Driving down to D.C. the day before was interesting with a rare October snow storm hitting the area! Ok, with all the rain we had to deal with at the end of summer and early fall, this was seriously not funny! Fortunately for us it all cleared out overnight leaving us with a very chilly race day morning with temps in the 30's! Layers were the order of the day. Chris & I were prepared to line up in corral 2, however our friend Ted convinced us to join him in the front corral. Indeed we were, as my chip time was 10 seconds off the clock time!
Overall, this race was fabulous. The Marines served as volunteers for the race and were themselves a profound presence. Crowd support was also top notch and except for this lonely highway portion of the race at around mile 21, there were plenty of energetic people encouraging us along the way. Being "Miss Consistent," my race splits were laughably even. I ran with the 3:15 pace group for a few miles in the middle, but had to slowly watch them disappear around mile 17. Chris ran with blistering speed (actually incurring two really nasty blisters!) at sub 7's for the first 30k. We got to see each other once on the course at an out-and-back section, so were happy to note that we were both on track to PR.
Ted and I met up between mile 25 and 26 and pushed each other to the finish. The last .2 is literally up a steep hill, so my stride turned into a bow-legged, groaning shuffle! What a great feeling to be completely DONE and have a Marine award you with a finisher's medal! I couldn't have asked for a better end to an amazing, emotional racing season with both Chris and I accomplishing so much and earning two hard-fought PR's! Chris: 3:10:00; Polly: 3:19:55
The post-race massage and celebratiory beers were a great reward on an amazing day. Thanks to Chris, HCM Foundation, friends & family and my dad's inspiration for this unforgettable 2011 season.
