Army Ten-Miler

I've only run this once before - years ago; I'm generally not partial to races that aren't marathons. But in January I signed up for the Armed Forces Challenge. Coast Guard Marathon and Air Force Marathon were the first two races in the series. Today's 10-miler was race #3. (Marine Corps Marathon (in two weeks) and Space Force Ten-Miler (in two months) are the last two.)

The expo is held at the same venue where the MCM used to hold their expo, until they decided to use the Gaylord Convention Center -- the Armory (which is located right next to RFK Stadium). Yesterday was a great day weather-wise, and portended to be so for the race, too.

Even though there was a field of 28,000 runners (about the size of MCM, I think), it wasn't all that bad when I went Saturday morning for bib pick-up.

It's a small venue, which explains why MCM has apparently abandoned it - not sure if it became a madhouse later in the afternoon. The only thing I wound up getting was a new bobblehead (thanks, State Farm!). Now I have a runner and a superhero. I wonder whether they will be at MCM and/or Space Force. (I didn't see them at Coast Guard.)

This morning, I got out earlier than planned -- totally happy for that since I rarely drive in the Crystal City area; I detest how the roads weave down there -- it's very confusing to navigate. And with road closures, I was not happy about any possibilities of getting messed up. Mercifully, my directions were spot on and I had no problem getting to the parking garage, and then walking the half mile or so to get to the Pentagon south parking lot. 

The signage down there was HORRIBLE, as far as I was concerned. They didn't have any signs directing people to where the security check and walk towards the corrals was located. I did relatively easily find the signs related to the corrals right next to the Garment Check (which itself was rather prominently marked, but which I didn't need to use). Lots of people standing/milling around were trying to figure out what the deal was. One person even suggested that the race would carry these marker signs up to the starting corrals. 

About 5-10 additional minutes of trying to figure things out, and then one of the volunteers made an announcement on the bullhorn about how the Wounded Warrior and Waves 1& 2 should move to the security check - and where precisely that was.

Took no time at all to get through security and start walking along the roadway up. This sign was on the side -- poorly placed right after security, since the corrals were nowhere near there.

In fact, once we made our way around a curve, we came to a point where we could either follow the road to the left, or we could walk over a grassy median to get to another roadway. Nothing was marked at all, and there were no volunteers providing directions. No one had any clue which way was correct.

Thankfully, someone figured it out -- it was crossing the grassy median to get to Route 1. (The push cyclist had to backtrack down the bottom of the ramp to do a U-turn to meet back up with us.)

Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial (a bit blurry) off in the pre-dawn distance.

I arrived at the archway for our corral by about 6:30am. 

Now to sit around and wait (and eventually take the photo of the arch in light). Thankfully they had some programming start up at about 7:15am.

First up was one of the Golden Knights parachuting.

Here's the second part. It was long enough, I had to upload it to YouTube first.

Next up were several more Golden Knights -- where they hooked up in formation, and two pairs successfully made it into the landing zone.

The first of two pairs was a long enough video, I, again, needed to upload it to YouTube first.

Next up was a neat overflight of some Chinook helicopters in formation.

Next up, the invocation, presenting the colors, and the National Anthem.

Ready to go everyone?

The corral set-up for the ATM was more lax and confusing than for MCM, and that set in after I had joined the standard "crush forward" of everyone in the couple of minutes before the howitzer went off. 

Everyone had different-colored bibs matching the colored-balloon arches that marked the corrals. I don't recall seeing anything in the materials that said that each would have its own distinct starting cannon. I kinda figured it was the same as MCM which set off the wheelchair/handcycle athletes first, and then had a mass, rolling start with a single start cannon for everyone else. So, when the soldiers who were holding the ends of the green arch started moving forward, and were in the middle of the crowd lengthwise, rather than simply spanning side-to-side, I made sure to stay in front of the first of them. It was only after I set off within Wave 1 and was hearing some of the follow-on announcements and then the howitzer again (and multiple times thereafter) that I realized I set out early, technically, since I was a Wave 2 runner. Thankfully, it didn't wind up mattering. (They didn't enforce anything with the colored bibs, as there were tons of people with all different color bibs near the front. One person even had a pink bib -- the last corral -- who was remarking that he was supposed to be in the back, but that they don't enforce it.)

Much of the course overlaps with the MCM route. I was looking forward to actually taking some photos and videos along the way, since I never take that opportunity during MCM (and certainly can't do so when I'm serving as a pace group leader).

(Netherlands Carillon -- located on the grounds of the Iwo Jima Memorial)

Running on the bridge toward Georgetown, the National Cathedral is visible on the other side of the river. Where we turn left onto the bridge from the southbound George Washington Parkway during MCM, we came northbound and turned right to this point. And we turned off early, onto an off-ramp, rather than running in Georgetown proper (which is typically just before Mile 5).

