and tons of great post-race snacks! The expo is always great but crowded, so get there early. Also, if you want even MORE freebies at the expo check the Facebook pages of your favorite running gear companies. Chances are good that they'll have special deals at the expo, or be giving away free gear. (For example, spibelt had a deal where if you posted on one of their status updates and showed it to the people at the booth you would get a free spibelt!) You also will want to keep up with the MCM twitter feed, since they have giveaways of bags made from previous year's banners and are stuffed with all kinds of great prizes! This year the bags had tickets to hockey games and one had an iPad mini! (I tried, but when I was there you had to wear your Brooks shoes at their booth. I love my adrenalines but I don't wear them any other time than when I'm running!)
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