2023 MCM thread

[Baloo in MI]

Good luck to all those running MCM today! Wish I could be there, but was not to be this year. Maybe next, this or Chicago! Wishing you all a great race.

 

[nancipants]

 

[luv2cheer92]

That was a rough one medical wise. So many people dropping like flies. 2 gauntlets diverted ahead of schedule. EMS was backed up getting to everybody that needed it. I hope everyone here running did ok!
I was in the tent most of the time, didn't get much chance to cheer or watch for runners.

 

[striker1064]

I counted 6 runners that were on the ground at various points in the course (luckily getting help) and 1 hooked to an IV at the medical tent at Hains Point. It was rough out there.

 

[luv2cheer92]

I counted 6 runners that were on the ground at various points in the course (luckily getting help) and 1 hooked to an IV at the medical tent at Hains Point. It was rough out there.

We had a few IVs at our tent, multiple transported out via ambulance, heard on the radio someone was getting CPR (not sure of the outcome or where they were). It was rough. I've seen people complaining online about the gauntlets being cut off earlier than scheduled, but it was the right call. We were right after the first one, and I know we would have been very overwhelmed with 30 more minutes of runners, it was already getting that way.

 

[pigletliz]

I was one of the runners diverted. Caught a cramp and hit 17 ( the first gauntlet) at 12:02. It closed at 12. Really disappointed, but I absolutely understand the reason for the diversions. Saw people with cramps, vomiting, dizziness, etc. Thank you to all the medical staff, the volunteers and the Marines for looking out for everyone's safety.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

We had a few IVs at our tent, multiple transported out via ambulance, heard on the radio someone was getting CPR (not sure of the outcome or where they were). It was rough. I've seen people complaining online about the gauntlets being cut off earlier than scheduled, but it was the right call. We were right after the first one, and I know we would have been very overwhelmed with 30 more minutes of runners, it was already getting that way.

CPR?! Holy cow.

Short race report:
1. A little cooler the last couple of hours would have been nice, but early hours things were pretty good. Yes, I acknowledge that I prefer it a touch warmer than most. In fact, it means I’m sitting here enjoying my second soak without wheezing and hacking.
2. I finished the race (Yay!)
3. I did not get diverted, thankfully, but near as I can tell, it happened not too long after I passed by. It also explains the worker I heard (as I was about to leave the mall) telling someone that “they were getting a lot of reports of…” at which point I was out of earshot, but wondered if it wasn’t heat related. Looks like it was.
4. Sorry to hear about fallen runners (I saw a few myself) and those who were diverted.
5. I did think to look about at the mile 17 med tent, but I guess you were way busy.

More to come tomorrow

 

[Scootin'By]

Short race report:

2. I finished the race (Yay!)

Great job! Some might even say ... incredible?

 

[BikeFan]

Congratulations to everyone running MCM yesterday. My wife and I volunteered at the expo on Friday and at the start village race morning, and then spent the rest of the day cheering on our son and our running club friends. It was definitely a tough day out there, and we saw a lot of very tired faces on the final hill. It's certainly a medal finishers can feel proud about - you all earned it yesterday!

 

[StarGirl11]

CPR?! Holy cow.

Short race report:
1. A little cooler the last couple of hours would have been nice, but early hours things were pretty good. Yes, I acknowledge that I prefer it a touch warmer than most. In fact, it means I’m sitting here enjoying my second soak without wheezing and hacking.
2. I finished the race (Yay!)
3. I did not get diverted, thankfully, but near as I can tell, it happened not too long after I passed by. It also explains the worker I heard (as I was about to leave the mall) telling someone that “they were getting a lot of reports of…” at which point I was out of earshot, but wondered if it wasn’t heat related. Looks like it was.
4. Sorry to hear about fallen runners (I saw a few myself) and those who were diverted.
5. I did think to look about at the mile 17 med tent, but I guess you were way busy.

More to come tomorrow

There were some reports that the person getting CPR got lifelighted. Not sure how true it was but I do remember seeing a helicopter go over at one point while on the course and wondering what the was going on because that’s not a normal sight. I think part of me might have recognized lifelight copter since I remember having a passing thought about wondering how that would work during a race.

