Usually for this race, I will take a red eye flight on a Friday evening and arrive on Saturday morning. As I was unable to secure a decent fare with my go to American Airlines, I decided to take an early morning flight on Southwest and get in Friday evening. I got ready and left the house at about 5 am to catch a flight out of one of my favorite airports, Long Beach Airport. I arrived at the airport at just after 5:30 am and pulled into Parking Garage B. Per the usual, getting through TSA security screening was much easier at this airport even though they did run my duffel bag through their older scanner twice. Next time, I probably should veer myself towards the line with the newer scanner.
LGB Parking Structure B
I then made my way over to gate 7. I used the restroom and checked out all of the Halloween decorations in the terminal before returning back to my gate to find an open seat and wait for boarding time. The Ghostbusters decorations were my favorite! When it came time to board the plane, I made my way over to the rear of the plane as this is one of the few airports where they allow passengers to board from the rear. There's no ramp, so you have to be able to climb stairs without assistance.
Gate 7
Boarding from the back of the plane
My flight over to Washington DC had about a 2 hour layover at Chicago Midway Airport. During the flight over, I finally caught the movie, The Flash. Overall, this movie was terrible, but I wouldn't say that it was the worst DC movie. It had Michael Keaton as Batman again. He's probably my favorite actor to have donned the Batman cowl. Since both DC and MCU have been incorporating the multiverse in their recent films, things have become harder to keep track. This movie had a better balance of action, story, and juvenile humor. However, it's still not really a must watch movie that I would pay money to see in the movie theater. (6/10)
The Flash
Inflight snacks
The plane landed in Chicago at about 1 pm local time. My next flight was over in Concourse A. Once I got off of the plane, I walked over to the food hall over at Concourse A to get lunch. After checking out my options, I got in line for Billy Goat Tavern. When it was my turn, I ordered a double cheeseburger. People ahead of me had to add their own condiments. However, when my burger was ready, I had to tell the employee what to add to my burger. I told him to put ketchup, mustard, pickles, and onions. I wasn't really paying attention, but when I started eating my burger, I noticed that he didn't put any onions. Oh well, it was still a decent burger.
Double cheeseburger
While I was eating my burger, I started streaming the Crystal Palace v. Tottenham match. I was able to catch the first half before heading over to Gate A4A to board my flight. Once I was seated, I connected to the onboard WiFi and caught the rest of the second half. The Spurs ended up winning 1-2. That goal by Ayew shouldn't have counted since the ball touched his arm before he kicked it into the goal. Oh well, a win is a win!
Crystal Palace v. Tottenham
The plane landed at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport at about a quarter to 6 pm. Apparently this was my first time landing in terminal 1. I exited the terminal and didn't recognize where I was! At first I thought about waiting for a shuttle to terminal 2. Then I decided to just walk over.
DCA Terminal 1
Originally I was going to head over to my hotel by UDC, but the Metro turnstile wasn't accepting my digital WMATA card in my Google Wallet even though I still had money on it. Instead of trying to figure it out, I purchased a 3-day pass on the mobile app which thankfully worked. Since I now had unlimited rides for today, I thought I should head over to the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center and pick up my race packet as the expo was open until 8 pm. I took a yellow train down to the Eisenhower Ave Metro Station to catch a complimentary bus ride over to the expo. There was a ton of traffic on the bus ride over. Even so, I prefer having the expo here versus over at the DC Armory. I believe the first time that I had run this race back in 2009, it was held at the Walter E. Convention Center. According to this article, it would appear that back in 2015, the race organizers had a disagreement with Events DC where vendors weren't allowed to give out free food and drink samples at this particular convention center. Thus, they looked for alternative locations for the race expo.
Race expo
MCM patch
Long sleeve race shirt
Back of race shirt
Sneakers donation
Mylar blanket
Free gaiter
After I picked up my race packet and went through the expo, I headed out to catch a bus ride back to the Eisenhower Ave Metro Station. I didn't spend too much time there as I wanted to get some dinner before getting to my hotel. I took the yellow line up to Pentagon City Metro Station to eat at Chick-fil-A. I got there at about 8 pm and ordered the usual Cobb salad with grilled nuggets and a large Sunjoy.
