Heading Northeasterly – Day 4
Race day (Sunday, 10/25) started out even earlier than the
others, as we hopped in a cab at 5am to head to the nearest Metro station to
Toni and Robert’s house, King Street.
The Metro opened its doors at 5am that day, so we figured we’d skip the
very first rush and hop on around 5:15 or so.
Ready to spectate!
Our plan worked pretty well, and we hopped into a nearly
empty car to claim a seat.
Public transit selfie!
The Metro dumped us out at the Pentagon station, and we
strolled the short walk through the security checkpoint to the start line
village. Apparently, as the day went on,
several problems made the security lines rather long – so long, in fact, that
many runners missed the actual start completely. According to reports, a Metro train hit a
deer and the delays on the line caused tons of runners to be dumped at Pentagon
station all at the same time. Added to
this, the metal detectors at the security checkpoint started malfunctioning in
the drizzle that kicked up and shorted out, causing every runner and spectator
getting access into the start line village to be wanded by security
personnel. Since the race is chip timed
(meaning your time actually starts when you cross the start line, not when the
gun officially goes off), this worked out fine, but it was a hassle for
awhile. Since we were there way early,
however, we didn’t have any problems.
The Pentagon after
dark
In many big races, it’s nice to have a balloon or some other
way for your runner to find you, and the first one I saw on Sunday set the
standard pretty high for all those to follow.
In case you can’t tell, that’s a giant tick balloon:
This kind of
sucks. Ha!
Since we were there way early, we had time to wander and
find the actual start line, and then we took refuge with some other runners in
a bus station out of the wind and rain to stay dry and warm.
Eventually, however, the start time neared,
and Chris shed his warm layers and started getting ready for reals.
Trash bag: Check!
The flotilla of UPS
trucks for gear check
A team of paratroopers brought in the flag, and a great
group sang the “Star Spangled Banner.”
Cool, right?
Look at the scale of
the flag versus the person –
that’s big.
The pre-race festivities also included a flyover by two
Osprey aircraft, which was super neat.
Those dudes are loud!
Trendy bird!
Eventually, the gun went off (this being the Marine Corps
Marathon – MCM – it was actually a Howitzer cannon), and I headed to the other
side of the start line, hoping to catch Chris as he officially crossed it. Since there were around 25K runners, it took
at least 15 minutes for him to get to the actual start line, and I was happy to
grab a few shots as he began his run.
Here he is!
And there he goes!
To say the course was thronged with spectators would be a
bit of an understatement. As I walked
toward the bridge across the Potomac that would take me to my first viewing
spot, I turned around to take another glimpse of the start:
That’s a lot of folks.
Since I wasn’t meeting Chris until mile 10, I had a good
hour and a half to wander around, and I grabbed the opportunity. Most streets were closed to vehicular
traffic, and it was lovely to just roam where I wanted for a bit. I viewed the fall foliage:
Took a shot with the Lincoln Memorial:
And listened to the Marine Corps Band:
Eventually, I wandered into the tunnel around mile 10 and
settled on the curb in a nice, dry spot that gave me a good view of the
race. I got out the race magazine for
some light reading and set out the sign I made celebrating all of the
Fryar/Ashley/Hoff/Olsen family members that served in the Armed Forces.
You are all amazing!
Several wheelchair racers were starting to come through, and
it was awesome to see these amazing athletes.
Here comes one now:
Zoom!
I was also in place to see the eventual race winner fly by,
led by a police motorcade and the press vehicle, which happened to be one of
those amphibious Duck Tour boats:
The winning runner is
in an Army singlet,
and he’s being chased very closely by a gentleman in a Navy one.
Using the runner tracking option on the MCM iPhone app
(technology is amazing), I knew Chris was getting close, and I was able to snap
a few shots of him as he flew by, right on pace.
Almost halfway done!
My next stop to see him was around mile 16, when the pack of
runners made a curve around the Lincoln Memorial end of the National Mall. I headed across another bridge and over to
the Lincoln Memorial, as I recalled they had accessible bathrooms near the
bottom of the exhibit.
A view from one of the
bridges over the course
After visiting the restroom, I touristed a bit, snapping
some shots:
The Washington
Monument from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial
Presidential selfie!
Around this time, the crew back at the house was starting to
wake up, and Toni shared a great story with me.
A few days earlier, Juliet spotted my leg tattoo and asked me to explain
all of the images on it. I did and she
seemed good to go. Apparently, since she
now knew that both her Mommy AND Aunt Amy had tattoos, she decided to give
herself one as well.
It’s a cat.
I moved along to my next spot and eventually, Chris came by,
still right on pace. After a quick
sunglasses hand-off, he was on his way again.
“Hi, hon! Can you take my glasses? Love you, bye!”
After seeing him there, I attempted to hike out to where I
could see him cross a bridge around mile 21, but sadly, I didn’t make it in
time. I started my hike back to the
finish line, stopping to take a picture of the runners coming back past the
Pentagon:
In checking Facebook, I learned that someone else was also
posting shots, albeit while he was running.
Here’s one of the Capital building:
Multitasking!
I made my way to the finish line and found a spot in the
stands just short of the line itself.
The line was right next to Arlington Cemetery, and the scenery was
amazing.
People watching was
also amazing.
Even the Dark Side can’t resist the power of a smiley dog.
I kept an eye on the app and eventually, Chris rounded the
final corner to head uphill the final .2 miles to close out his race.
There he is!
He crossed the finish line and nabbed a shot of the Marine
Corps Memorial, steps away from the line.
Eventually, we reunited (this seriously took a lengthy
amount of time – this was not the highlight of the race for us) and found our
way to the finish line festival and UPS trucks, so Chris could pick up his gear
and change into a clean shirt.
Sitting, at last!
We fought our way back into the Metro station and headed
back to King Street, where Toni picked us up and took us home for much needed
showers and rest. The whole gang piled
into the car and we had a late lunch/early dinner at the Dogfish Head Café,
which was pretty good but could have been just a bit better. Then, it was back home to watch more Bake Off and start packing, as we were
heading out the next morning.
On the next blog, we head to New York City to see
Sarah! And Blue!
Later!
Amy
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