I’m part of the group that missed the mile 17 diversion. This makes race number 3 for me where some part of it got altered. (Dumbo 2017, Dopey 2020 though I technically pulled myself before the diversion there and now this). I understand the choice I don’t fault them for it I just wish they had communicated better what was going on. I get they sent out phone notifications but not everyone can easily check those plus cell service in a race is spotty at best at times.

I had no clue the diversion had happened until I got to the mile 17 gauntlet. Ahead of pace by about 10 minutes. Expecting to make it and the bridge but wasn’t sure about Crystal City. Funny enough I did make Crystal City after the diversion.

Though it probably didn’t help that I was so far into the zone for most of the race that I didn’t realize how much of a problem. Runners going down was.

Probably won’t be back next year. Though that’s not a fault of the race. More just wanting to do another race that’s maybe flatter until I can foregoing a guide. (Lesson learned the hard way, the hillier the race the more I need company at this point.) or at least until the race turns 50.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

For the first time ever, my wife traveled to a race and was able to see me go by. (She was at the Princess Half, but met me after the race). DW and I arrived on Friday, visited the National Cathedral, then headed out to National Harbor for dinner and the expo. I really wanted a mug, but all they had were the steel tumblers, not ideal for coffee. But I took the opportunity acquire a MCM running hat, t-shirt, and sweatshirt. Merch gets me again. <sigh> Coming out of the expo I ran into some friends from church that I hadn’t seen in probably 5+ years because they changed churches after their kids were out of the house. I just didn’t expect to see anyone that I knew there.

Saturday saw us spend several hours in the Spy Museum. It was much better than I thought it might (said as someone who loves that stuff, and was concerned that it might be a bit cheezy. It isn’t.) Then some final carb loading in Old Town Alexandria.

Saturday night should have been an early bedtime, but we were listening to our team via the gameday app as we knocked off a ranked opponent. Oh well, I don’t usually get much sleep anyway.

Sunday morning, I get up, start getting dressed, and… where is the other end of the drawstring for my shorts?! One end had retreated several inches into the waistband, but I was able to inch it back to the opening. Maybe ten minutes lost total, but no harm.

I had mixed some Tailwind the night before and had that in combo with a Cliff bar for breakfast. No coffee for once. I had bought a Metro pass on Saturday as part of my last pre-race jog. We stayed in Crystal City, so an easy two block walk to the station. We all got off at Pentagon station and started the long walk to the starting corral. Walking past the Pentagon was the first time at a race with guys locked and loaded with automatic weapons. Cool. We also had to get searched, but that went quickly.

Also while walking along, I heard someone else behind me saying: “… should have been in bed but we were beating a ranked opponent...”. Yep, fellow alumni, so some fun conversation while walking.

While stretching against a lightpole, I noticed the guy next to me with a very familiar shirt: the 2009 Atlanta Half Marathon, which was the second half I ever ran, coming off the 2009 rD Half.

Unlike other races I’ve been in, the corrals were not physically separated. They have towers for estimated finishing times and you are expected to place yourself accordingly. Otherwise, it is one large corral.

During the national anthem, it wasn’t hard to identify the guy next to me as active or recently separated military by the way he stood at attention while it was played. (Nice to see). The flyover was a pair of V-22 Ospreys with the rotors tilted up in slow-flight mode. About a mile into the race, they made a second pass, coming toward us and this time rotors down and in high-speed flight mode. Way cool.

The run started well with overcast skies and cool-ish temperatures. In fact, around mile 3 or so was a sprinkling of rain.

I have been training with roughly 10:30 times, and was consistently hitting that mark, even in my 9 mile run, and still had plenty “left in the tank” at the 9 mile mark. Turns out that there was about 4 more miles in the tank. After around mile 13, I noticed my pace was slowing and realized that my (very optimistic) 5 hour time was not to be. Going in front of the Capital was the first time that I pulled the phone from my pocket, stopping to take a couple of selfies, and also took the opportunity to tell the DW that my expected time to go past her would be later than I had calculated.