Cobb salad with grilled nuggets, large Sunjoy
After I was done with dinner, I went back to the Metro station and took the yellow line up to the Gallery Place - Chinatown Metro Station and transferred over to the red line. I took that up to the Van Ness-UDC Metro Station. From there, I walked a couple short blocks up to the Days Inn Washington DC/Connecticut Ave. When I checked in, I was given room #614.
Toiletries
I went through the race packet and expo haul before taking a shower and started getting ready for bed. I tried to watch game 1 of the World Series on the TV, but for some reason they didn't have the channel. I ended up having to stream it on my mobile device. Arizona was on the verge of winning, but Seager was able to hit a game tying 2-run homerun at the bottom of the 9th inning. The Rangers would go on to win with a walk-off homerun from Adolis Garcia in the 11th inning.
Saturday 10/28
I woke up around 7 am to catch the Chelsea v. Brentford match which started at 7:30 am. It was a bit surprising to see Chelsea struggle at home against Brentford, losing 0-2. Since Harry Kane had joined Bayern Munich, I occasionally will watch one of their matches. I wasn't watching their match this morning against SV Darmstadt, but I was receiving a bunch of red card alerts on my FotMob app! Apparently, that was quite a spicy match! Next I caught the Arsenal v. Sheffield United match. I only saw the first half before checking out of my room. The Gooners would go on to win easily, 5-0. When I dropped off the keys at the counter, the lady at the front desk had a little difficulty refunding my deposit. She said it was because I had tapped using GooglePay. She was however able to eventually refund it since I had the physical credit card on me.
View from my room
Chelsea v. Brentford
So many red cards!
Arsenal v. Sheffield United
From there, I walked over to the Metro station to catch a train down to Cleveland Park Metro Station to buy some drinks at Target. It was a smaller Target, located underground, but I was able to find what I needed. I bought a bottle of Gatorade for the marathon tomorrow and a 1.5 L bottle of water. I paid for my items using a self checkout kiosk and was then on my way.
Van Ness-UDC Metro Station
Cleveland Park Metro Station
Going back in the Metro station, I took the red line over to Gallery Place - Chinatown Metro Station where I switched over to the yellow line. I took that up to the Mt Vernon Sq 7th St-Convention Center Metro Station. Since it was about noon, I thought I should get lunch over at the Saints Paradise Cafeteria. Unfortunately, I was a bit too early as they were in the process of switching from breakfast to their lunch/dinner menu. While I was waiting, a line started to form, so I got in line as well. When it was my turn, I ordered their pork chop with collard greens, mac & cheese, and cornbread. In front of me was the guy's first time. He didn't know that his meal came with cornbread and was about to turn it down. I advised him not to do so as their cornbread is good!
Pork chop with collard greens and mac & cheese
Normally, I don't mind walking, but it was a warm day and I had a 3 day Metro pass good for unlimited rides. I hopped on the yellow line and took it down to L'Enfant Plaza Metro Station. Then from there, I caught the first train up to the Smithsonian Metro Station. Since I couldn't check into my timeshare rental until 4 pm, I decided to pass some time walking around the National Mall. I hit the usual places: Since I was lugging around my bags, I was one sweaty mess by the time I finally reached the Lincoln Memorial. About half of the memorial chamber entrance was blocked off as there was construction to the undercroft of the memorial to improve the visitor experience. The project would include new museum exhibits, restrooms, a larger bookstore, and a refurbished elevator to the chamber level.
Washington Monument
World War II Memorial
The Reflecting Pool
Lincoln Memorial
After drinking a bunch of water and cooling down a bit, I started heading out and hoofed it up 23rd St to catch a train over at the Foggy Bottom-GWU Metro Station. I took the blue line train over to Pentagon City Metro Station to get a frosted coffee at Chick-fil-A.
