UPDATED: Nike Women's Half Course Guide (DC)

A week ago as I was starting to visualize my race for the Nike Women's Half Marathon in DC, I put together a course guide based on the information I had from Nike and from bloggers who ran it last year. Since this race was COMPLETELY AWESOME (see my recap here) and I hope to do it again next year, I'm updating the guide with my actual observations from the race. And hopefully this will help someone who is running in 2015 and putting together her own race visualization! 

The top bullets have my pre-race thoughts for each mile, and the indented bullets have my post-race annotations. I've also added some info on the start and the finish areas.

Start area

• The race corrals were well spread out over many blocks along Pennsylvania Avenue so they didn't feel crowded. 
• The info sheet said corrals would be "closed" at 6:50 but there was no way to actually close them and you could have gotten into your corral after that time.
• Unlike the first year of the race, there was a wave start. I was in the third (final) wave and the wait wasn't too long. I crossed the start line 17 minutes after the first wave started.
• I took my "throw-away" clothes off too soon because I wasn't sure there would be a place to put them near the start. Hang onto them until you are almost to the start line - there are places to toss them and you need to save your energy for running, not burn it off trying to stay warm.

Course Guide

• First Mile: Pennsylvania Ave and around the Capitol. First race photographer on Pennsylvania Ave. Race entertainment at the beginning and end of the mile.
• First mile was indeed gorgeous. Fantastic view of the Capitol. The photo opportunity was well marked with signs, but I didn't actually see the photographer because there were so many people packed together at the beginning of the race. There was a bonus photographer at the end of mile 1 that hadn't been marked on the official course guide. The bonus photographer was on the left side of the course. 
• Second Mile: National Gallery of Art along Constitution Ave. First water stop around 1.75 (this water stop might also be accessible at 12.75, map is unclear).  Race entertainment just past the water stop.
• The first water stop was around 1.75 (left side of course), and this same water stop was indeed accessible later in the race at 12.75. Water stops had Nuun at the first tables, water at the last ones.
• Third Mile: Through the 9th Street Tunnel - race entertainment on both ends of the tunnel! Last year it was drums that reverberated through the tunnel.  Expect Garmin to go wonky from lost satellites. More race entertainment, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Holocaust Museum, and "Moms Run This Town" water stop close to mile marker 3.
• The tunnel was freaking amazing. There were drums and bands throughout and the sound traveled beautifully. The giant "Run DC" neon sign was set up in the tunnel and many stopped for a photo op there. My Garmin did not lose its signal in the tunnel! Water stop at mile 3 was on left side of course.
• Fourth Mile: Around the Tidal Basin, views of Washington Monument, WWII Memorial, MLK Memorial.  Race entertainment past mile marker 3.  Have my first GU towards the end of the mile, before water stop at mile marker 4.
• I remember seeing the Washington Monument and the WWII Memorial. I'm not positive which side of the course the water stop was on, but I think it might have been the right side this time. We ran over the 5k timing strip towards the beginning of this section - this is a good place to mention that the race tracking site worked great and my friends were able to track my progress and get updates at 5k/ 10k/ 15k/ 20k/ finish.
• Fifth Mile: Lincoln Memorial and Memorial Bridge.  Race entertainment at both ends of the bridge.
• There was an awesome band with an Asian dragon (?) at the beginning of the bridge. A great college band at the end of the bridge. I ran on the right while on the bridge so I could high five people running on the other side of the bridge - totally empowering and fun!
• Sixth Mile: More Memorial Bridge, up Rock Creek Parkway toward Kennedy Center.  Water stop at 5.5 with Clif Bloks. Race Photographer before mile marker 6.
• Water stop was on the left side of the course and the Clif Bloks were first, followed by Nuun, then water. There were Clif Bloks all over the ground and they were sticky. Run with care! There was no race photographer at mile marker 6 like the course guide had indicated.
• Seventh Mile: Back down Rock Creek Parkway, second peek at Lincoln Memorial.  Race entertainment towards the end of the mile.
• Giant tv screen with live video feed at mile 6.55 to announce that you are halfway! Wave your hands in the air to help you see yourself. There was a great band in this stretch - I think the George Mason University Green Machine band.
• Eighth Mile: Heading into West Potomac and towards Hains Point. Views of Jefferson Memorial and George Mason Memorial.  Have my second GU before water stop ~7.75.
• I don't remember anything particularly memorable about this mile, so I will mention here that there is great signage along the race course for the porta-potties, and each bathroom station had a sign that told how many miles until the next set of porta-potties. Very informative and a nice touch. There were lines at all of the bathrooms, but they weren't too long. They were much shorter than the pictures I saw of the lines during the first year of this race.
• Ninth Mile: More running towards Hains Point. Race entertainment around 8.3.  Hoping for energizing signs like they had last year, this can be a tough stretch with limited spectators and possible wind.
• Not a lot of spectators in this section. The band and dancing at mile 8.3 was very welcome. There were no clever race signs in this stretch like there were the first year (things like, "Run harder than your mascara"). There were coaches in green shirts in this section (and throughout the race course) that provided encouragement for the "team in training" runners and made sure they were doing okay.
• Tenth Mile: Rounding Hains Point, race entertainment at the tip.  Water stop at 9.25 with Luna Bars. 
• This mile included lots of good stuff, but all packed pretty closely together at the base of Hains Point. There was a water stop (on the right?) with Luna bars (first tables), Nuun (middle tables), water (last tables). There was a huge presence of college students from George Mason and Howard (maybe other schools that I didn't notice) that were cheering runners on - very welcomed after such a desolate stretch. There was an announcer who was calling out names of random runners as they passed.
• Eleventh Mile: Heading back out of West Potomac. Entertainment and race photographer around 10.75.  Have my last GU (wait until you pass the photographer! No GU pictures!!) before water stop at mile marker 11.
• There was good signage telling us the photo opportunity was coming up and photographers were on both sides of the course. (And by the way our race photos came to us through the Nike "We Run DC" app and they were free!!) The water stop was on the left.
• Twelfth Mile: the mysterious "Whole Foods Chocolate Mile". What is it? Chocolate Milk? Chocolates? I think Nike Women's in San Fran had Ghirardelli chocolates.  Race entertainment around 11.25.  Expect a steep uphill highway ramp.
• Whole Foods was handing out individually wrapped truffles in this mile. There were many chocolate stations over the course of a quarter mile or so. Lots of truffles on the ground, too, so tread carefully again! And the hill wasn't too steep but it was definitely a hill and a little long since it was a highway ramp. 
• Thirteenth Mile (plus a tenth): lots of race entertainment during this last stretch.  Back through the Garmin-killing 9th Street Tunnel, a couple of blocks on Constitution Ave, a sharp turn onto Pennsylvania Ave and the finish line is in sight with its promise of Tiffany pendants!
• We went back through the tunnel and my Garmin surprisingly kept the signal again. There were giant screens at the end of tunnel that flashed random names of runners when they crossed the 20k timing strip with a message of encouragement. The last water stop was on the right at mile 12.75 - but you are so close to the finish you might want to run right past it. The course was changed for the second year, so when you see the finish line ahead it really is pretty close and you can pull out that final kick.

