Brian Baresch
I was in DC on business, and this was a free fun run put on during the Cherry Blossom 10-Mile. After
the 6,500 in the big race took off, a couple hundred of us headed southeast from the Tidal Basin
along the Potomac past dozens of cherry trees in bloom, out and back, no awards, but patches to the
first 300.
It was a beautiful day for a race, about 40 degrees and sunny with a light wind. I had to jog 2
miles to get to the race site because the subway doesn't open till 8 on weekends. So that's my
excuse for again not breaking 22 (that and all the hotel food since I'm on a business trip). I did,
however, place 10th -- soft field! The first mile was marked long so I don't really know my splits.
I started out in 6th place, then some guys caught me and we ran mostly together for a while,
drafting each other in the headwind on the return leg.
After finishing in 22:07.5 (not bad, after all) and collecting my patch (kinda neat) I got Gatorade,
a banana and a muffin and hung out to watch the 10-mile finishers. They were fast! Bill Rodgers was
in the field; he won the race 4 times, I think. Then he cheered for some other finishers. Nice guy.
We had to share part of the course with some cars. Bleh. Otherwise things were OK besides the mile
marker. The cherry trees are awesome! I had never been to D.C. in spring before.
Two and a half stars (a great value for the $0 entry fee). Brian Bob says check it out.
--
Brian P. Baresch Fort Worth, Texas, USA Professional editing and proofreading
If you're going through hell, keep going. --Winston Churchill
the 6,500 in the big race took off, a couple hundred of us headed southeast from the Tidal Basin
along the Potomac past dozens of cherry trees in bloom, out and back, no awards, but patches to the
first 300.
It was a beautiful day for a race, about 40 degrees and sunny with a light wind. I had to jog 2
miles to get to the race site because the subway doesn't open till 8 on weekends. So that's my
excuse for again not breaking 22 (that and all the hotel food since I'm on a business trip). I did,
however, place 10th -- soft field! The first mile was marked long so I don't really know my splits.
I started out in 6th place, then some guys caught me and we ran mostly together for a while,
drafting each other in the headwind on the return leg.
After finishing in 22:07.5 (not bad, after all) and collecting my patch (kinda neat) I got Gatorade,
a banana and a muffin and hung out to watch the 10-mile finishers. They were fast! Bill Rodgers was
in the field; he won the race 4 times, I think. Then he cheered for some other finishers. Nice guy.
We had to share part of the course with some cars. Bleh. Otherwise things were OK besides the mile
marker. The cherry trees are awesome! I had never been to D.C. in spring before.
Two and a half stars (a great value for the $0 entry fee). Brian Bob says check it out.
--
Brian P. Baresch Fort Worth, Texas, USA Professional editing and proofreading
If you're going through hell, keep going. --Winston Churchill
