My Experience - 5/5
This race was
another chance to run with the marines again after last year's Marine Corps
marathon, which was organized really well. Ranjan and I registered for half
marathon, Neha and Shailendra for 10K. The expo was fun and Neha and I had ball
of a time collecting all freebies. Fredericksburg is just one hour away from
Richmond, so next day we chose to drive early morning. The start lines for 10K
and half were different, so we dropped Neha and Shailendra at 10K start line
early and drove to half marathon start. There was a security check before
the starting area, which is a unique feature of all Marine Corps races. |
| Start line |
There were
thousands of runners at the start line in different waves. We were in 2:00-2:30
wave, even though Ranjan is much faster. Even though the start time was 7 AM,
it was still around 70 F with lot of humidity. The waves moved fast and soon we
started our run. Once again I forgot to start my Garmin, so I waited till 1st
mile marker to start it. For the first few miles there was nothing much to look
around other than volunteers holding flags on other side of road in second
mile. The course had a gradual downhill, faster pace but easy on quads. Marines
were placed near every mile marker to encourage people and volunteers were
cheerful.
We reached near
university area in mile 4. The route was flatter and as we were passing the
university and entering residential areas, there were more spectators around to
support. There were few historical buildings and statutes along the way, but
nothing I could recognize. This race still the warm up for upcoming training,
so I was at my comfortable pace. Until we reached mile 9 we were just getting
in and out of different streets in residential areas.
As I approached
mile marker 10, I saw a few signs for the next hill. The hill is called
Hospital Hill. I had heard about it before, but then hearing the stories and
looking at a long winding hill going to the top are very different feelings.
There were so many people there - Marines, spectators and volunteers, cheering
runners loudly. Sounds of 'Good
Job', 'You look Strong' for
the ones who were trying to run or 'You
can do it', 'You are almost done' for those who are just slowly
walking the hill. The hill was almost a mile long which took me almost 15 mins
with run-walk on my weary untrained legs.
The hospital hill
was over but the relief did not last long. Next was the gradual uphill which
made the start easy. There were volunteers holding American flags in remembrance
and honor of the fallen marines. This could make anyone try harder to run and
finish strong, and that's exactly was happening with most of runners.
The last mile was
relatively easy. The hill was gone and finish line was near, so ran as fast as I
could. At the finish line marines gave out the medal. The medal was beautiful.
13.1 intricately made out metal. I finished 2:32, a little better than
Petersburg. Neha was waiting for me at the finish line. Neha and Shailendra
completed their 10K a while ago, and Ranjan finished half much before me.
It was a great
race. Well organized, with some amazing support along the way. I will
definitely do it again sometime.