Finisher area

• There are race photographers at the finish line on both sides of the course. 
• We got Whole Foods/Nike water bottles filled with water just past the finish line. 
• Just beyond that we were given a bag, a large chocolate milk, and a heat sheet.  
• I heard that there was also almonds, granola, luna bars and electrolyte powder in this area but did not see it. I am guessing they ran out of food by the time I got there.
• Next was the area where the Tiffany necklaces were handed out - you could take a picture of the handsome man handing you your necklace, but if you wanted to be in the picture with a handsome man you needed to stand in line in the next area where the photos ops were being staged.
• Then there was a finisher tent that I did not go into so I am not speaking from first hand experience...but I heard there were foam rollers and yoga mats for stretching out and makeup wipes, hair spray and lip gloss.
• There was also a finisher boutique where the official finisher shirts/hats/jackets could be purchased. The gear was also available online but most of it sold out in a few hours following the race. The finisher gear was available before the race online, so if you aren't superstitious about buying it before you finish and you know you want it, think about buying it online early.
• Down one of the side streets there was another area set up for finisher photo ops.
• There was a great family meet-up area next to the finisher tent/boutique that was organized by alphabet. It was easy to find my husband and son there after the race.

Overall this race was really superbly organized and such a fun race to experience. I highly recommend it and hope to return next year!

Nike Women's Half Marathon DC Recap

Wow! I am filled with emotions after completing my first half marathon. Pride, gratitude, exhaustion, exhilaration. The Nike Women's half marathon in DC was an excellent race for a first-timer, filled with support, entertainment, and lots of awesome women.

