Everything about this race was good! It all began last week with a call from QP saying she was coming up to run it with me. Weather man called for 70% chance of rain with a chance of mixed precipitation. Didn't happen. Must have been QP's lucky bib number ... 18018 (18 is her favorite number). My friend Anne picked us up at 5:30am from my house and we drove 45 minutes to the metro station. Rode the metro train for 15 minutes and arrived at 14th and Constitution Ave. We immediately got in the incredibly long bathroom line. I was thankful for my 30 gal windbreaker (trash bag), because it was dark with a cold breeze (but no rain). After the porta john line was the bag check line. This race had 30,000 runners so there was a LOT of people. We made it to the start just shortly before our corral moved to the start line. Our timing was perfect. The race route was beautiful through the city and the music was great! There were 35 bands along the route with a wonderful diversity of music and musicians. The people in the city were friendly and enthusiastic (even in the shady parts of town). QP helped us pass the time (especially when things began to get a little painful after mile 20) by educating us with totally useless trivia. The conversation was great the whole way as we learned about Napoleon, Pirates, and South Africa. The race ended at the DC Armory and most of the post-race goodies were gone (even the beer). It was still good though because we got out bagels, bananas, apples, chips, and gatorade. Since we were late arrivals we were able to restock on free reusable Safeway shopping bags (leftovers). Everything about this race was awesome ... I mean groovy :) | 