Q G's Staging Area

It was my first time racing the 10 mile distance and I throughly enjoyed it! It was actually my birthday present. There were 3,000+ people for the 10 mile race and I had a great time running alongside everyone. During the race, a bald eagle flew over me and I heard a lot of red-winged blackbirds, and after the race I saw an osprey! Runners and the crowd also had dogs, which I enjoyed seeing. As someone who loves animals and wildlife, it was great. I know some runners don’t pay too much to their surroundings and zone out, but seeing what’s around me is one of the parts of running I like – especially when running new routes. I enjoyed taking in the scenery and running alongside the Potomac River.

Course: Hilly and the hill during the 8th mile was quite steep but it felt great running up it. There were also people cheering and one had a sign that said “It’s just a hill. Get over it.” and I liked that 🙂 The other hills throughout were less steep. There were five water stations spread throughout the course, and I made sure to stop at each one. The first didn’t have gatorade but the rest did. The volunteers were great and while there wasn’t a lot of people along the course, there were some, and they did a great job cheering and encouraging everyone. At the halfway point, there was a clock and a chip reader thing, which was great.

Weather: 51°F with 77% humidity and sunny. I was comfortable in shorts and a tank top (and that’s what a lot of other runners were wearing too). There were heatsheets available at the beginning of the race though as people were waiting to start. The course was mostly shaded by trees which did make it feel a bit cooler but because I was running it didn’t make too much of a difference. Even so, sunglasses were necessary for me (as someone who is sensitive to sunlight).

Post race: Beer garden was good and the signs for photos were nice too. It ended at the Oronoco Bay Park, with great views of the Potomac River. Live music and food was great. The National Park Service had a table which was nice to see. Other booths were good too. The medal was an engraved piece of wood that looks like a postage stamp with an etching of the George Washington Memorial Parkway on one side – looks nice. The shirts were a great fabric but kind of plain (just black with white lettering that said the name of the race and date, no distance).

Improvements: More porta potties needed! There were three available and super long lines at all. I started six minutes after the official start, after the last pace group left. I was able to catch up, doing mostly positive splits and running to the start line, although that wasn’t ideal or my plan for this run. When I left the porta potty to run to the start, there were still at least ten people behind me. After I crossed the start line, I heard the announcer say last call. A few seconds later someone else came and then the announcer said another last call, and after that I was too far to hear. Hopefully the other runners were able to cross the starting line. I did like that there were pacers, and having never run with a pace group before, I would have liked to try it out, but because of my unplanned delayed start, I only passed the 2:00:00 group. Since I wasn’t sure how the pace groups worked, I didn’t really look out for other groups and I ran solo (with a lot of other runners around me) and used my watch to keep track of my pace.

Other notes: Watch out for potholes in the road! I ended up landing in several of them during the run – it wasn’t too bad though – and I say this as someone who’s knee was injured two weeks prior. I didn’t take the bus or use the bag check, so I can’t comment on that but from what I saw and heard from other runners, it went smoothly.

Overall, I would definitely recommend it! The George Washington Memorial Parkway is a beautiful road with views of the Potomac River and surrounded by lots of trees. If you can’t run it, at least drive on it at some point. As a newer runner, racing the Parkway Classic made me more excited to run other races! And this one again 🙂