Saturday morning Freddy, my five-year old son, woke up at 7 am and started packing his suitcase - he was so excited to go to the hotel. His enthusiasm was quite infectious. We made a trip to Party City to select the balloon that he and Rick would hold to help me find them on the course. Freddy chose Cookie Monster, and Yoselin filled Cookie up with helium and tied on nice long strings:

Bringing a balloon like this can really help your runner find you when the course is thick with spectators. Thanks to Coach Shannon for the awesome tip which has served us well for multiple races.  

We left for the hotel and I learned an important lesson about checking the road closures more carefully. I thought I knew which roads were closing when, but some of those roads closed earlier than I thought and it took us an extra 20 minutes or so to get to the hotel.  Our hotel room overlooked Freedom Plaza, where we could see the edge of runners' village and a view of the Washington Monument:

We settled in and Freddy took a turn on the foam roller:

I had a fairly poor night's sleep, in part due to race anticipation, in part due to a restless yet overtired 5 year old who didn't want to go to sleep! I didn't worry about it much because I had gotten a solid night's sleep on Friday.  

This is the "flat mama" of my race outfit, although I made a last minute decision not to put the long-sleeve shirt on over my tank since it was warmer than anticipated. That was definitely the right call and I'm glad I didn't have to run the race with it tied around my waist.

You might see the KT Tape in the photo above. My left leg was pretty much held together with tape because I have a "hot spot" beneath my Achilles that I like to protect on longer runs and I've been having some knee discomfort the last few weeks, likely from overtraining.

Fortunately most of the tape was hidden underneath my capris. I saw a lot of KT Tape out on the course today. The tape did its job and my minor injuries were not a factor during the race.

My training buddy Christina met me at the hotel and we headed to the corrals, where we found someone to take our picture. 

Then we met up with Catherine, and then lost her a few minutes later. I was bummed to not be able to start with Catherine, but I also knew that she would be running faster than I should be attempting and figured perhaps it was for the best that I didn't start with her. Christina went to her pace group and I suddenly found myself alone in a sea of people:

(photo courtesy Run Nike Women Series)

I tried to look for Catherine with no luck, but I ran into a friend of mine, Katie, who I didn't know was running the race! I can't believe she saw me in that crowd of people.

I was so happy to catch up with her (its been a few months!) and to have a friendly face to spend those jittery pre-race moments with.

First 5k, pace of 13:46

I soaked in the race, the beauty of the Capitol, the conversations going on around me, the warmth of the sun. 

(photo courtesy of Run Nike Women Series)

I met Mary and Jane about a mile or so into the race. They were wearing Supergirl shirts, striped socks with lightning bolts, and fantastic glittery tiaras with their names on them. I enjoyed chatting with them for a few minutes and we wished each other a great race. I had to stop a couple of times to loosen my shoelaces as my feet swelled; I just couldn't seem to get them to the right tension. The end of the first 5k had two great mood-boosters:

1. I met Deborah Brooks at the "Moms Run This Town" water stop. She was at the last table and I looked like a crazy person yelling her name at each table, but we found each other! I've been following her blog, Confessions of a Mother Runner, for a few months now and she is awesome. Future bestie, thanks for the support (and for reminding me to stop talking to you and get back out there and run)!
2. And then just past the water stop, I saw the Cookie Monster balloon!!! There were Rick and Freddy cheering me on. I stopped to adjust my darn shoelaces and give Freddy high fives, and then I was off again.

Second 5k, pace of 13:36

I continued to loosen my shoelaces for another mile or so. I soaked in the monuments/memorials in this stretch - Washington, WWII, Holocaust, Lincoln. I thought about my sister in running Cameron who was also running a half today, and running with me in spirit. 

(photo courtesy of Run Nike Women Series)

I really looked at the backs of people's shirts and found myself almost moved to tears by so many of the tributes. This race raises a tremendous amount of money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society, and this cause is so personal and meaningful to so many. 

Third 5k, pace of 12:51

Near the start of this section was a giant television screen with a live feed of runners as we passed the 6.55 mile, or "halfway mark". It was cool to see the screen and super-motivating to know we were halfway. This is the beginning of the more desolate stretch of the race, fewer spectators as we run towards Hains Point. I noticed things like the great signage for mile markers and restrooms. Each restroom stop was well marked and also indicated how far to the next set of restrooms. Kudos to Nike for impressive and informative signage. I actually saw my Supergirl friends again in this stretch and ran with Mary for a few minutes. I was happy to see her and so touched that she actually remembered me and my name! 

