DC Mall - 2006 MCM

The first ten miles flew by. I think a lot of it was because this was the goal. We had been training for almost a month and here it was. I also think the first ten miles went by so fast because I was running with Olga. We had trained together and it was really cool to be able to run with her for the ten miles.

After running out of Rock Creek Park we headed onto the Mall. This was a BLAST!!! The Mall is where the spectators were out in force. There were spectators cheering us on for the first ten miles, but it was nothing compared with the people out on the Mall. Imagine running down the road with people packed on both sides cheering you on and encouraging you. It was such a rock star moment.

The Mall was also the first place I met up with my personal supporters. They consisted of my parents, my brother and my sister-in-law. It was really great to see familiar faces after running ten miles. I think they were impressed to see us in such good shape. We didn’t stop to say chat – there was running to do.

A few yards after seeing my family we ran into one of my coworkers. It was really cool to see people from work out there supporting us. It made it just a little bit easier to keeping picking up my feet knowing that people were pulling for me.

Unfortunately the Mall wasn’t all puppies and rainbows. After ten miles Olga was ready to speed up a little. I was planning to run at the same place, so it was time for us to part company for the rest of the run. It was a lot of fun running with her, so I was sad to see her go. But on the other hand I was really pulling for her to do her best and be happy with her time. So we told each other good luck and she went off.

Running on the streets around the Mall was cool. I enjoyed being able to see all the museums and tourist attractions. Running by the Capitol was neat. There was a high school band set up directly in front of the Capitol. When I was running up they started playing the Star Wars theme song. That was another boost of energy to help me on the way.

One of my favorite parts about the Mall was the kids. Every now and then there would be a small group of young children standing on the side of the road. There was one group of kids that stands out in my mind. It was right after the Capital, so I was still on my Star Wars high. There was a group of five or six young children standing on the side of the road. The kids must have been between five and ten years old. They were just standing there with their hands up in the air, waiting for a runner to go by and give them high five. Whenever I saw kids like that I always tried to go over and give them five. Just seeing their faces light up when they know they’re about to make contact was really electrifying.

Running on the Mall is where I first started to feel the run in my joints and mussels. I guess that’s good, because it took about half the run for me to notice it. My second meeting place with my family was at the Washington Monument. When I was on the Mall, close to the Capital I looked up to get an idea of how much further I needed to go. It kinda freaked me out a little when I couldn’t find it. So I ran a little more and looked up again. Nope, still nothing. I got a little more freaked out, but I kept plugging away. I never figured I would have trouble seeing something so big and well, monumental. Eventually I got to a place where I could see it, so it was all good in the end.