It turns out that I crossed in front of the capital building right around 11:00 am, so I managed to beat the early closing of that gauntlet by a larger margin than I originally thought. I also managed to beat the bridge. Goodness that is a long bridge, and by then the sun was fully out and making for a lot of hot concrete. I feel bad for anyone who got diverted, but I’m happy with myself on a personal level that I beat all the gauntlets and cut-offs (something I was rather concerned about all last week.)

The blue mile was very sobering, seeing the photos and details of around 1000 fallen heros. I read nearly all of them on the right-hand side of the road. There were also many runners wearing “bibs” on their back with the names of fallen heros, running on their behalf.

Around mile 17, I started seriously questioning any future marathons. I also seriously questioned it during miles 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25….

I finally made it to Crystal City and saw the DW and got a quick kiss before resuming my pace. Coming out of Crystal City, we were offered fuel that I had never had before: coffee with syrup mixed in. Yummy.

After that it was more one-foot-in-front-of-the-other down the stretch. That last hill coming from off the main road and up to the Iwo Jima monument is indeed a hill, but it went quicker than anticipated and soon I had a Marine hanging a medal around my neck. Whew.

I took a few photos and then headed for the metro, as we had plans for a water taxi cruise and dinner at the wharf. As I was exiting the race area but still behind the barricades, I saw a woman grab one of the runners, another woman. The first lady told the runner that she was running with her daughter’s name on her back. A lot of crying and hugging ensued. I had to keep moving, as I had something in my eye…. (I’m still moved by that sight, sitting here 48 hours later writing this.)

My finish time was 5:57:52, which was waaaaay off my hoped for 5 hour time, but a new PR. A friend who is younger, thinner, and a much faster runner told me that it took him more than 6 hours his first MCM and over 5 the second time. I took much solace in that.

So it turns out that my HARM(TM) method of training will get one through a marathon, Goofy, or Dopey, but not as quickly as you might want. For that, probably go to Hanson or Galloway or one of the other methods with the longer weekend runs. Lesson learned. OTOH, we get back to the fact that I don’t make the extra time for all the longer runs, so while I would like to do better, I recognize where the problem is.

The heat and humidity: Until the last part of the race, it didn’t seem that bad to me, though as I have acknowledged, I seem to prefer slightly warmer running conditions than most. I saw a number of runners down, but (at the time) assumed it was the usual cramps, pulled something, blisters, etc. But you’ve seen the posts about all the IVs, and a guy I talked to the next morning saw the CPR being performed. He is from Minnesota and said that the heat was worse up there two weeks ago and agreed with Twin Cities race being canceled. (Not trying to reignite that conversation, just noting another data point.

Fuel: I did carb load starting on Tue of last week. After nearly two years of trying to eat low-carb and low-sugar, five days of carb loading felt odd. And after that and a whole day of race food, I’m glad to be getitng back to what is now my normal diet.

During the walk to the corral, I consumed a pair of fig newtons and the rest of the Tailwind. After that, I was taking in fuel about every four miles. It was Gu at 4 miles, a Glukose at 8 miles plus something the race was handing out. At the 12-13 mile mark I had a Maurtens. Around mile 16 was another Gu and some Bloks, and then the previously mentioned coffee/syrup. Plus water and electrolyte when offered.

So I can say that I think better fueling made a difference, and I’ll be applying those lessons learned to any future races.

The MCM is well organized and DC turns out for it. With all the music, cheering, and cowbells along the course, I turned off my Aftershokz at the halfway point.
Will I do it again? Probably not, only because of been-there and got the t-shirt and medal. But if you haven’t done it, it should be on your to-do list.

 

[NYC_MW]

My finish time was 5:57:52, which was waaaaay off my hoped for 5 hour time, but a new PR.

Congrats on the PR!

 

[striker1064]

Congrats on your PR! Great race.

 

[Baloo in MI]

For the first time ever, my wife traveled to a race and was able to see me go by. (She was at the Princess Half, but met me after the race). DW and I arrived on Friday, visited the National Cathedral, then headed out to National Harbor for dinner and the expo. I really wanted a mug, but all they had were the steel tumblers, not ideal for coffee. But I took the opportunity acquire a MCM running hat, t-shirt, and sweatshirt. Merch gets me again. <sigh> Coming out of the expo I ran into some friends from church that I hadn’t seen in probably 5+ years because they changed churches after their kids were out of the house. I just didn’t expect to see anyone that I knew there.

