If  you remember on Thursday I wrote So Many Races, So Little Time where I lamented that there were three races in one weekend, and I wanted to run them all, especially the Dulles Day on the Runway 5K!  Four Cruisers ran the race and Jessica agreed to do a guest post for me!  Thank you, Jessica, for taking my readers on this fun little run with you!

 

Thank you, Debbie, for inviting me to guest blog about the Dulles Airport 5K on the Runway. Let me start out by typing some words you’ll rarely, if ever, see on Deb Runs again. I hate running.

Last year, after training with Debbie for several years, I finally decided to try a 5K. I used the Couch to 5K running program. I knew I might be in trouble when I finished the nine week program and was running for the full 30 minutes but only covering 2 miles. Rather than pick up my pace, I decided I’d just run longer. I’m a slow runner. If I went any slower I’m afraid someone might try and perform CPR on me.

Here it is a year later and I now have five 5K’s under my belt. I enjoy the accomplishment of running it even if I don’t actually enjoy the running itself.

The Dulles International Airport’s 5K on the Runway was a unique running venue. When I heard about it, I thought to myself, “A straight, flat 5K? Sign me up!” For some reason, all the other 5K’s I’ve run have been uphill for the entire race. I don’t know how that’s physically possible but it’s true.

DullesDay5KFlagOnCrane

The race was capped at 2000 runners and I think they all showed up. This guy caught my eye more than once:

DullesDay5KRunnerKilt

I initially thought it was going to be an out and back race but that wasn’t the case. The course had several wide turns that kept us from having to do any back tracking.

DullesDay5KRunnersAtDistance

I wonder if any early morning travelers had a moment of panic when they saw 2000 people running away from the airport?
At the half way point, there was a water station. I’ve never seen one of those at any of my other 5K’s. It was appreciated! The picture is a little blurry; I didn’t want to slow down too much. Just kidding, I wanted to keep moving so I wouldn’t get in anyone else’s way and have water spilled on me.

DullesDay5KWaterStop

At the 2 mile mark United, one of the sponsors, had parked an airplane.

DullesDay5KRunningTowardJet

I needed to stop so I could take a good picture. Yes, I needed to stop. For the picture.

DullesDay5KJetCloseUp

None of the other runways near us were being used so we didn’t get any grand views of a plane landing or taking off. They were on the other side of the control tower.

DullesDay5KControlTowerSkyWriting

Last, but not least, I took this picture just for Debbie. As she said about it, “Planes and port-a-potties. Two of my favorite things!”

DullesDay5KJetPortaPotties

Added by Deb:  Here’s a picture of the race shirt that Jessica just sent to me.

DullesDay5KShirt

 

  • Questions:
  • Do the 5K races that you run have water stops?
  • What’s the coolest race venue you’ve run?
  • What’s your favorite race shirt color combination?