Army 10 Miler
On Sunday, I ran the Army 10 Miler here in Arlington, Virginia. Well, I guess I should say it starts in Arlington, goes into DC, and then comes back to Arlington. This was my 19th race run, unless I have miss one somewhere, which I think is a definite possibility. I'm used to smaller races - races ranging from a few hundred people to a few thousand people. Boy, this sure was a different experience.
The Army 10 Miler has over 35,000 participants, and this year was no exception. I've run two other races that I consider to be very large - the Richmond Half Marathon and Virginia Beach Shamrock Marathon. Both of those races have between 20,000 and 30,000 participants spread out over three races. Army 10 has 35,000 in a single 10 mile race. And because it utilizes several major thoroughfares, bridges, and highways, the spread is limited. Fortunately, Pierre L'Enfant's design for the federal district incorporated wide avenues and undisturbed vistas.
Expo -
The race expo and packet pickup for the race is at the DC Armory, a facility definitely big enough to handle it. They had packet pickup all day on Friday and all day on Saturday. Military and government CAC card holders are allowed to come before 10 in the morning (I am included in this crowd). Everyone else goes between 10 and... 7p.m. I think? I went after 10 because I went with my running partner. It was a fun activity for a rainy Saturday afternoon. Pickup itself was very quick even with the crowds. Had I wanted, I could have driven down, parked, gone in, gotten my packet and shirt, and driven home in a bit over an hour with maybe 10 minutes inside.
To the race -
Even though the race starts at the Pentagon which is surrounded by big huge parking lots that you can normally drive right into (literally) even though they may not let you stay (well patrolled), race organizers rightfully discouraged driving. And a very large percentage of the parking area is used by starting corrals, race logistics, and post-race activities anyway. So, because the Army paid to open the metro at 5a.m. on Sunday morning, there we were at 5:30 at the metro station by my house boarding a train. We arrived at the Pentagon around 6:20 and spent half an hour hanging out in the metro station - we were scantily clad and did not desire to stand outside in the 49 degree weather for a full two hours doing nothing. Around 6:45, we went outside, found the porta potties, found the starting corrals, and warmed up a bit. The sun crested the horizon around 7:15. We lined up a few minutes after so we would get to a spot in our waves that we liked.
Here's how the corrals work out:
Corrals open - 6:40
Parachute tribute - 7:20 (they stop traffic from National Airport for this)
Honor guard, Army band, National Anthem - 7:30 to 7:50
Wounded Warrior start - 7:50
First Wave - 8:00
Second wave - 8:08
...and so forth.
My running partner was in the first wave. I was in the second wave. Waves are seeded based on your goal time, and from what I can determine your actual bib number is also seeded within the wave based on your goal time as well, so in reality if you're in the second wave, you should be surrounded entirely by people who had a stated goal of running somewhere between 7:45 and 8:30 pace for an entire 10 mile race. Unfortunately, there are also a handful of people who come up from the other waves (waves are not strictly controlled) and run slower, and at the same time there are always going to be people who are having a bad day. Meanwhile, that's a fairly big spread in pace. But they do what they can.
So the cannon goes off for my wave. The front of the pack takes off. I was about a quarter of the way behind, so after about a minute (remember, each wave has over 3500 people) we cross the starting line.
The route -
Mile 1 takes you north on 110
Mile 2 takes you across Memorial Bridge to Lincoln Memorial
Mile 3 takes up down Constitution a small bit, then you turn left, then you crest an "easy" hill, then you head down Virginia Avenue.
Mile 4 takes you around the Watergate, down Rock Creek Parkway, past the Kennedy Center and along the Potomac past Lincoln again.
Mile 5 takes you from Lincoln down onto Independence Avenue and as far as the Forest Service and USDA headquarters.
Mile 6 takes you on a loop through the Federal Center SW / L'Enfant Plaza neighborhood, back to Independence, and then left on 14th STreet.
Mile 7 takes you towards the 14th Street Bridge complex and onto the approach bridges.
Mile 8 takes you across 14th Street Bridge.
Mile 9 takes you off 14th Street Bridge by the Pentagon
Mile 10 takes you around the north side of the 14th Street Bridge complex / Pentagon approach neighborhoods, down Boundary Channel Drive, and back onto the Pentagon propery to the finish.
I was running in a crowd for the entire duration of the race. I finished the race at an 8:36 pace. I have no idea what my splits were, but I suspect that I had a nine minute mile at the start (myself and about 5% of the pack took a "nature break" as soon as the guardrails ended on 110 before the Memorial Bridge ramp), a handful of 8:15 miles (Mile 6, Mile 7, Mile 10), and a large number of average pace miles. Without the crowds, I believe I would have maintained a steady 8:15 pace no problem at all, but as it was, I was spending a fair amount of effort maneuvering through the crowd to pass people the duration of the race. Usually when I run a race, I do not tend to pass a lot of people in the second half, so this was unusual for me.