Saturday saw us spend several hours in the Spy Museum. It was much better than I thought it might (said as someone who loves that stuff, and was concerned that it might be a bit cheezy. It isn’t.) Then some final carb loading in Old Town Alexandria.

Saturday night should have been an early bedtime, but we were listening to our team via the gameday app as we knocked off a ranked opponent. Oh well, I don’t usually get much sleep anyway.

Sunday morning, I get up, start getting dressed, and… where is the other end of the drawstring for my shorts?! One end had retreated several inches into the waistband, but I was able to inch it back to the opening. Maybe ten minutes lost total, but no harm.

I had mixed some Tailwind the night before and had that in combo with a Cliff bar for breakfast. No coffee for once. I had bought a Metro pass on Saturday as part of my last pre-race jog. We stayed in Crystal City, so an easy two block walk to the station. We all got off at Pentagon station and started the long walk to the starting corral. Walking past the Pentagon was the first time at a race with guys locked and loaded with automatic weapons. Cool. We also had to get searched, but that went quickly.

Also while walking along, I heard someone else behind me saying: “… should have been in bed but we were beating a ranked opponent...”. Yep, fellow alumni, so some fun conversation while walking.

While stretching against a lightpole, I noticed the guy next to me with a very familiar shirt: the 2009 Atlanta Half Marathon, which was the second half I ever ran, coming off the 2009 rD Half.

Unlike other races I’ve been in, the corrals were not physically separated. They have towers for estimated finishing times and you are expected to place yourself accordingly. Otherwise, it is one large corral.

During the national anthem, it wasn’t hard to identify the guy next to me as active or recently separated military by the way he stood at attention while it was played. (Nice to see). The flyover was a pair of V-22 Ospreys with the rotors tilted up in slow-flight mode. About a mile into the race, they made a second pass, coming toward us and this time rotors down and in high-speed flight mode. Way cool.

The run started well with overcast skies and cool-ish temperatures. In fact, around mile 3 or so was a sprinkling of rain.

I have been training with roughly 10:30 times, and was consistently hitting that mark, even in my 9 mile run, and still had plenty “left in the tank” at the 9 mile mark. Turns out that there was about 4 more miles in the tank. After around mile 13, I noticed my pace was slowing and realized that my (very optimistic) 5 hour time was not to be. Going in front of the Capital was the first time that I pulled the phone from my pocket, stopping to take a couple of selfies, and also took the opportunity to tell the DW that my expected time to go past her would be later than I had calculated.

It turns out that I crossed in front of the capital building right around 11:00 am, so I managed to beat the early closing of that gauntlet by a larger margin than I originally thought. I also managed to beat the bridge. Goodness that is a long bridge, and by then the sun was fully out and making for a lot of hot concrete. I feel bad for anyone who got diverted, but I’m happy with myself on a personal level that I beat all the gauntlets and cut-offs (something I was rather concerned about all last week.)

The blue mile was very sobering, seeing the photos and details of around 1000 fallen heros. I read nearly all of them on the right-hand side of the road. There were also many runners wearing “bibs” on their back with the names of fallen heros, running on their behalf.

Around mile 17, I started seriously questioning any future marathons. I also seriously questioned it during miles 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25….

I finally made it to Crystal City and saw the DW and got a quick kiss before resuming my pace. Coming out of Crystal City, we were offered fuel that I had never had before: coffee with syrup mixed in. Yummy.

After that it was more one-foot-in-front-of-the-other down the stretch. That last hill coming from off the main road and up to the Iwo Jima monument is indeed a hill, but it went quicker than anticipated and soon I had a Marine hanging a medal around my neck. Whew.

