Packet pickup was pretty easy, but being in Maryland it was still a little bit of a drive to get to Clarendon. I had only been there a handful of times, so I checked out the area on Google Maps and saw that there was a Trader Joe's nearby that had a garage that validated parking. Perfect. So I parked in their garage, went over to Pacer's to get my packet, then went to Trader Joe's to pick up some groceries. Then I somehow forgot that Virginia grocery stores have beer and wine. (I grew up in Virginia, but have lived in Maryland for five years so I don't see beer and wine in grocery stores anymore.) So I picked up a couple beers (one of them was Larry's Flamingo Fruit Fight, which ended up being pretty good) along with my staples of peanut butter pretzels and some dried fruit and got my parking validated on the way out.
Occasionally I appreciate a cotton race shirt if the design is fun. This one is kind of "meh." I'll wear it casually, but probably won't be in regular rotation.
The weather already wasn't looking very good, but I went ahead and got a reservation for parking anyways. The closest by that point was a mile and a half away, so I kept thinking it wasn't a big deal. It was parking and it was close to where the Volee was meeting up for brunch afterwards. I could still back out and only be out $5 and could get a full refund for parking in a couple of days. The night before I packed my hydration vest with chews and a bag of dry clothes so I could change post-race in the bathroom at the restaurant.
Fast forward to race morning. I left the house at 5:30 for a 7am gun time. It was so much later than I wanted to leave, but I would get there. The whole drive down it was pouring rain and I kept thinking "WHY am I doing this to myself?! I can back out at any time and it's no big deal. Why am I stressing out over this?!" Then I found myself in the parking garage. And that it was closer to 2 miles away from the start, not 1.5 miles. Big difference when it's 6:30, but at least it was completely downhill so I walked fast and at times slowly ran as a warm up to the start. I got to the race at 6:45, ran into a friend and we walked over to the runner's village. I somehow got through the portajohn lines and to the start in 10 minutes, AND finally ran into a fellow Balega Impi that lives in my hometown. (Somehow kept missing each other for the almost 3 years I've been in the Balega ambassador program.)
All of that in 15 minutes. Then before I knew it, the gun had gone off and I was starting the race! The course wasn't anything different from a lot of the DC races I've done in the past. In fact, if you've run any longer distance DC race (like the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, Marine Corps Marathon, Jingle All the Way 15k) you've basically run this course. (See what I mean?) We were running in the opposite direction as most of those other races, but it's pretty much the same.
Even though the course was familiar, the conditions were terrible and it rained the entire time. At some of the out n back portions I caught glimpses of friends and cheered for them and waved. I enjoyed seeing the few spectators out on the course (including someone in an inflatable unicorn costume holding a sign saying "I believe in you!") I tried to find the silver lining in it all and enjoy it like I did with Cherry Blossom, but it just wasn't happening. My shoes were sloshy. I was totally soaked. I walked into this knowing I wouldn't PR (and I didn't.) I still fought to finish around my now average time of 2:25 and I did (2:25:57.)
After getting my bottles of water, banana, granola bar and bag of pretzels I went back to my car. (There really wasn't much of anything in the runner's village that day. I had my snacks and I was about to go to brunch so I didn't need much else.) I dried off as best I could and at least changed my socks and sloshy shoes. I grabbed my wallet and bag of dry clothes and headed to the restaurant to change into something dry and meet my friends. We had a lovely brunch but I was definitely ready to get home and start drying off more thoroughly.
Overall, I don't know if I would recommend this race. It was fairly well organized, but the course itself was really nothing special for DC if you've done a lot of the popular longer distance races. If you can get in for a decent price and it's within your budget, go for it! If not, I wouldn't stress out about it too much. You're really not missing much.
Even though the course was familiar, the conditions were terrible and it rained the entire time. At some of the out n back portions I caught glimpses of friends and cheered for them and waved. I enjoyed seeing the few spectators out on the course (including someone in an inflatable unicorn costume holding a sign saying "I believe in you!") I tried to find the silver lining in it all and enjoy it like I did with Cherry Blossom, but it just wasn't happening. My shoes were sloshy. I was totally soaked. I walked into this knowing I wouldn't PR (and I didn't.) I still fought to finish around my now average time of 2:25 and I did (2:25:57.)
After getting my bottles of water, banana, granola bar and bag of pretzels I went back to my car. (There really wasn't much of anything in the runner's village that day. I had my snacks and I was about to go to brunch so I didn't need much else.) I dried off as best I could and at least changed my socks and sloshy shoes. I grabbed my wallet and bag of dry clothes and headed to the restaurant to change into something dry and meet my friends. We had a lovely brunch but I was definitely ready to get home and start drying off more thoroughly.
Overall, I don't know if I would recommend this race. It was fairly well organized, but the course itself was really nothing special for DC if you've done a lot of the popular longer distance races. If you can get in for a decent price and it's within your budget, go for it! If not, I wouldn't stress out about it too much. You're really not missing much.