(photo courtesy Run Nike Women Series)

Fourth 5k, pace of 12:17 & Final 7/10 of a mile, pace of 11:07

Mary ran ahead but her fellow Supergirl Jane appeared by my side and ended up running with me for the rest of the race. I was so grateful for her company!! My legs felt heavy and I was getting tired. We chatted and helped distract each other. We focused on how little distance was left. I told her to watch for the Cookie Monster balloon, and she said she had seen them in the beginning of the race. Soon we saw the balloon and Jane ran ahead to surprise Freddy by knowing his name. Rick got a nice series of shots of Freddy watching for us and high-fiving:

Soon after this we learned what the mysterious "whole foods chocolate mile" was - there were chocolate truffles handed out during mile 12! Jane got one for each of us and we saved them for after the race, not wanting to risk GI distress. We went up a small hill and back through the 9th street tunnel (which didn't seem to mess with my Garmin either time, interestingly enough). This cool sign was in the tunnel, along with lots reverberating drums:

(photo courtesy of Run Nike Women Series)

After the tunnel there were giant screens that picked up names as we crossed a timing strip and we saw my name flash across the screen. We neared the end and Jane helped me figure out when to pull out that final kick. We crossed the finish line and took a couple of triumphant pictures before meeting back up with Mary:

Thank you Jane!! You really helped me make it to the finish line, leave it all on the course, and finish strong! 

We moved through the finish area, where we were given a Whole Foods/Nike Half water bottle with water in it, a generous sized chocolate milk, a bag to keep everything in, and a heat sheet. And then we made it to the Tiffany necklaces! This handsome man gave me my necklace and thanked me for running:

And at this point I went off to find Rick and Freddy in the family meet-up area, which was well-marked and easily accessible. I would have liked to have seen the Finishers boutique and the refresh area, which I heard had foam rollers, yoga mats, makeup wipes, lip gloss, and hair spray! I'm sure there was food in there too. 

Finisher tent at the start of the race...
the line was crazy long by the time I finished!

But the lines were so long and I knew my little guy had already had such a long day of high-fiving runners and telling them to "run for cookies", so I skipped this section. It's just as well because I'm sure the excitement of the moment would have led me to buy a finisher shirt and I certainly didn't need another shirt to commemorate this awesome race. Texts flew between me and Catherine and our friend Laura as we congratulated each other on a great race.

Negative splits!

If you are still reading this crazy long post, thanks for coming along on the ride to my first half marathon! I'm looking forward to taking a bit of a break from the long training runs for a bit, and focusing on maintaining my level of fitness. My next race is the Devotion to Children Mother's Day 4-miler and my next training program will be the Reston Runners' Women's Training Program in May and June. I will continue to blog about my running adventures!

See the Race, Be the Race

My mantra for the Nike Women's Half on Sunday is "See the Race, Be the Race"

My goals for this race are:

• To enjoy it
• To notice my surroundings (see the race)
• To be in the moment (be the race)

See the Race. Be the Race.

We Run DC!

(photo courtesy Run Nike Women Series)

Protect Yourself From Race Bandits

Imagine you qualified for the Boston Marathon. Trained and ran a fantastic race. And when you looked at your race photos - the ones where you are identified by your bib number - you discovered four other people had run on your bib number.  I wish this were hypothetical, but it just happened to a friend of a friend, Kara Bonneau.  Here are the four people running on her number, which she had posted before the race on instagram:

So many words come to mind - disgusting, disrespectful, disappointing. Unsportsmanlike.  

These people either made the bibs themselves (despicable), or perhaps they bought them from Craigslist, thinking they were buying them from the qualifier who could no longer run the race. But that isn't allowed, and it isn't okay. If one of them had a medical emergency during the race, it could be hard to identify them. They are taking water and food along the course that they didn't pay for. And they are taking medals at the end. And putting extra bodies on an already crowded course.

