In celebrations of today’s 11th annual running of the Potomac River Run Marathon and Half Marathon, I’m recapping when I ran the 2004 marathon and Bill ran the half.  When we ran the race, it started and ended at Belle Haven Park in Alexandria and ran along the Mount Vernon Trail next to the beautiful Potomac River.  In 2010 the race moved to the Maryland side of the Potomac River, and the course now runs along the historic C&O Canal Towpath.

In 2004 the race was on the smaller size with 204 runners completing it.  Packet pick-up was offered before the race, and was a breeze.

PotomacRiverRunMarathonBib

I no longer have the shirt, but the found pictures of all of the race shirts from over the years on the race website.

PotomacRiverRunMarathonShirtLogo

source

Race morning started out cool and drizzly, but as the sprinkles stopped and the sun broke through the clouds, the humidity rose and it ended up being a hot sticky mess.

PotomacRiverMarathonDeb

Pretty early in the race I caught up with a shirtless guy and ran most of the rest of the race with him.  Our pace was pretty much the same, and I think I would have slowed down if I hadn’t had someone more or less pacing me.

PotomacRiverMarathonWithGuy

I started out running with a hat, but as soon as the rain stopped, I took it off and tucked the bill in the back of my shorts.  Eventually I stopped at a porta potty and forgot that my hat was back there.  That made the second hat that I lost in the same disgusting way.

PotomacRiverMarathonDebTrail

I finished in 4:05:03 (9:21 pace) and won my age group.  Age group prizes were gift certificates to area restaurants and stores.  Bill finished the half marathon in 1:50:12 (8:24 pace).

PotomacRiverMarathonMedal

It was a fun little well organized race run along a beautiful course.  Anytime I get to look at the Potomac River while running, I’m pretty happy!

 

  • Questions:
  • What’s the weather like where you live? ~ It’s gorgeous here!
  • What’s the smallest race you’ve run?
  • Who raced this weekend?