Rock 'n' Roll... The Real Race Report!

First off, let me just say, everyone ran AWESOME! Laurel (1:28:02) and Rita (1:32:51) both ran PR's... AND LAUREL WAS 3RD IN HER AGE GROUP! I might have started off a little quick... but it was still a great race! And and and... LAUREL, RITA, AND I WERE IN THE TOP 50 FEMALES!!! Sean and Gavin were THE BEST PACERS EVER... and we were very thankful to have them running with us! John Crews (TAF Elite) was 9th overall, and I also heard that our friends in the Half Marathon Training Program ran well... wahooo! (results)
Ok, now for the race itself. We awoke at 4:50AM to my cell phone alarm, which was no Eye of the Tiger. However, after I realized it was my alarm... it was pretty much throw on our uniforms, out the door, and ready to take on the world! We made it to the start of the race in good time, and WE GOT TO GO IN THE VIP AREA! That was really cool... and and and the woman that won the marathon at the Beijing Olympics was there... and and and we saw John Crews (TAF Elite) and talked to him for a bit... and and and I'm not sure who else because I was pretty nervous and running circles around the tables.
We lined up in Coral 1 with 10min to the start of the race, and met some of Laurel's running friends from Richmond (they were really cool and ran crazy fast). After the national anthem, the gun went off, and off we went. The first couple miles were kind of fast... and I can't do math in my head! The first half of the race was well-shaded, and really nice. The bands were great, and the cheerleaders were chanting some crazy "13.1 cheer". The sun was out by the military base, and we were grateful for the misters. They were handing out Blackberry GU, and kept repeating how it was "the best flavor ever" (they are totally right). We hit the bridge somewhere around the 10 or 11 mile mark, and it felt like a mountain at that point. We saw a bunch of members from Team Hoyt out there, so that was neat. The last couple miles were pretty windy, but it's always fun finishing a race right at the ocean!
After the race, we chilled in the VIP area for a bit (which was again really cool), got some coffee (at least I really needed caffeine by that point... I know, hard to imagine), and headed back to the hotel. We ended up hanging around VA Beach for a little bit, watching some local bands, and catching up with Laurel. We all had a GREAT time, and it was a ton of fun (although, next year, I say we do the race as a relay). CONGRATS again to Laurel and Rita for setting PR's, and thank you Sean and Gavin for running with us! #20