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Truth is is that we heard a lot of good stuff about this race. A lot of people do this race. We signed up and figured logistics later.
Dirk signed up for the full and decided to make a weekend of it with his wife. Bob signed up knowing that he can drop to the half.
Fast forward and it's that time... Dirk changed it to the half since he lost so much time training with his PF. Bob did the NYCM and realized it was too much for him (this race is 2 weeks after NYCM) and dropped out completly.
The plan: Go there Friday during the day. Deal with the hotel, expo and food. Raina would take Amtrak later in the day and be a tourist. Elizabeth thought about it. Considered bringing the dogs but it did not pan out.
We went there Friday, left our stuff at the hotel as check-in wasn't until 3pm and walked to the expo. Even though our hotel was part of the convention center where the expo was, it was still a 0.25 mile walk. No biggie.
Checked in at the expo. Some people live for the big race expo. It irks me out EVERY SINGLE TIME. Thoughts of "I don't belong here etc..." pop up always. Got food and walked back.
Saturday the morning temps were in the 40s and going into the 50s. I decided to dress somewhat not to warm for me. I wore 2 long sleeves, light gloves with chemical handwarmers and tights. I was cold but was hoping for the sun.
We were warned about the security lines and opted to get there early as usual. I joked with the security guy that wanded me that I expect dinner that night. He was cool.
We were going to take the shuttle but since we saw walkers, we walked with them and it was just fine.
One complaint about this race: Really only one complaint... For the challenge, they gave us 1 bib. I know you're trying to save money but how about 2 bibs? This way, I don't need to worry that it might get destroyed before Sunday. Still, 1 bib to conquer them all.
Lots of port-a-potties. Lots of people. We hung out and eventually met Dirk. Since he was doing only the half, they placed him in a specific corral. Since we were doing the challenge, we were able to go into whatever corral we wanted. We hung out with him and all of us eventualy crossed corrals but we still started kinda far. They ran late and each corral had a few minutes in between and so, our 7am start became more like 7:30.
We ran on some street that had all or most of the countries flags and yes, I did look for the Israeli flag and was disappointed. With all the stuff that's going on right now... Sheesh.
Once again trouble in the middle east. I won't get political here but events took place on October the 7th which started a war. To that end, Jamey wore a shirt that someone made him for the rally he took partook in in DC. It was a white shirt and on the front it read, "We
Many people did in fact comment about it and surprisingly enough they were all positive. One interesting interaction did happen. A guy came up to us and told Jamey that he's from Iran and that he's very sad by what's happening there and the fact that our governments can't just take care of things and fix things along... Nice!
This race was very interesting to say the least. It really showcased some of Philly's architecture. We saw parts of the city and also a bunch of parks and a LOT of statues. Really beautiful course for the most part. Can't say that the 1 block stretch of cobblestones was the smartest thing in the world but whatever. We didn't fall...
Coming back, there was a false finish (you think you're done but surprise...) and then you finish. We finished and got our huge medal with a clinging bell. Then we realized we had a logistical problem. What to do with the bell? It got suddenly very windy and cold and so we went into the warming tent and tried to reach Dirk. He finished a little after us and we got hold of him but he wasn't aways answering. He zonked out as he said. We were hoping he could take it but alas... So, we went to the bag drop off but we had to have a clear see through bag. Went to the solutions tent but on the way, I saw a park worker and I asked if he had a bag. YUP! Awesome. Thanked him and checked in our medals.
It really did get cold. Jamey was cold too but soon enough the 8K started. Little bit of a repeat from the half. Out and back and out toward were we came in from the half and eventually back again to the false finish and the finish.
We were on mile 2ish when we spotted a few things. We saw the first of the wheel chair athletes coming in. Wow... They were passing some of the 13.1 stragglers. Then we saw, the leaders of the 8K. Usually, you see 1 and then 2 and slowly people trickling in but it was just a huge pack of neverending people. They just kept coming and coming. I was shocked. Later I found out that the winner did a 4:23 pace for the 8K... Unbelieveable.
Got our medal, picked up our stuff and then headed to food and hotel.
The hotel didn't have a laundry (seriously???) and I was contemplating washing my stuff in the sink but none of my stuff smelled or was wet and I decided to just air it out because I wasn't sure it would dry in time.
In the corrals and the lines for the port-a-potties were beyond HUGE! Then I noticed something and pointed it out to Jamey. Should have taken a picture. Guys were lined up beyond the port-a-potties. Once it was their turn, they walked up to the port-a-pottie and peed between them. They peed in the cracks between them. It was awesome.
Next day was here. Same clothes. Same walk. Same guy at security. Same port-a-potties. Oh boy.
This time we were in some of the first corrals. I think the 3rd one. Lots more people racing (about 15,000 people) and a TON more crowd support. There were so many, what I like to call, choke points. Basically so many spectators pushing into the street such that you couldn't go as fast as you may want to go. More sections in the city area. More parks. More statues. This really was a nice race.
My foot still an issue. Jamey's shirt still getting attention.
At one point, a woman runs by us and says, "I think I know you guys. You guys ran with me in Tennessee... At Pistol... My name is Logan and you called me ". And she and I both said outloud "WOLVERINE!"
Nice... How she saw us is beyond me but I think she may have seen the tall guy next to me really...
Later in some park, we saw Alexis doing his fast walk. And later we saw Albert.
We also saw something that was truly inspiring... There was a guy who clearly had a disability. I'll try to describe him to you. White guy, short torso, very short arms (stopped at what should have been mid bicep) and very short legs (stopped at what should have been mid quad). He was doing the marathon on a skateboard, trying to push with his little leg. On the downs and flats he was ok. On the uphills, he was laying down on the board, almost like surfing, and using his arm to push. This guy was awesome and he had the BIGGEST SMILE ON HIS FACE the whole damn time. Truly inspiring...
During the race, Jamey and I had cliff bloks... I also had oranges. During the full, we also saw a sign that said free Beer ahead and later free fireball ahead. No for me but Jamey decided to actually take the beer which was a first for him and liked it... Of course, I asked him why the beer and not the orange so he tried the orange the next time too.
We did see Alexis later but he didn't catch us. We also saw Albert but he was too far to see us. We also saw Ilana (Albert's wife).
Skateboard dude did pass us which was awesome.
Raina was a tourist this weekend. On Saturday, she visited a medical museum and on Sunday, she visited a penitentiary museum. We kept joking that hopefully she will get an early release from prison.
Ilana posted a crazy story on Facebook which we saw while driving home. She had a great race. They got back to the hotel only to find out that the hotel lost their car keys. A locksmith was called and for a measly $1,000 a key was produced which the hotel paid for. They were warned that the key may only work one time so during the car ride home, they should NOT turn the car off at all. In other words, at rest stops, only 1 person can go in at a time. Crazy.
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