Where we run underneath the concourse of the Kennedy Center along the river during MCM (at about Mile 10), we ran on the other side of it today.

Soon after this point, I passed a boy who I would be surprised was even 10 years old. He was one of several I saw in the corrals, and he was doing a great job booking it. A few of us made it a point to cheer him along.

This initial view of the Washington Monument is usually at about Mile 17 of MCM.

For MCM, we usually turn down the road here and then make the right-hand turn at the corner of the National Museum of African American History and Culture to run up the north side of the Mall, before rounding the tip to come back around the south side of it. Today for ATM, we simply kept going on this side of the Mall.

I'm always so intent at this point on the MCM course that I've never recognized that I was running past the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. I'm usually distracted enough by the huge group of drummers who are pounding out tons of energy before we make it past the point at about Mile 20 where we Beat The Bridge.

And, boy, is that length of highway and bridge DREADFUL. Long, boring, and when the heat is really cranking up.

I finally have something that I can point out to others while running on the bridge, to break up the monotony. On our right, and falling off behind us (eventually) is the Jefferson Memorial and the Washington Monument further off in the distance.

At this point, with the Pentagon looming large off on the right side, we are ALMOST off this bloody bridge and back onto the local streets of Virginia. And glad that we have less than 2 miles to the finish, instead of the usual 4-5 miles left during MCM.

And with that, I kept a faster pace than the rest of the course, as there weren't any other things that I wanted to take photos of. Soon enough, I was finished.

After getting a bottle of water, it took a little while to have the many lengths of table with the finisher coins (this year as spinner medals, for the 40th anniversary) pointed out. People were crowded around the random extra couple of soldiers who were handing out some medals, but that was actually causing more of a backlog than if they didn't have them there at all. Quick enough to get through, regardless.

And the finish area had a lot of food, not only officially provided by the race (enough so that I requested one of their empty boxes to put things in), but also by several of the sponsors after that -- where not only runners, but spectators could avail themselves, all gratis. Nice.

Quite pleased with this result, given I wasn't running "for time" by any stretch of the imagination. My goal was to get around 84 - 85 minutes, while taking all of the photos and videos. I dropped nearly 2 of those minutes in the last two miles, purposely picking up the pace which, if I were acting as a pacer I wouldn't have done. 

Great way to finish out tapering in advance of pacing the 3:45 group in Atlantic City in a week! Stay tuned for that race report.

Getting nervous on another runner's behalf

Several months ago in one of the Facebook groups I'm part of, I answered a question along the lines of "what sorts of goals are out there to keep this interesting, for someone who is feeling a bit detached from running?" with the suggestion that they try for a Guinness World Record.

The runner got very energized by that suggestion, and went off to the races with it, as it were.

Over the several weeks/months intervening, she would occasionally ping me to let me know about her progress both in choosing her costume/attempt and with additional questions, mostly related to how best to document everything, given that she will be running in a marathon that does not currently have a relationship with Guinness where she could avail herself of their services for free.

She just pinged me earlier because of one item that wasn't very well laid out -- what was needed to document the weight of an item she'll be carrying on her attempt. And it's just two weeks away.

I related what Guinness used during my first attempt in London, and she was able to find something online that should do the trick. Just make sure her witnesses are the ones who do the weighing and attest to it, and maybe do a calibration weighing first to help convince Guinness of the accuracy of the scale - should be fine. But it's so close, there's no guarantee that Guinness would wind up replying in time prior to her record attempt. Gonna have to wing it and trust that this will be sufficient. Still... it's kinda unnerving not knowing if the documentation will be sufficient, even though the training has been such that there's no worry about being able to complete the run in the needed time.

Good luck!

Running totals

Interesting, looking back on my mileage to date this year. Months where I'm leading up to a marathon and don't have other races interrupting the normal training regimen rack up higher mileage. As opposed to those months where I run a marathon (or two) and then take multiple days off from running. While I will often go on the elliptical to keep my legs going, I don't tack that onto the running mileage I track.

So far this year:

January - 184

February - 129 (1 marathon)

March - 202

April - 155 (2 marathons)

May - 174

June - 186 (1 marathon)

July - 219

August - 209 (1 marathon)

September - 210 (2 marathons)

Total to date: 1,668

I've got 4 more marathons to go this year, and my training cycle for my March marathon begins in about 5 weeks, so for now I'm just maintaining. I certainly expect to pass 2,100 miles for the year, but who knows at this point by how far?

Record finally falls!

Well, it was bound to happen eventually... Records are made to be broken, after all.