Frosted coffee
After I was done with my drink, I got back on the Metro train and took it down to King St-Old Town Metro Station. From there, I walked over to the Club Wyndham Old Town Alexandria to see if I can check-in a tad early. Unfortunately, the guy at the front desk informed me that my room was not yet ready. I then checked in with the concierge where I was once again wrangled in for an owner update this time for early Monday, right before I needed to check out and head to the airport. The incentive was for what I had paid for 1 night stay. Since I had booked with Wyndham reward points, it was 20k points. I thought to myself that it would be a piece of cake since I had just recently bought another block of credits and was done upgrading. After that, I waited at a couch near the game room for my room to be ready. This was one of the few times that my unit was not ready by the 4 pm check-in time. For the amount of money that I pay for maintenance fees, I think that's quite unacceptable! I was just about to get ready and head out to meet up with my friends for dinner when I finally received a text from the front desk that my room was ready. I was assigned to room #112. That was great since it saved me from having to lug around my bags. They did offer to hold onto my bags, but I never have much trust to hand over my bags unless I absolutely have no other choice.
Pool table
Foosball
Claw machine
Coin-op game
Movie room
After I dropped off my bags in my room and relaxed for a bit, I headed back out to meet up with my friends for dinner at the nearby Lena's Wood-Fired Pizza & Tap. The restaurant was located just steps from the Braddock Road Metro Station. Normally I would just hoof it, but I was pretty dang tired and I had a 3-day Metro pass good for unlimited rides. So I took the Metro train up just 1 station. I guess it's good to be lazy every now and then especially when you have to cover 26.2 miles tomorrow. My local friends had reserved a table in the patio. After looking over the menu, I ordered their 10" Sausage & Peppers pizza. It was the perfect size for a marathon carbo-load meal. I must say that their Halloween decorations were top notch!
Lena's Wood-fired Pizza & Tap
10" Sausage & Peppers pizza
After we were done with our meal and had settled the bill, we all went our separate ways. Once again, I opted to take the Metro. Once I had gotten back to my room, I put on the World Series game and started getting ready for tomorrow's marathon. I took a shower and laid out my flat runner. As for the baseball game, there was no late inning comeback this time by the Rangers as Arizona smoked them by a score of 9-1 in game 2 to even up the series.
Flat runner
World Series Game 2
Sunday 10/29
Everyone that knows me, knows that I show up to events and races early. I'm rarely late for anything. The Metro was opened early at 5 am to allow race participants to get to the race on time using public transportation. For once I slept in a bit and planned to take the Metro at around 5:30 am. I arrived at the Pentagon Metro Station at about a quarter to 6 am. After exiting the station, it was the usual somewhat lengthy walk up to the North Parking Lot. During that walk, I noticed something that was different. There were clearly more military presence than in the previous years that I've run this race and they were all carrying their rifles. I sure hope that there won't be any incidents at this year's race! Once I had reached the parking lot, I headed over to the portpotties on the northern end. Since it was early, there were no lines. I then found an open spot on a curb near the 110 Richmond Highway onramp to sit down and wait. At about 7 am, I got up to use the portapotty one last time before heading over to the starting area. This time there were lines. Once I reached the starting area, I positioned myself next to the 4:00 - 4:15 pillar. Shortly after that, the 50k race started.
Osprey flyover
Here were the start times:
50k: 7:15 am
Marathon Wheels: 7:50 am
Marathon Duos: 7:52 am
Marathon Runners: 7:55 am
For some reason at about half a mile into the race, when we reached the point where the 110 highway was about to end and turn into Wilson Blvd, all of the runners on the northbound lane were diverted onto the southbound lane. That caused quite the congestion. It was a bit of a surprise as in the years prior, they had always used both lanes. Fortunately for me, I started the race on the very left side of the left lane. I came into this race hoping to finish in just under 5 hours. However, early on into the race, I knew that I would have a hard time reaching even such a modest goal! The high humidity made each mile felt much harder even though I was moving slower than I had been 2 weeks ago at Long Beach. I was hoping to reach the halfway point by 2:15, but I reached it in 2:18:14.