I took a few photos and then headed for the metro, as we had plans for a water taxi cruise and dinner at the wharf. As I was exiting the race area but still behind the barricades, I saw a woman grab one of the runners, another woman. The first lady told the runner that she was running with her daughter’s name on her back. A lot of crying and hugging ensued. I had to keep moving, as I had something in my eye…. (I’m still moved by that sight, sitting here 48 hours later writing this.)

My finish time was 5:57:52, which was waaaaay off my hoped for 5 hour time, but a new PR. A friend who is younger, thinner, and a much faster runner told me that it took him more than 6 hours his first MCM and over 5 the second time. I took much solace in that.

So it turns out that my HARM(TM) method of training will get one through a marathon, Goofy, or Dopey, but not as quickly as you might want. For that, probably go to Hanson or Galloway or one of the other methods with the longer weekend runs. Lesson learned. OTOH, we get back to the fact that I don’t make the extra time for all the longer runs, so while I would like to do better, I recognize where the problem is.

The heat and humidity: Until the last part of the race, it didn’t seem that bad to me, though as I have acknowledged, I seem to prefer slightly warmer running conditions than most. I saw a number of runners down, but (at the time) assumed it was the usual cramps, pulled something, blisters, etc. But you’ve seen the posts about all the IVs, and a guy I talked to the next morning saw the CPR being performed. He is from Minnesota and said that the heat was worse up there two weeks ago and agreed with Twin Cities race being canceled. (Not trying to reignite that conversation, just noting another data point.

Fuel: I did carb load starting on Tue of last week. After nearly two years of trying to eat low-carb and low-sugar, five days of carb loading felt odd. And after that and a whole day of race food, I’m glad to be getitng back to what is now my normal diet.

During the walk to the corral, I consumed a pair of fig newtons and the rest of the Tailwind. After that, I was taking in fuel about every four miles. It was Gu at 4 miles, a Glukose at 8 miles plus something the race was handing out. At the 12-13 mile mark I had a Maurtens. Around mile 16 was another Gu and some Bloks, and then the previously mentioned coffee/syrup. Plus water and electrolyte when offered.

So I can say that I think better fueling made a difference, and I’ll be applying those lessons learned to any future races.

The MCM is well organized and DC turns out for it. With all the music, cheering, and cowbells along the course, I turned off my Aftershokz at the halfway point.
Will I do it again? Probably not, only because of been-there and got the t-shirt and medal. But if you haven’t done it, it should be on your to-do list.

Congrats on the PR!!!

 

[Bree]

For the first time ever, my wife traveled to a race and was able to see me go by. (She was at the Princess Half, but met me after the race). DW and I arrived on Friday, visited the National Cathedral, then headed out to National Harbor for dinner and the expo. I really wanted a mug, but all they had were the steel tumblers, not ideal for coffee. But I took the opportunity acquire a MCM running hat, t-shirt, and sweatshirt. Merch gets me again. <sigh> Coming out of the expo I ran into some friends from church that I hadn’t seen in probably 5+ years because they changed churches after their kids were out of the house. I just didn’t expect to see anyone that I knew there.

Saturday saw us spend several hours in the Spy Museum. It was much better than I thought it might (said as someone who loves that stuff, and was concerned that it might be a bit cheezy. It isn’t.) Then some final carb loading in Old Town Alexandria.

Saturday night should have been an early bedtime, but we were listening to our team via the gameday app as we knocked off a ranked opponent. Oh well, I don’t usually get much sleep anyway.

Sunday morning, I get up, start getting dressed, and… where is the other end of the drawstring for my shorts?! One end had retreated several inches into the waistband, but I was able to inch it back to the opening. Maybe ten minutes lost total, but no harm.

I had mixed some Tailwind the night before and had that in combo with a Cliff bar for breakfast. No coffee for once. I had bought a Metro pass on Saturday as part of my last pre-race jog. We stayed in Crystal City, so an easy two block walk to the station. We all got off at Pentagon station and started the long walk to the starting corral. Walking past the Pentagon was the first time at a race with guys locked and loaded with automatic weapons. Cool. We also had to get searched, but that went quickly.

Also while walking along, I heard someone else behind me saying: “… should have been in bed but we were beating a ranked opponent...”. Yep, fellow alumni, so some fun conversation while walking.

