2 Races in 3 Days

Hey everyone, I finally have something outside of work to write about. I have had some extra time out here to exercise so i have been running and doing weights when i am not working. So i signed up for a half marathon that was today... A few weeks later they announced that they would do a September 11th memorial run - two days before the half marathon. I don't know what got into me, but i decided to sign up for both. I think it was the free t-shirts.

So on September 11th they decided to have a 9.11K run. That ends up being about 5 and a half miles. We started out by forming up on the main road - the same one that they bring the fallen soldiers through for the memorial service. We started off with a prayer.



Then the General told his story of how he was working at the Pentagon when the airplane hit and how that changed the course of America. He spoke of how proud he was to be out here with everyone who was sacrificing to be away from their families. Believe it or not, he was actually brief - no more than 5 min but it was heartfelt.

After that we lined up. They started the count down and 3000 service members started yelling and cheering - it was like being at a football stadium. We were all packed in by the starting line, everyone yelling and jumping. And then we were off. For the first 2 miles lots of jets were taking off, circling and landing. It was like running a race during an air show. (I took these pictures from AP who did a story - i didn't take my camera on the run).







I finished in a really good time. Just over 40 min for 5.5 miles. That includes the first mile where 3000 of my closest friends were all shuffling along shoulder to shoulder with me until the pack thinned out. And i got my T-Shirt!



This morning was the half-marathon. There were not as many people for this one - a little less than 1000, but i was still impressed with how many healthy people there were out here. That is not something you can just decide to do the day before.

I ran with a friend from work - he speaks Chinese and has lived in Taiwan before. We don't really work in the same area, but we have a lot in common, so we just talked and talked for the whole 13 miles. It was the easiest half-marathon i have ever done. While we were jogging, we jogged by mine fields that were being cleared. I thought nothing of it until we were almost done and they did some controlled detonations (they blow up the mines in place after they find them - it is safer than trying to defuse them). I guess that the concussion from the blast made me realize how crazy it was to doing a half-marathon in a war zone. But what an experience.