Mile 11.2: Looking across the Tidal Basin on Ohio Dr
Near mile 12: Start of the blue mile, adjacent to the East Potomac Golf Links
This race was already such a grind with another half to go, but I was still in good spirits as I was joking with spectators and taking pictures here and there. Most of the pictures were a bit blurry as I was one sweaty mess from the humidity! It was nice to finally reach the Beat the Bridge point as I approached mile 20. At this point, I kind of switched off since I knew that my body would turn against me if I tried to push the pace. The cramps were definitely starting to kick in as I made my way through Crystal City.
Mile 16.3: Pterodactyls!
Mile 18.3: Peace Monument in front of the United States Capitol
Mile 18.4: United States Capitol
Mile 19.8: Beat the Bridge
At about mile 25 for me, I spotted my friend, Sammy as he was passing me. The guy was an absolute beast! He was running the 50k and was encouraging me to follow him to the finish line. I could not keep up as my legs were on the verge of shutting down due to cramps! I kept taking walk breaks until I reached that final left turn and headed up that short steep climb up to the finish line.
Finish: 5:19:56
Click here for my Garmin data.
My past results:
2022: 5:27:41
2020: 5:32:54 (virtual)
2019: 6:44:06 (50k)
2017: 5:18:15
2009: 5:13:34
I seem to always do poorly at this race! I wasn't too satisfied with my results for this year, but it was pretty on par with how I had done in all of my previous years. While I am consistently mediocre, I hope to return one year and put out a much better result!
Finish line
Shortly after crossing the finish line and getting a bottle of water, I saw my friend propped up against the railing and was dealing with leg cramps. I hung out with him until he was good enough to walk and head over to receive our medals. This year, I opted for a selfie in front of the US Marine Corps War Memorial as I didn't pre-purchase my race photos. I gave away my beer ticket before we went our separate ways. It was quite the long slow walk out of the finisher chute. After I received my banana, post race snack box, and a very useful throwaway hoody jacket, I started making my way over to the McDonald's that was across the street from the Rosslyn Metro Station.
Sammy!
Finisher medal
Dog tag inside the medal
US Marine Corps War Memorial
Post race snack box, water bottle, and banana
Snack box contents
There was quite the crowd both outside and inside McDonald's. Inside, there was a huge line of people waiting to use the restroom and several other lines of people ordering food from either the counter or one of the kiosks. I found an open spot and placed my order on the mobile app. I was finally able to get my free Quarter Pounder with cheese where I had cashed in my points 2 weeks ago. I added a medium iced coffee to my order. I ended up having a nice conversation with a fellow finisher named, Tyler. He and his wife were from Houston, TX. They told me that this was their first time on a trip without their kid since having a kid. Per the usual, we exchanged our race stories. He did much better than me even though he suffered from some bad leg cramps during the last few miles.
Quick post race meal at McDonald's
QPC, medium iced coffee, and finisher medal
After I was done with my meal, I wished them well and a safe trip home before I crossed the street to catch a Metro train back to my room. Per the usual, people inside the station was packed like sardines. I tried to make my way to the very end of the platform, but it was completely packed. Fortunately, I was still able to get on a blue line train. I forget which station we were stopped at, but someone in our car lost consciousness or had collapsed, so we had to alert the conductor that there was an emergency. I think that person was ok since it didn't take them too long to resolve the issue before we were once again on our way.
Back at my room, I watched a bunch of TV. Most of what I watched was 'That Built' Documentaries on the History Channel. I ate through the contents of the snack box before dragging myself into the shower to get cleaned up. I saw that one of my friends had texted me to check to see if everything went okay with the race. I was ignorant to the fact that the race organizers was advised to shut down the gauntlets early. Too many runners had been going down due to the warm weather conditions. I was fortunate enough to had finished ahead of those early closures.
I was feeling pretty pooped, but eventually I dragged myself out to go get dinner before it got too late. I took the Metro train up to the Pentagon City Station. From there, I walked over and through the Fashion Centre shopping mall to eat dinner at Nando's PERi-PERi. My friend turned me onto this delicious South African chicken when I was in London last year. They're known for their PERi-PERi pepper aka African Bird's Eye Chili. After I was seated, I used my phone to scan their QR code and ordered two 1/4 lemon & herb chicken legs with 2 sides. For my sides, I got the corn on the cob and mixed leaf salad. For my drink I got a 16oz pineapple lemonade. Man, that was a delicious post race meal!
