DC Cherry Blossom 10 Miler

Lucked out getting into this race on my first try! Had a big PR goal for this distance, and the course was a good one to go for it! Blossoms were out, and so were the big names on hand, including Meb, an Altra athlete I follow – Tyler McCandless from Easton, and Olympic Champion Joan Benoit Samuelson, who I met at the expo and raced shoulder to shoulder at mile 4. She was 30 seconds behind me at the finish! I thought the expo was one of the best I’ve ever seen, with a lot of great gear and fun interactive booths. The open floor plan was terrific for catching portions of different speakers throughout the day. Autograph sessions were awesome too. The race day was well organized, volunteers were excellent, and results were up quickly. My wife loved the tracking app, and said it was the best she’d ever used. I wish the photos were included in the rather high registration price, but what can you do. Their were some runners complaining about that there was no medal included (available for additional cost), and the cheap cotton shirts weren’t impressive (also available to upgrade $$$), but just running in DC during the Cherry Blossom Festival with some of the greatest names in the sport is special enough to please me.