While stretching against a lightpole, I noticed the guy next to me with a very familiar shirt: the 2009 Atlanta Half Marathon, which was the second half I ever ran, coming off the 2009 rD Half.

Unlike other races I’ve been in, the corrals were not physically separated. They have towers for estimated finishing times and you are expected to place yourself accordingly. Otherwise, it is one large corral.

During the national anthem, it wasn’t hard to identify the guy next to me as active or recently separated military by the way he stood at attention while it was played. (Nice to see). The flyover was a pair of V-22 Ospreys with the rotors tilted up in slow-flight mode. About a mile into the race, they made a second pass, coming toward us and this time rotors down and in high-speed flight mode. Way cool.

The run started well with overcast skies and cool-ish temperatures. In fact, around mile 3 or so was a sprinkling of rain.

I have been training with roughly 10:30 times, and was consistently hitting that mark, even in my 9 mile run, and still had plenty “left in the tank” at the 9 mile mark. Turns out that there was about 4 more miles in the tank. After around mile 13, I noticed my pace was slowing and realized that my (very optimistic) 5 hour time was not to be. Going in front of the Capital was the first time that I pulled the phone from my pocket, stopping to take a couple of selfies, and also took the opportunity to tell the DW that my expected time to go past her would be later than I had calculated.

It turns out that I crossed in front of the capital building right around 11:00 am, so I managed to beat the early closing of that gauntlet by a larger margin than I originally thought. I also managed to beat the bridge. Goodness that is a long bridge, and by then the sun was fully out and making for a lot of hot concrete. I feel bad for anyone who got diverted, but I’m happy with myself on a personal level that I beat all the gauntlets and cut-offs (something I was rather concerned about all last week.)

The blue mile was very sobering, seeing the photos and details of around 1000 fallen heros. I read nearly all of them on the right-hand side of the road. There were also many runners wearing “bibs” on their back with the names of fallen heros, running on their behalf.

Around mile 17, I started seriously questioning any future marathons. I also seriously questioned it during miles 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25….

I finally made it to Crystal City and saw the DW and got a quick kiss before resuming my pace. Coming out of Crystal City, we were offered fuel that I had never had before: coffee with syrup mixed in. Yummy.

After that it was more one-foot-in-front-of-the-other down the stretch. That last hill coming from off the main road and up to the Iwo Jima monument is indeed a hill, but it went quicker than anticipated and soon I had a Marine hanging a medal around my neck. Whew.

I took a few photos and then headed for the metro, as we had plans for a water taxi cruise and dinner at the wharf. As I was exiting the race area but still behind the barricades, I saw a woman grab one of the runners, another woman. The first lady told the runner that she was running with her daughter’s name on her back. A lot of crying and hugging ensued. I had to keep moving, as I had something in my eye…. (I’m still moved by that sight, sitting here 48 hours later writing this.)

My finish time was 5:57:52, which was waaaaay off my hoped for 5 hour time, but a new PR. A friend who is younger, thinner, and a much faster runner told me that it took him more than 6 hours his first MCM and over 5 the second time. I took much solace in that.

So it turns out that my HARM(TM) method of training will get one through a marathon, Goofy, or Dopey, but not as quickly as you might want. For that, probably go to Hanson or Galloway or one of the other methods with the longer weekend runs. Lesson learned. OTOH, we get back to the fact that I don’t make the extra time for all the longer runs, so while I would like to do better, I recognize where the problem is.

The heat and humidity: Until the last part of the race, it didn’t seem that bad to me, though as I have acknowledged, I seem to prefer slightly warmer running conditions than most. I saw a number of runners down, but (at the time) assumed it was the usual cramps, pulled something, blisters, etc. But you’ve seen the posts about all the IVs, and a guy I talked to the next morning saw the CPR being performed. He is from Minnesota and said that the heat was worse up there two weeks ago and agreed with Twin Cities race being canceled. (Not trying to reignite that conversation, just noting another data point.

Fuel: I did carb load starting on Tue of last week. After nearly two years of trying to eat low-carb and low-sugar, five days of carb loading felt odd. And after that and a whole day of race food, I’m glad to be getitng back to what is now my normal diet.