Nando's PERi-PERi
Two 1/4 Lemon & Herb Chicken Legs with 2 Sides, Corn on the Cob and Mixed Leaf Salad, Pineapple Lemonade 16oz
Monday 10/30
I got up and started my day pretty early at around 5 am. The news had reported that the race yesterday was actually cut short due to high temperatures! For me, it wasn't that hot, but the high humidity made it feel much worse than if it was just a dry heat! No wonder, my friend had texted me yesterday to make sure everything was okay. I'm notorious for doing significantly worse in warm weather conditions!
Race was cut short due to high temperatures
I got ready and packed up most of my stuff before heading out to the lobby to attend yet another owner update at 8:30 am for a lousy incentive. In short, this had to be the worst sales team that I had ever come across since becoming a WorldMark owner. The person that gave the opening group presentation was also the same person that was assigned to me. While she was pleasant to talk to, a guy which I assumed was the sales manager, joined in about halfway through as per their usual tag team tactics. Not sure what his issue was, but he was a total dick to put it nicely. Without going into specifics, he insulted my intelligence as a WorldMark owner as if his comments was going to push me to make a purchase into Club Wyndham. The two of them left to use the computer and left me hanging by myself. I got up to leave after the mandatory hour was up, but he told me to wait one more minute as they printed out some offer sheets. Boy, talk about being clueless. My rep showed me those sheets which I glanced at for a few seconds. Needless to say, I declined those offers and shook her hand before excusing myself. If this location wasn't so convenient, I would not stay here again. However if I do, you can be damn sure that I won't be attending another owner update here!
I checked out of my unit at 10 am and hopped on the Metro train for a ride up to DCA. Upon the first tap at the fare gate, it did not open as my 3 day pass had expired. Then on the second tap, it finally deducted money from my digital WMATA card. What an incredibly glitchy system!
I arrived at the airport at about 10:15 am for my 1:55 pm flight from DCA to HOU. I went through the TSA security screening at the northern end of terminal 2. I then walked down over to the Starbucks next to Gate B22. On the mobile app, I ordered my usual salted caramel cream cold brew and a bacon, sausage & egg wrap. Unfortunately, the barista informed me that they were out of cream, so she ended up substituting it with milk. With my breakfast in hand, I then started heading over to the terminal 1. When I reached the door that would lead me to terminal 1, there was a sign warning that I would be leaving the secure zone and would have to be rescreened. Before going through, I found a nearby table to eat my breakfast. I guess today wasn't a good day as the wrap wasn't heated all the way. It was still cold inside. After I was done, I made the long walk over to terminal 1 where I went through TSA security screening a second time. Thank goodness I always get to the airport super early!
Starbucks near gate B22
Bacon, sausage, and egg wrap and grande salted caramel cream cold brew
The plane landed at William P Hobby Airport at about 4:45 pm. The next flight wasn't departing until 6:35 pm, so I walked around the terminal looking at my food options. There wasn't much to pick from, so I went with Wendy's. I ordered the Dave's Double Cheeseburger meal with a bottled water as my drink. They charged 30 cents extra for the water. I guess it costs a little more to be healthy and forego the soda.
Dave's Double Cheeseburger meal with a bottle of water for 30 cents extra
During the flight from Houston to Long Beach, I switched between watching the World Series Game 3 and WWE Monday Night Raw. As for the baseball game, it was a pretty tight game. All 3 of the Rangers' runs were scored in the third inning which was enough for them to win the game 3-1 and lead the series 2-1.
World Series Game 3
The Judgment Day
Sami Zayn
Hitting the Cross Rhodes on JD McDonagh
Our plane landed at Long Beach Airport just after 8 pm. After getting off of the plane and using the restroom, I started heading for the parking structure. I tried to pay for parking at one of the kiosks before going to my car, but both of them weren't working. I ended up just paying at the exit gate. It turned out to be $20 per day. Darn you inflation!
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