Most challenging parts -
Ramp from 110 to the Memorial Bridge approach by Arlington Cemetary - You go from 3 1/2 lanes to a lane and a half. This is still close to the start. For most of the rest of the race, you have between two and three lanes for running, and those lanes are well utilized.
The "easy hill" after the two mile point. Runners who are only trained and only have stamina for ten miles need to be careful not to speed up this hill. It's too early in the race.
The 14th Street Bridge complex - in reality, there are about four or five long bridges in a row. For anyone familiar with the Washington area, basically you come down 14th Street and are directed onto the HOV lanes. This is actually a series of bridges, and they slowly rise as you go west. For many, this is harder than a small hill because you're tempted to run as if you're flat, but in reality you should amp your pace back by about ten seconds or so a mile from your flat pace to maintain the same effort - and you have to do that for two or three miles. Also, there is no shade. If you dressed for the 49 degree start, you might be a bit warm as it is now 60 degrees and sunny. I can't imagine doing this on a rainy day, or even worse a rainy and windy day.
Water stops -
More water than Gatorade. Well stocked at 2, 4, 6, and 8 1/2 (to avoid bridges).
Entertainment - lots of military bands, about once a mile.
Crowd support - more and more as you get further in the race. Much of the crowd consists of tourists that are trapped on one side of the road or other.
Finish line - crowded. It's hard to find people. If you're paying attention, you agree to meet your partner at one of the "Reunion Areas." But you have to find those too. They give a fair amount of food, but they are mostly breakfast snacks (muffins, cookies, bananas, juice, etc.). There is a good expo at the end. A lot of it predictibly enough is military based.
How did I do?
Well, I'm training for a marathon on November 2nd. When I registered, my goal was 80 minutes. I finished in 1:26:03, about 6 minutes off that pace and about three minutes off what I expected. I believe my early nature stop cost me 45 seconds, and I believe the crowds cost me 20 seconds a mile. But I believe my pace was steady and I'll come closer to my marathon goal on November 2 than expected.
Would I run it again?
Honestly, I think the weather was near perfect. I don't think I could have picked a better day for me personally to run a race. I would not want to run it again unless I knew the weather would be perfect. Why? Because I am not a fan of standing around in the cold for a couple of hours.
The Army 10 Miler has over 35,000 participants, and this year was no exception. I've run two other races that I consider to be very large - the Richmond Half Marathon and Virginia Beach Shamrock Marathon. Both of those races have between 20,000 and 30,000 participants spread out over three races. Army 10 has 35,000 in a single 10 mile race. And because it utilizes several major thoroughfares, bridges, and highways, the spread is limited. Fortunately, Pierre L'Enfant's design for the federal district incorporated wide avenues and undisturbed vistas.
Expo -
The race expo and packet pickup for the race is at the DC Armory, a facility definitely big enough to handle it. They had packet pickup all day on Friday and all day on Saturday. Military and government CAC card holders are allowed to come before 10 in the morning (I am included in this crowd). Everyone else goes between 10 and... 7p.m. I think? I went after 10 because I went with my running partner. It was a fun activity for a rainy Saturday afternoon. Pickup itself was very quick even with the crowds. Had I wanted, I could have driven down, parked, gone in, gotten my packet and shirt, and driven home in a bit over an hour with maybe 10 minutes inside.
To the race -
Even though the race starts at the Pentagon which is surrounded by big huge parking lots that you can normally drive right into (literally) even though they may not let you stay (well patrolled), race organizers rightfully discouraged driving. And a very large percentage of the parking area is used by starting corrals, race logistics, and post-race activities anyway. So, because the Army paid to open the metro at 5a.m. on Sunday morning, there we were at 5:30 at the metro station by my house boarding a train. We arrived at the Pentagon around 6:20 and spent half an hour hanging out in the metro station - we were scantily clad and did not desire to stand outside in the 49 degree weather for a full two hours doing nothing. Around 6:45, we went outside, found the porta potties, found the starting corrals, and warmed up a bit. The sun crested the horizon around 7:15. We lined up a few minutes after so we would get to a spot in our waves that we liked.
Here's how the corrals work out:
Corrals open - 6:40
Parachute tribute - 7:20 (they stop traffic from National Airport for this)
Honor guard, Army band, National Anthem - 7:30 to 7:50
Wounded Warrior start - 7:50
First Wave - 8:00
Second wave - 8:08
...and so forth.