How could this happen? Many of us unthinkingly post pictures of our bibs in our pre-race blogs. I did it just last week in my blog on Nike Women's Half early packet pickup. And I'm worried - that blog got over 300 hits. An unprecedented number for me. I usually get 50, maybe 100. Maybe many of these hits were legitimate - my blog post on the Nike Women's Half course guide has gotten 200, so people are looking for Nike race information. But there are 25 Nike Women's Half bibs for sale on Craigslist (for $125-$185!) and I can't help but wonder if any have my number (6241). I've edited the picture in my blog, but the damage may already be done:

So please be careful what you post online.  Protect yourself from race bandits.  And if you have any information that can help identify any of the Boston Marathon race bandits in the photos above, please let BAA know.

Course Guide: DC Nike Women's Half

We are officially one week out from my FIRST half marathon, the Nike Women's Half in DC.  I'm starting to visualize the course and come up with my plans for the race.  In many ways the Cherry Blossom 10-miler I ran two weeks ago was great preparation because miles 4-11 are virtually the same as 1-8 of Cherry Blossom.  So it's like a 5k + Cherry Blossom, with a bit of a detour over the last two miles.

I've studied the course map and read about last year's race (which had a slightly different course).  This is how I'm breaking it down in my mind.  Disclaimer: this is based on my understanding of the course map and may not be 100% accurate! 

1. First Mile: Pennsylvania Ave and around the Capitol. First race photographer on Pennsylvania Ave. Race entertainment at the beginning and end of the mile.
2. Second Mile: National Gallery of Art along Constitution Ave. First water stop around 1.75 (this water stop might also be accessible at 12.75, map is unclear).  Race entertainment just past the water stop.
3. Third Mile: Through the 9th Street Tunnel - race entertainment on both ends of the tunnel! Last year it was drums that reverberated through the tunnel.  Expect Garmin to go wonky from lost satellites. More race entertainment, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Holocaust Museum, and "Moms Run This Town" water stop close to mile marker 3.
4. Fourth Mile: Around the Tidal Basin, views of Washington Monument, WWII Memorial, MLK Memorial.  Race entertainment past mile marker 3.  Have my first GU towards the end of the mile, before water stop at mile marker 4.
5. Fifth Mile: Lincoln Memorial and Memorial Bridge.  Race entertainment at both ends of the bridge.
6. Sixth Mile: More Memorial Bridge, up Rock Creek Parkway toward Kennedy Center.  Water stop at 5.5 with Clif Bloks. Race Photographer before mile marker 6.
7. Seventh Mile: Back down Rock Creek Parkway, second peek at Lincoln Memorial.  Race entertainment towards the end of the mile.
8. Eighth Mile: Heading into West Potomac and towards Hains Point. Views of Jefferson Memorial and George Mason Memorial.  Have my second GU before water stop ~7.75.
9. Ninth Mile: More running towards Hains Point. Race entertainment around 8.3.  Hoping for energizing signs like they had last year, this can be a tough stretch with limited spectators and possible wind.
10. Tenth Mile: Rounding Hains Point, race entertainment at the tip.  Water stop at 9.25 with Luna Bars. 
11. Eleventh Mile: Heading back out of West Potomac. Entertainment and race photographer around 10.75.  Have my last GU (wait until you pass the photographer! No GU pictures!!) before water stop at mile marker 11.
12. Twelfth Mile: the mysterious "Whole Foods Chocolate Mile". What is it? Chocolate Milk? Chocolates? I think Nike Women's in San Fran had Ghirardelli chocolates.  Race entertainment around 11.25.  Expect a steep uphill highway ramp.
13. Thirteenth Mile (plus a tenth): lots of race entertainment during this last stretch.  Back through the Garmin-killing 9th Street Tunnel, a couple of blocks on Constitution Ave, a sharp turn onto Pennsylvania Ave and the finish line is in sight with its promise of Tiffany pendants!

(see race info sheet for more detail)

Nike Women's Half Early Packet Pickup

Even though the race is still 10 days away, I picked up my Nike Women's Half bib and race shirt today! It sounds like there were long lines and frustration at the Expo last year, and this year they added the early pickup option at three local running stores.  I was really happy to be able to go to Potomac River Running (=PR=) in Fairfax today.  They promised that there would be fun stuff to do and race gear to buy - and there was!

I was intrigued yesterday when =PR= posted a picture on facebook of some of the race-themed gear that would be available at the store:

I shared it on my timeline and many of my supportive friends worked hard to come up with good excuses to enable me to make a purchase.  Cameron noted it is good luck for the race to buy something at the expo, which seemed pretty compelling to me.  I promised myself I would try to keep it to one item.

