Rock 'n' Roll reunion!

Pre-race festivities.

Back in November, my friend, high school classmate, and IronMan, Scott, posted on Facebook about registering for the inaugural Rock 'n' Roll DC marathon and half-marathon. He put a call out for friends to join him, and several of us signed up. Pretty soon, we noticed a pattern: we were all graduates of the same high school from around the same time period. So, Rock 'n' Roll DC became the unofficial South River High School 15-ish year reunion race.

The race happened on Saturday (aka: St. Patrick's Day). I originally signed up for the full marathon, but for reasons described in previous posts, I decided to run the half. I took it easy in the B&A Half two weeks ago, and finished in a little over 2:19. For this race, I planned to push it and try to come in at or under 2:15.

In the beginning, everything went smoothly. I had no problem getting to the race, parking, and finding my start corral. I wasn't officially part of a pace group, but I positioned myself within sight of the 2:15 pacers. The crowd of 24,000 runners had a very excited, positive energy. While waiting for the start, I chatted with some friendly fellow runners, including a nervous first-time marathoner (I hope she did great!). At the time of the start, the temperature was an unseasonably warm mid-50's, but I was comfortable in capris, a short-sleeve shirt, and arm warmers.

I stayed comfortable for maybe 1 mile. By the time I hit mile 2, I was pouring sweat. I had stripped off the arm warmers and was seriously regretting the decision to wear capris instead of shorts. I was also having some muscle pain up high in my right leg. Nothing awful, but enough to worry about how the rest of the race would go. Fortunately, my awesome boyfriend Andrew and his equally awesome brother Chris were waiting for me a little after mile 3. I was able to give them the arm warmers and a request for some Advil. They agreed to pick it up and meet me between miles 7 and 8.

I held on to a good pace for the first 5 miles. For 1-4, I was a little ahead of the 2:15 pacers. Around mile 5, they caught up with me. I was pretty tired by that point, so I decided to slow down and just keep the pacers in my sight. That worked for maybe 2 miles. Around mile 7, they pulled ahead of me and I never saw them again. I also didn't see Andrew and Chris. The crowds were thick and I heard that Metro was backed up, so I figured we missed each other. A little sad, but no big deal.

By the time I got to mile 9, I was very ready for the race to be done. I was hot, tired, and a little demoralized because I knew I would not achieve my goal for the day. As I rounded the corner toward mile 10, I got a pleasant surprise: Andrew! He had missed me at mile 7, but hopped on another train to catch me later. Better yet, he had my Advil! I thanked him, took the pills, and headed for the finish.

When I hit mile 12, I knew that 2:15 was way out of reach. So was my previous half PR of 2:16:30. At that point, I just wanted to do my best and finish ahead of my 2:19 from two weeks ago. With the finish line in sight, I tried to do a "finishing kick" and just couldn't muster it. This actually made me feel better- if nothing else, I knew that I had left it all on the course.

I wound up finishing in 2:18:52. On Saturday, I was disappointed with that time. Not only had I dropped back from the full, I hadn't even achieved my goal for the half. A couple days later, though, I entered my time into my race results database and got some perspective. I've run 11 half-marathons, and this was my 3rd fastest. So, not a PR, but not bad!

After the race, I found Chris in the family meet-up area, but no Andrew. Chris explained that Andrew had "Metro issues." A few minutes later, a breathless Andrew turned up and gave me the full story. He and Chris had major train issues between miles 3 and 7. When Andrew realized he wasn't going to catch me at 7, he panicked about not getting me the Advil. So, he hopped on another train to meet me at mile 10. After that, he couldn't find a train that would get him to the finish line in time to see me come in. So, he decided to run. The same boyfriend who just struggled through his first 5K ran over 2 miles through hot and crowded streets in jeans and regular shoes just to get to my race finish! He was upset that he didn't make it in time, but I was too flattered to care about that. He is the best!

Finished!

After the race, several of the SR alumni runners met at Scott's house for a post-race BBQ. With the exception of Scott, I hadn't seen any of these people since our graduation in 1997. It was great to catch up and hear everyone's race stories. Among the achievements of the day: Scott PR'd in the marathon by 20 minutes, my friends Amy and Jeremy ran their first marathons, and Scott and his husband made some AMAZING post-race burgers.

South River runners! We were all over-achievers then and it seems we stayed that way!

All in all, a great day. Several days later, Amy is still on her post-marathon high and already planning the next SR reunion race. So, look out Baltimore- Edgewater is coming for you!