During the walk to the corral, I consumed a pair of fig newtons and the rest of the Tailwind. After that, I was taking in fuel about every four miles. It was Gu at 4 miles, a Glukose at 8 miles plus something the race was handing out. At the 12-13 mile mark I had a Maurtens. Around mile 16 was another Gu and some Bloks, and then the previously mentioned coffee/syrup. Plus water and electrolyte when offered.

So I can say that I think better fueling made a difference, and I’ll be applying those lessons learned to any future races.

The MCM is well organized and DC turns out for it. With all the music, cheering, and cowbells along the course, I turned off my Aftershokz at the halfway point.
Will I do it again? Probably not, only because of been-there and got the t-shirt and medal. But if you haven’t done it, it should be on your to-do list.

Woohoo for a new PR!

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

The MCM included a nifty patch along with the shirt and bib.
I was initially not sure what to do with the patch, but finally decided it would look pretty good on the sleeve of a T-shirt I bought at the expo.

 

[avondale]

For the first time ever, my wife traveled to a race and was able to see me go by. (She was at the Princess Half, but met me after the race). DW and I arrived on Friday, visited the National Cathedral, then headed out to National Harbor for dinner and the expo. I really wanted a mug, but all they had were the steel tumblers, not ideal for coffee. But I took the opportunity acquire a MCM running hat, t-shirt, and sweatshirt. Merch gets me again. <sigh> Coming out of the expo I ran into some friends from church that I hadn’t seen in probably 5+ years because they changed churches after their kids were out of the house. I just didn’t expect to see anyone that I knew there.

Saturday saw us spend several hours in the Spy Museum. It was much better than I thought it might (said as someone who loves that stuff, and was concerned that it might be a bit cheezy. It isn’t.) Then some final carb loading in Old Town Alexandria.

Saturday night should have been an early bedtime, but we were listening to our team via the gameday app as we knocked off a ranked opponent. Oh well, I don’t usually get much sleep anyway.

Sunday morning, I get up, start getting dressed, and… where is the other end of the drawstring for my shorts?! One end had retreated several inches into the waistband, but I was able to inch it back to the opening. Maybe ten minutes lost total, but no harm.

I had mixed some Tailwind the night before and had that in combo with a Cliff bar for breakfast. No coffee for once. I had bought a Metro pass on Saturday as part of my last pre-race jog. We stayed in Crystal City, so an easy two block walk to the station. We all got off at Pentagon station and started the long walk to the starting corral. Walking past the Pentagon was the first time at a race with guys locked and loaded with automatic weapons. Cool. We also had to get searched, but that went quickly.

Also while walking along, I heard someone else behind me saying: “… should have been in bed but we were beating a ranked opponent...”. Yep, fellow alumni, so some fun conversation while walking.

While stretching against a lightpole, I noticed the guy next to me with a very familiar shirt: the 2009 Atlanta Half Marathon, which was the second half I ever ran, coming off the 2009 rD Half.

Unlike other races I’ve been in, the corrals were not physically separated. They have towers for estimated finishing times and you are expected to place yourself accordingly. Otherwise, it is one large corral.

During the national anthem, it wasn’t hard to identify the guy next to me as active or recently separated military by the way he stood at attention while it was played. (Nice to see). The flyover was a pair of V-22 Ospreys with the rotors tilted up in slow-flight mode. About a mile into the race, they made a second pass, coming toward us and this time rotors down and in high-speed flight mode. Way cool.

The run started well with overcast skies and cool-ish temperatures. In fact, around mile 3 or so was a sprinkling of rain.

I have been training with roughly 10:30 times, and was consistently hitting that mark, even in my 9 mile run, and still had plenty “left in the tank” at the 9 mile mark. Turns out that there was about 4 more miles in the tank. After around mile 13, I noticed my pace was slowing and realized that my (very optimistic) 5 hour time was not to be. Going in front of the Capital was the first time that I pulled the phone from my pocket, stopping to take a couple of selfies, and also took the opportunity to tell the DW that my expected time to go past her would be later than I had calculated.