I had the morning off and arrived at Fairfax Corner a little early.  =PR= wasn't open yet, but they were starting to set up:

I came back a little while later and was thrilled to see there was no line and lots of friendly volunteers eager to help me.  I entered a raffle for some door prizes and then picked up my bib:

from there, I was directed to the t-shirts, and I loved the design and color:

they had gray shirts for the charity runners who were part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training:

Then I saw my running buddy Christina and we headed over to shop the race gear:

Christina got a cute gray dri-fit shirt that says "Streets to Strut, Goals to Crush".  I was tempted by both the yellow and the fuschia shirts that are behind us, and by the hats, but ended up with the turquoise and navy short sleeve v-neck that has a picture of Nike, winged goddess of victory, on it.

Then my twitter friend Catherine showed up!  We've both trained with =PR= but not at the same time so we hadn't actually met in person before.  I was so excited to finally see her.  We are in the same corral for the race and may be able to run some of it together, which would be really fun. 

We had some snacks and some coffee.  I have to go off on a tangent about this coffee because it was the best coffee I have ever had.  It was from Commonwealth Joe, a small company that roasts locally in Virginia. I usually put a lot of sugar and milk in my coffee.  I drank this coffee black and it was delicious without anything in it.  I was impressed.  I'm glad to hear they will be making an appearance at future =PR= races and that they are sold in some of the stores.  Thank you Robert for the delicious coffee!

Catherine and I made our way over to "the wall" and signed it and got our picture taken there.  While it isn't exactly the same as doing it at the Nike store in Georgetown next week on their giant wall, I was really appreciative of having the symbolic opportunity to sign the wall and get my picture taken.  I'll add the photo when it gets uploaded to the =PR= flickr page.  In the meantime, my awesome friend Laura was thoughtful enough to take a photo of my signature for me:

photo courtesy of laurentinaphotography.com

I got home and looked in my race packet.  There was a Luna bar mini (chocolate peppermint stick), Paul Mitchell tea tree special shampoo, Mariani new england crunch (trail mix), and lots of good coupons.  Mixed in with the good coupons I found a $25 gift certificate to =PR= and it said "packet pickup winner" on it! Good thing I didn't know it was in there while I was still at the store or I might have bought a second shirt!

I am so appreciative of =PR= hosting this packet pickup and saving me the trip to the expo next week. Thank you =PR= and Nike for a smooth and fun pickup experience.  I am getting excited for the race!

Did I Forget to Mention I'm Running My First Half?!

It's now been 9 days since my first big race, The Cherry Blossom 10-miler.  My coaches tell me that it would be normal to now be experiencing the "post-race blues".  But I'm not, and guess why?  I have another, bigger, race in 12 days!  I am running the Nike Women's Half Marathon and I can't believe how close it is already.

Last year when I was planning my race calendar, Nike was my goal race.  I wanted to run a half marathon and it seemed like the perfect choice.  However, I didn't get in through the lottery (there is a lot of demand for those post-race Tiffany necklaces, apparently).  I adjusted my plan and Cherry Blossom became my goal race.

If you've been reading my blog, you know that I trained for Cherry Blossom with Potomac River Running (=PR=).  About six weeks ago, I found out that I could get a bib for Nike through =PR=.  I did a lot of soul-searching before adding the extra challenge to my training, and ultimately decided to just make the leap and go for it.  Coach Shannon tweaked my training schedule to accommodate both races.

I haven't mentioned this exciting development because I wanted to stay focused on Cherry Blossom and documenting my experiences with training for it and running the race.  But now I have fully turned my attention to the next challenge at hand, and I'm starting to work out the race day details like where are the water stops and when am I going to have my GUs?

In some ways running Cherry Blossom has helped prepare me for Nike.  The middle miles of the Nike course are very similar to the Cherry Blossom course, so parts of the race will be familiar.  As a bonus for me, Nike is supposed to have more entertainment along the course than Cherry Blossom had.  It also doesn't have the stringent time-limit that Cherry Blossom had. 

I'm looking forward to continuing to think through the logistics of Nike, and what lessons I can bring with me from Cherry Blossom!

