Cherry Blossom 10 mile

April 1st Chelsea and I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 miler, and while it didn't count in my 12 in 2012, it was a great time at the run and during our stay in DC.

Starting the race at the Washington monument was a site to be seen. With all the runners gathering into their respective corals and the idle chit chat before the race start, it seemed the most calm start of any race I've done!

Although we were warned that most of the cherry blossoms were already gone, since we didn't know what we were missing, it was a pleasant surprise to see any of them!  I had to be sure to snap a picture for my mother in law who had told us months before that they would be gone by race day!

Almost towards the finish we spotten Ben (a first of all our races he's come to), and as I kept pushing Chelsea along we did a jump at the finish holding hands.  Unfortunately it wasn't captured by any of the photographers...

As for the race itself, there were so many people in a small area, even after they started 5 different waves, we all seemed to meet up or have to pass up and it got quite crowded in many spots where Chelsea and I found it easier to run up on the sidewalk.  After crossing the finish we walked and walked and did not find any water.  It seemed it was just crowds of people with no real direction to walk, there were no signs to follow.  Finally we did hear someone directing which way for water and food.  We headed that way while searching for where we picked up medals also, which turned out to be another unorganized mess.

I loved the race, love the city, loved the people and volunteers, the bands playing along the course, but was very disappointed in the finish, especially knowing it was the 40th event!