It turns out that I crossed in front of the capital building right around 11:00 am, so I managed to beat the early closing of that gauntlet by a larger margin than I originally thought. I also managed to beat the bridge. Goodness that is a long bridge, and by then the sun was fully out and making for a lot of hot concrete. I feel bad for anyone who got diverted, but I’m happy with myself on a personal level that I beat all the gauntlets and cut-offs (something I was rather concerned about all last week.)

The blue mile was very sobering, seeing the photos and details of around 1000 fallen heros. I read nearly all of them on the right-hand side of the road. There were also many runners wearing “bibs” on their back with the names of fallen heros, running on their behalf.

Around mile 17, I started seriously questioning any future marathons. I also seriously questioned it during miles 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25….

I finally made it to Crystal City and saw the DW and got a quick kiss before resuming my pace. Coming out of Crystal City, we were offered fuel that I had never had before: coffee with syrup mixed in. Yummy.

After that it was more one-foot-in-front-of-the-other down the stretch. That last hill coming from off the main road and up to the Iwo Jima monument is indeed a hill, but it went quicker than anticipated and soon I had a Marine hanging a medal around my neck. Whew.

I took a few photos and then headed for the metro, as we had plans for a water taxi cruise and dinner at the wharf. As I was exiting the race area but still behind the barricades, I saw a woman grab one of the runners, another woman. The first lady told the runner that she was running with her daughter’s name on her back. A lot of crying and hugging ensued. I had to keep moving, as I had something in my eye…. (I’m still moved by that sight, sitting here 48 hours later writing this.)

My finish time was 5:57:52, which was waaaaay off my hoped for 5 hour time, but a new PR. A friend who is younger, thinner, and a much faster runner told me that it took him more than 6 hours his first MCM and over 5 the second time. I took much solace in that.

So it turns out that my HARM(TM) method of training will get one through a marathon, Goofy, or Dopey, but not as quickly as you might want. For that, probably go to Hanson or Galloway or one of the other methods with the longer weekend runs. Lesson learned. OTOH, we get back to the fact that I don’t make the extra time for all the longer runs, so while I would like to do better, I recognize where the problem is.

The heat and humidity: Until the last part of the race, it didn’t seem that bad to me, though as I have acknowledged, I seem to prefer slightly warmer running conditions than most. I saw a number of runners down, but (at the time) assumed it was the usual cramps, pulled something, blisters, etc. But you’ve seen the posts about all the IVs, and a guy I talked to the next morning saw the CPR being performed. He is from Minnesota and said that the heat was worse up there two weeks ago and agreed with Twin Cities race being canceled. (Not trying to reignite that conversation, just noting another data point.

Fuel: I did carb load starting on Tue of last week. After nearly two years of trying to eat low-carb and low-sugar, five days of carb loading felt odd. And after that and a whole day of race food, I’m glad to be getitng back to what is now my normal diet.

During the walk to the corral, I consumed a pair of fig newtons and the rest of the Tailwind. After that, I was taking in fuel about every four miles. It was Gu at 4 miles, a Glukose at 8 miles plus something the race was handing out. At the 12-13 mile mark I had a Maurtens. Around mile 16 was another Gu and some Bloks, and then the previously mentioned coffee/syrup. Plus water and electrolyte when offered.

So I can say that I think better fueling made a difference, and I’ll be applying those lessons learned to any future races.

The MCM is well organized and DC turns out for it. With all the music, cheering, and cowbells along the course, I turned off my Aftershokz at the halfway point.
Will I do it again? Probably not, only because of been-there and got the t-shirt and medal. But if you haven’t done it, it should be on your to-do list.

Congratulations on a great finish! That's a hard race, especially under those conditions.

 

[luv2cheer92]

Thought I would share, the runner who received CPR and was flown out is doing well.

 

[StarGirl11]

If y’all haven’t seen this was sent out in an email this morning:

I can’t for the life of me remember if anyone else who missed the gauntlets because of the choices made. But I was sure happy to see this.

Also really appreciate the transparency in coming out and saying what happened and why they made their choices in the email.

This is surreal to me because it means I’m now officially one away from entrance to Runners Club.