I took the train down on Saturday with my sister Cathy. Our first stop was to pick up my race day number (bib) and participants bag. We got there late because of a delay in our train but thankfully another TNT participant allowed us to jump the line, thus saving me about 2 1/2 hours of standing in line. Here I am with my official participants bag! Nikes slogan for the race was We Run DC. It was everywhere!
Race day started at 4:45 AM! Yikes that was early. If you know me in real life, you know that I have a very strong love affair with coffee. Very strong! In fact, I usually can't stomach food until I've had at least two (sometime more) cups of coffee. My biggest race day concern was that I wasn't going to have enough coffee in my system to keep things moving (know what I mean?). Anyway. The entire TNT team from Delaware, there were 35 of us, met in the lobby at 5:15 so we could walk over together. It was still dark at this point!
The race kicked off at 7:00 am and my pace group crossed the start/finish line at about 7:07. It was a very well run event. There was SO many people that it was hard to find a good line to run at first. Here is a picture I took from my phone during the race as we were crossing a bridge. It is hard to make out but the Washington Monument is in the foreground and there are thousands of runners on the bridge. It was quiet a sight. They had a lot of spectators cheering and holding up signs. Some were so funny like 'run like Ryan Gosling is at the finish line', or 'you kick assphalt' and others were so touching like the little boy holding up the sign 'thanks for running for me, I've been in remission for 14 months'.
I was met at the finish line by my sister Cathy and cousin John. I was SO happy to see a friendly face. Even though I ran through TNT, I was essentially running alone for all 13.1 miles. That is a really long time to run by yourself, at least it was to me...
One part of being a part of TNT is the ritual of decorating your jersey the night before the race. It was with a heavy heart that I put names on my jersey because cancer is such a terrible disease and claims way too many lives.
I ran in memory of Joe Rodden, my beloved cousins partner who passed away from cancer earlier in April at the very young age of 51. Joe was an amazing man and was a big part of fabric of my extended family. He is sorely missed.
I also ran in memory of my sister Cathy's friend Susan Logan who passed away last week from complications brought on by the treatment of multiple myeloma (a blood cancer). Susan was only 55 and will be missed by her family and friends.
On a happier note, I ran in honor of my amazing sister Cathy. She is a breast cancer survivor and we are so thankful for that!
One sort of different or unique thing about the Nike Women's race series is that instead of a medal, finishers get a Tiffany necklace. Necklaces are handed out in little blue boxes by ROTC members holding silver trays and wearing tuxedos. I am super bummed that I didn't get my picture taken with one of the boys handing out necklaces. It was so fun. Here is a picture of my little blue box and my finishers necklace. You can now bid on these on ebay, the bids are up over $100...
I am so happy that I signed up for this race and did it! The last time I ran a half marathon was 20 years ago and I really don't remember doing much training for it. This time around I trained super hard and ran in all sorts of weather (including snow). I owe a big Thank You to my husband and kids who supported me by allowing me the time to train.
Overall, I am happy with the race I ran. I had a goal time in mind which I did not meet but I'm okay with that. I now know what I would do differently, if I run another half marathon or even a full marathon in the future.
Finally, I am so thankful to everyone who supported me by sponsoring me and donating money to the LLS. With your help, TNT raised over 6 Million dollars through this race alone.
So Thank You, we are all one step closer to a cure!
1 comment:
You're amazing Anne!!!!! To run in honor of the many people you know who died of cancer and for your sister, who is a survivor, you give hope to us all! That Tiffany necklace is just beautiful!!!!!
Hate to ask, but what security super tight?
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