My record for the fastest marathon dressed as a super villain (male) (3:02:02), which I set at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in October 2019 was broken at the Sydney Marathon earlier this month. 5 years holding a record - not too shabby

Congratulations to Tim Shakespeare with a great time of 3:00:12. And on a really difficult course. He also dressed as the Riddler for the attempt. How evil of you. :-)

Fully recovered already

Wow, I'm pleasantly surprised that I seem to be fully recovered from the Air Force Marathon, just four days ago. Using my Normatec boots every day afterwards, getting a massage on Sunday after I got back home and not doing any workout that day, going on the elliptical Monday and Tuesday all had me in good enough stead for me to do a comfortable 8-mile run at 7.5 mph today.

Currently in a holding pattern simply maintaining fitness for my upcoming marathons that I'm pacing for prior to the beginning of my next training cycle: Atlantic City, MCM, and Harrisburg. Shortly after Harrisburg, I'll be in full swing to train for Little Rock -- my main attempt at improving on my BQ for 2026. And hopefully the additional three marathons that I will be pacing in between (one each in December, January, and February) won't take me out of training too much on those weeks. With the way these four days worked, I think it'll be fine.

Phew! Squeaked In!

Phew! My qualifying time is 7:36 underneath my 2025 BQ standard of 3:25:00. The cutoff this year was 6:51, in large part because there was an increase in accepted runners by about 2,000 spaces, to just over 24,000 of the 30,000 total. 

Not sure how they came to that decision, but I'm thrilled they did. If it weren't for that decision, it is likely that the cut-off time would have been closer to 8 minutes which, obviously, would have shut me out.

Now that my 9th consecutive Boston is all arranged, I need to make sure to improve my now-2:36 buffer for 2026 to 5 minutes or more (i.e., 3:15:00 or better finishing time) to be reasonably confident that I can get into my 10th consecutive Boston and become a Boston Streaker -- only needing to hit a BQ and not need a buffer.

Excitement and Anxiety - Dueling Emotions for an Upcoming Record Attempt

Last Friday, I finally received a response back from Guinness that they have accepted my application for a world record attempt. <cue the excitement!> They provided me with their general guidelines as well as some specific guidelines related to my proposal: fastest marathon run on a ship (male). <cue the anxiety>

When I went on my first cruise in 2023, I made sure to run every morning on the outdoor track atop the ship. The first day we were at sea, going at a reasonable clip (about 20 knots), the movement of the ship was very noticeable on the track -- I could barely stand upright at first. It took a little bit to get my sea legs and figure out the best way to get around the curves at either end of the track without feeling like I would fall over the side and down a few decks. It was a lot of fun; I was chuckling the whole way.

Having previously set a Guinness World Record in October 2019 (for fastest marathon dressed as a super villain (male)), this experience sparked an interest in seeing if Guinness would be amenable to this particular record attempt -- and they accepted the application! But some of the guidelines that need to be followed to enable their verification of the attempt are rather difficult, and where I need assistance. Would you be interest in helping with any of the following? (NOTE: I'm not offering to pay for you coming on the cruise; that's a bit too rich for me.)

1) Timekeeper: Since this requires having an accurate measurement of the time it takes to complete the full distance, they want a "qualified" timekeeper. Certain professions that they gave as examples include professionals from local athletics clubs, referees, sports coaches, and PE teachers. I would hope that anyone who proctors exams would also qualify, but I'll cross that bridge if/when I come to it. (I've got a couple of questions outstanding with them on this requirement.) Minimum of two needed.

2) Witnesses: These typically must be distinct from the timekeepers. (Again, more questions.) They need to view the entirety of the attempt (maximum of 4 hours, at which point others would need to be witnesses), keep a detailed log book about what happened, and provide a written affidavit in their own words about what they witnessed. Minimum of two needed (for any 4 hour stretch). Might want to have someone keeping track via tick marks on a small hand-held white board of each lap (visible on video being made) to document - and for me to know contemporaneously - when I have hit the final distance.

3) Independent surveyor: A qualified surveyor to measure the track and certify that distance. After all, they need to know that I have actually run the appropriate distance. The fun bit is that I will likely need to run nearly an extra lap to be considered complete, because if the full distance is hit after a fraction of a lap is completed, I need to complete the lap I'm in before the clock is stopped. I've got a question about whether official documentation from the cruise line about the measurement of the track will suffice -- time will tell.

Along with the above, I'll need to video the entire attempt, as well as some of the prep and post-run celebration, and include an introduction of the various people supporting the attempt. Intermittent photos should be taken as well.

If you're interested in any of the above, please contact me at boxmaster@alumni.williams.edu. The cruise that I'm looking to undertake this record attempt is Virgin Voyages' Valiant Lady cruise to the Caribbean Dec 20-26, 2024. I can't adjust the timing, given other factors at play, and recognize that some people who might otherwise be interested won't be able to assist because of Christmas; that's a risk I'm willing to take.

Thanks in advance for considering this!