"You look like a runner"

Yesterday I picked up my husband's bib for the (inaugural!) Loudoun Half Marathon.  When you go to packet pickup, invariably the volunteers will wish you a good race.  I always feel odd about taking credit for a race I'm not running and find myself saying something like, "I'm not running the race, my husband is."  This scene played out yesterday much like it always does, except this time the volunteer responded with something I hadn't heard before. "Oh, well, you look like a runner."

You look like a runner.  The words were still melodiously echoing in my ears as I walked on clouds throughout the afternoon.

Race Photo Lessons – Cherry Blossom Picture Recap

When you are running a race you likely have goals in mind – a certain pace or finishing time, setting a personal record, how much time you spend running vs. walking.  I have to confess that one of my goals is good race pictures.  Shallow? Sure.  But at least I’m honest!  For the Cherry Blossom 10-miler I succeeded in my photography goal – I scored a whopping 22 pictures at MarathonFoto and some of them are pretty good.  Read on for some fun advice and examples…

Picture Goal: Quantity

To a certain extent, getting a lot of pictures on the race course is a matter of luck.  If you are running behind a tall person, on the wrong side of the street from the photographer, or just happen to pass at the moment the photographer is adjusting their camera, you might be out of luck.  But, there are a couple of things you can do to help your photography odds in a big race like Cherry Blossom. 

• Make sure your bib is visible and straight.  Your bib number is how you are matched to your photos. Without a visible bib, your photos are going to end up in the purgatory of “unidentified photos”. You can go through those photos and look for yourself, but you are going to need a lot of hours and an easily identifiable race outfit to actually find yourself.
• Know where photographers are. Big races send out a map ahead of time telling you where their photographers will be. Memorize their locations and look for them! Bonus - it gives your mind something fun to do while you are running.
• Ham it up a little. It’s hard work taking race photos. If you make it fun for the photographer and make it obvious you want your picture taken, they are more likely to take your picture! Put your arms up in the air, wave, flash peace signs, whatever works for you. (but be respectful of the other runners around you)    

MarathonFoto sent out this map with
photographer locations identified by camera icons

Picture Goal: Quality

Getting good pictures is also important.  Quantity without quality doesn’t help you achieve your goal of a frame-worthy moment.

There are two important lessons in the photo series below:

1. If you put your arms up in the air, don’t yell “woooooo” at the same time. It is a natural pairing, something you are likely to do without even thinking about it, and as you can tell from the expression on my face in the first three photos, yelling “woooooo” is not compatible with an attractive facial expression.
2. If you put your arms up in the air, commit to it and keep them up until you pass the photographer. I decided that I knew when the photographer was done taking my picture and brought my arms back down. In the last two photos my arms are coming back down and they look pretty darn silly. And of course I had stopped yelling “wooooo” and started to sheepishly smile at the photographer since I felt a little foolish, so now I have the good expression on my face but silly arms.

Series Location: Mile 7, East Potomac Park

Series Location: Mile 7, East Potomac Park

Series Location: Mile 7, East Potomac Park

Series Location: Mile 7, East Potomac Park

Series Location: Mile 7, East Potomac Park

Smile!  This series is not too bad, nice Washington Monument and cherry blossom trees in the background. 

Series Location: Mile 6, by Tidal Basin

Series Location: Mile 6, by Tidal Basin

Series Location: Mile 6, by Tidal Basin

If running hard is your goal, you are probably going to have to redefine what a “good” picture is.  When you are running hard, there is no time for arm-waving and smiling and posing for the photographers.  I ran hard for the last mile and I pretty much look like I am sucking wind in these photos. 

Series Location: Mile 10, along 15th St

Series Location: Mile 10, along 15th St

Series Location: Mile 10, along 15th St

Enjoy those finish line photos!  Whether the photographer at the finish line gets the money shot of you crossing the timing strip is really luck of the draw, it depends on how many other people are coming in at the same time and a bunch of other factors that are pretty much beyond your control.  I got lucky for this race and my full-on ecstatically-beaming moment was triumphantly captured! 

What is in your control is getting the post-finish line photographers to take your picture.  Get in line and get those pictures (straighten your bib!), even if you feel a little self-conscious.  You will be glad to see them later.  I felt self-conscious since most of the other people were in pairs or groups and I was all alone, but I’m glad to have those moments captured and see my happy post-race smile. 

Photo Location: Finish Line!

Photo Location: Post-Finish Line Photographer

Photo Location: Post-Finish Line Photographer

May the photography force be with you on your next race!