Cherry Blossom 10 miler minus 6.9 miles

We signed up for the Cherry Blossom 10 miler.  So excited  - we made it into the lottery, we had 4 months to train and booked a hotel room.  Then winter hit.  And it never stopped.  There was snow on March 30th.

Really - March 30th

 I had to come to the realization that we’d have to switch to the 5k.  I was really disappointed.  A month before the race I actually thought that maybe I could get there.  I had run my first 10k (unofficial).  The next week I attempted 7 miles.  My knee really started to hurt.  Sharp pains.  I walked the last 1.5 miles.  I knew then if I tried for the 10 miles I would risk injuring myself.  No race is worth hurting yourself over.  My husband wasn’t ready either.  We switched to the 5k and decided we would enjoy our weekend in DC.   

When switching to the 5k, we still were going to have the 10-mile bibs, the instructions were, just to line up at the 5k start.   One of thing that the website said was that the amenities were the same for the 5k and the 10 mile.  We picked up our race packet and shirt.  Feeling a bit silly since the shirt says Cherry Blossom 10 miler but oh well.  Afterwards we had a nice dinner at Osteria Morini by the Navy Yard.

Our view from dinner

We had a quiet night and the next morning we walked over to the Washington Monument for the start.

The 10-miler had started an hour before and as we neared the race area we got to see some of the Elite runners come in.  Very cool! Unfortunately, we had to cross the race area to get the 5k start area.  Not great planning.  It was a lovely run.  The cherry blossoms weren’t quite ready yet (just like us ☺).   I had ordered medals for us because we were running 10 miles!!  We went to get the 5k medals and were told that we ordered the 10-mile medal so we had to go over to the 10-mile area and get the 10 mile medal.  We trudge over there.  As we did, many 10 milers were crossing the finish line.  As they did the announcer was calling them by name.  Wow!  We entered 10-mile town.  We had to laugh.  Same amenities my foot.  Okay, so these people did just run 10 miles, we were given Gatorade cups filled with water from jugs when we finished the 5k.  This is what they had.

We went to get the medal.  It was of course more of a joke then anything at this point.  At the 5k, there was a lady handing the people the medal.   At 10-mile town they put the medal over your neck and congratulated you.

I’m the first to realize what a big deal 10 miles is.  I also know as all runners should that 3 miles can be a big deal for some of us and was for most of us at one time.  In the beginning…
The Cherry Blossom 10 miler is about running 10 miles.  They are kind to give the 5k option especially for the people that just aren’t ready.  We had did have a great time and hope one day to actually do the ten-miler at some point. **On the back on the medal, I'm writing 10 - 6.9 :)