The 35th Annual Cherry Blossom 10-Miler

In its 35th year, a record 10,707 runners finished the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10-miler in Washington, DC on Sunday, April 1. This race is the third largest 10-mile race in the United States. The two largest 10-milers in the nation are the Army Ten Miler (also in Washington, DC) and the Broad Street Run, in Philadelphia, PA.

During Sunday's race, a new women's world record was set for the 10-mile distance. 24-year-old Teyba Erkesso finished the race in 51:44, breaking the record set by Lidiya Grigoryeva at the 2006 Cherry Blossom 10-miler. Washington DC Mayor Mayor Adrian Fenty completed this race with a time of 1:08:34, just eight days after running the Wirefly National Marathon.

On Sunday morning, there was no rain for the Cherry Blossom 10-miler. The forecast had called for rain all throughout the race, but it hadn't started yet. My friends and I arrived downtown where shuttle buses would take us to the start line. When we got off the bus, we walked about half a mile to the start line. I've lived in the Washington area my whole life, but I have never seen the cherry blossoms. They were beautiful.

The race was very well organized. We were corralled by our bib numbers, and bib numbers were based on previous race times that we had to submit during registration. I was at the very front of the second wave, surrounded by really fast runners. They organize the race based on your past race results so that you are not stuck in the back, having to pass a bunch of people in the beginning.The temperature was announced at 51 degrees. It felt more like 45. It was overcast and there was no sun.

I recently read a blog from one of my running friends, who, like me, is usually very strategic about pacing himself. But in his most recent race, he really pushed the pace beyond what he thought was capable of, but he felt good and did it anyway. He told himself "don't think-- just run!" While I believe that a race in mainly mental, I probably analyze my pace far too much during a race and I don't listen to my body as much as I could. So, I decided that I would try for an average pace of 8:20-8:25, starting at around 8:40 and decreasing to 8:00 by the end. My goal was to finish in 1:23.

My first mile was much faster than I expected. After all, I was running with all the fast runners at the start of the second wave. But it felt good, so I just went with it. I planned to walk through the water stations later in the race anyway, so I figured maybe it was good that I started faster than planned. As I got to the water stations, no one was really walking through them. Once again, this was because I was with the fast runners. I probably walked for about 3-4 seconds with my water, but that was all I felt I could do with everyone running so fast around me.

The course was extremely beautiful. It was the polar opposite from the run-down neighborhoods in southeast DC from last weekend's half marathon. We ran over bridges, near the water, and everything was in bloom. We passed monuments and I was so proud to call this place my home.

During the race, I could see the Elite women and super-fast men on the other side of the course. I was just amazed to look at their legs and see how fast they were going. I was surprised by the lack of crowd support. There were over 10,000 runners, so I expected the crowd support to be almost like that of the Marine Corps Marathon, but it was very minimal. There were no real crowds until the last half mile.

Part of the Cherry Blossom course is the reverse route of the Marine Corps Marathon on Rock Creek Parkway. During the Marine Corps Marathon, runners start on one side of the road, and then turn around to run on the other side of the road. There was a nice downhill at the end of mile 7 that many runners seemed thankful for.

As I approached the finish line, there were tons of people cheering, and I sprinted the last tenth of a mile. I was truly, truly amazed at my time: 1:21:23 and a pace of 8:08. I set a new personal record by over five minutes. Having a race strategy is important. But if you don't push yourself outside of your comfort zone, then you won't know what you are truly capable of. If I had really tried for a 1:23 exactly, then that's what I would have gotten. But I surprised myself with a 1:21:23, and I couldn't be more pleased.

The only not-so-good thing about this race was the post-race food. I have never run a race where they didn't have bagels at the end. And fresh ones. All they had here at the end in terms of food were bananas (which I hate) and packaged muffins. The muffins weren't very good, but I had one anyway.

If you're looking to run a scenic, well-organized, flat 10-mile race, then the Cherry Blossom 10-miler is definitely something you should consider. Registration fills very quickly (within 24 hours) so be sure to go to the race's Web site in advance to find out when registration opens.