My running partner was in the first wave. I was in the second wave. Waves are seeded based on your goal time, and from what I can determine your actual bib number is also seeded within the wave based on your goal time as well, so in reality if you're in the second wave, you should be surrounded entirely by people who had a stated goal of running somewhere between 7:45 and 8:30 pace for an entire 10 mile race. Unfortunately, there are also a handful of people who come up from the other waves (waves are not strictly controlled) and run slower, and at the same time there are always going to be people who are having a bad day. Meanwhile, that's a fairly big spread in pace. But they do what they can.
So the cannon goes off for my wave. The front of the pack takes off. I was about a quarter of the way behind, so after about a minute (remember, each wave has over 3500 people) we cross the starting line.
The route -
Mile 1 takes you north on 110
Mile 2 takes you across Memorial Bridge to Lincoln Memorial
Mile 3 takes up down Constitution a small bit, then you turn left, then you crest an "easy" hill, then you head down Virginia Avenue.
Mile 4 takes you around the Watergate, down Rock Creek Parkway, past the Kennedy Center and along the Potomac past Lincoln again.
Mile 5 takes you from Lincoln down onto Independence Avenue and as far as the Forest Service and USDA headquarters.
Mile 6 takes you on a loop through the Federal Center SW / L'Enfant Plaza neighborhood, back to Independence, and then left on 14th STreet.
Mile 7 takes you towards the 14th Street Bridge complex and onto the approach bridges.
Mile 8 takes you across 14th Street Bridge.
Mile 9 takes you off 14th Street Bridge by the Pentagon
Mile 10 takes you around the north side of the 14th Street Bridge complex / Pentagon approach neighborhoods, down Boundary Channel Drive, and back onto the Pentagon propery to the finish.
I was running in a crowd for the entire duration of the race. I finished the race at an 8:36 pace. I have no idea what my splits were, but I suspect that I had a nine minute mile at the start (myself and about 5% of the pack took a "nature break" as soon as the guardrails ended on 110 before the Memorial Bridge ramp), a handful of 8:15 miles (Mile 6, Mile 7, Mile 10), and a large number of average pace miles. Without the crowds, I believe I would have maintained a steady 8:15 pace no problem at all, but as it was, I was spending a fair amount of effort maneuvering through the crowd to pass people the duration of the race. Usually when I run a race, I do not tend to pass a lot of people in the second half, so this was unusual for me.
Most challenging parts -
Ramp from 110 to the Memorial Bridge approach by Arlington Cemetary - You go from 3 1/2 lanes to a lane and a half. This is still close to the start. For most of the rest of the race, you have between two and three lanes for running, and those lanes are well utilized.
The "easy hill" after the two mile point. Runners who are only trained and only have stamina for ten miles need to be careful not to speed up this hill. It's too early in the race.
The 14th Street Bridge complex - in reality, there are about four or five long bridges in a row. For anyone familiar with the Washington area, basically you come down 14th Street and are directed onto the HOV lanes. This is actually a series of bridges, and they slowly rise as you go west. For many, this is harder than a small hill because you're tempted to run as if you're flat, but in reality you should amp your pace back by about ten seconds or so a mile from your flat pace to maintain the same effort - and you have to do that for two or three miles. Also, there is no shade. If you dressed for the 49 degree start, you might be a bit warm as it is now 60 degrees and sunny. I can't imagine doing this on a rainy day, or even worse a rainy and windy day.
Water stops -
More water than Gatorade. Well stocked at 2, 4, 6, and 8 1/2 (to avoid bridges).
Entertainment - lots of military bands, about once a mile.
Crowd support - more and more as you get further in the race. Much of the crowd consists of tourists that are trapped on one side of the road or other.
Finish line - crowded. It's hard to find people. If you're paying attention, you agree to meet your partner at one of the "Reunion Areas." But you have to find those too. They give a fair amount of food, but they are mostly breakfast snacks (muffins, cookies, bananas, juice, etc.). There is a good expo at the end. A lot of it predictibly enough is military based.
How did I do?
Well, I'm training for a marathon on November 2nd. When I registered, my goal was 80 minutes. I finished in 1:26:03, about 6 minutes off that pace and about three minutes off what I expected. I believe my early nature stop cost me 45 seconds, and I believe the crowds cost me 20 seconds a mile. But I believe my pace was steady and I'll come closer to my marathon goal on November 2 than expected.
Would I run it again?
Honestly, I think the weather was near perfect. I don't think I could have picked a better day for me personally to run a race. I would not want to run it again unless I knew the weather would be perfect. Why? Because I am not a fan of standing around in the cold for a couple of hours.