Act 5: The Race

The Marines. The Marines (and civilian volunteers) were awesome. They epitomize respect, dignity and encouragement to all runners. Combined with the 100,000 constantly hootin' and cheering spectators who lined the race course, "g" beamed a constant smile as big as a banana for the first 5 miles of the race.

Starting the race was a real challenge. With 18,000 runners in the second wave, it wasn't until reaching Georgetown (Mile 5) before runners could actually stretch their legs and run a reasonable pace.

"g" had motivation to jam fast. He wanted to look fit and warrior-like for RB and the LaBella Cheering Squad at Foggy Bottom. (After all, Slammin' Sarah was taking pictures for G-WeB!) At about 10 miles, as he passed the Kennedy Center, "g" realized two things. First, he missed the LCS by minutes, and secondly, his legs felt like he had already crossed the Mile 20 marker! "That dang hike in the High Peaks last weekend," he thought, "What the heck was I thinking?"

Well... Marathon Jeannie and "g" did catch up with RB and the LaBella Cheering Squad at several spots along the course. And, yes... they also missed each other several times. But for runners seeing family along the course... it's worth a million bucks in energy gels! It immediately pumps up the ol' inspiration to finish strong with a super-charged, power boost! Sometimes, this surge of energy is so abrubt and powerful, runners have been known to run right out of their sneakers!

As it would be... Marathon Jeannie finished in 5:03, "g" slugged past Iwo Jima at 4:46, and Long Shots (first wave) shot past the end line at a cruising 4:05! Due to a series of mishaps, Long Shots never caught up with "g" at the finish line (he had the wrong cell phone number to reach "g")... "g's" cell phone was in a default state and couldn't receive any phone calls, so RB and the LaBella Cheering Squad never caught up with our bone dead finishers... and... Marathon Jeannie, who didn't carry her cell phone, was finally found among 1000s of runners and spectators by "g" at UPS Truck #14 picking up her post race clothing bag. (Whew.)

Yep... the race was over. The 2005 running season was quickly coming to a close. It was time to rest. Right? Nope! There was pumpkin carvin' to do! ("What?" wallowed "g", "No nappy-poo?") Halloween was the next day! There would be no rest for our sleep starved runners!

What a day it had been... and as you might expect... the man of road-side pitter-patter... the guy with aspirations as powerful as the suck from a black hole... "g" was already trying to coerce his runnin' buds into forming a 12-person team to run some type of 500 mile relay race in New Hampshire next September. You gotta give him credit. He's got sole!