Articles

Army 10-miler

Over my many years of running I have done a good number of races that have included most distances, 2Mile, 5K, about 7 miles (which was the Falmouth Road Race), 10K, 15K, 13.1 and 26.2 plus several sprint triathlons but I have not done a 10 miler since the old Bull Run at USF back in the 80’s. Last Spring, my son who lives in DC told me that the registration was open for the Army 10 Miler so I signed us both up. I spent 4 years in the Army from 1967 to 1971 so I have my own loyalty to that branch of the service and had always wanted to do that race. The Army 10-Miler has the most runners for any 10 miler in the country and it is a very popular race. I just completed this race which had 30,000 runners and sold out in 6 days. I was told about 60% of the participants are in the military and it did look like everyone I saw was fit.

I would recommend to everyone to do a destination race to somewhere you want to visit. In my case my son lives in Arlington, Va. and works in Washington DC so I got a chance to spend some time with him and also got to see some of the wonderful museums that DC has to offer. If you are considering a large out of town race it is best to sign up as soon as you decide to do the event. The large races such as Disney and Marine Corp usually sell out fairly quickly. The New York City Marathon is by lottery so see how lucky you are. There are many other great races all over the country no matter where you want to go you most likely can find an event and distance that will work for you. The 10 miler I ran was an easy race for me to prepare for because I was running 6 or 7 miles for my longer runs so I just started adding a mile each week until I had run 11 miles. Training for longer events takes some time depending on the distance you want to run, so find a program that will work for you. A training program needs to work with you ability and your schedule, setting realistic goals.

When you are planning on doing a large out of town event one of the big questions is “When is the start and how do I get there”? Some races have buses to the starting line and will drop you off after the race. You may find you have to be at the starting line as much as two hours before the start. Standing in the cold for two hours can become quite stressful. Plan ahead for long waits and cold weather and what you need to do after the race. A couple of tips are: if you are standing in cold for a long time use a large garbage bag to keep you warm until the start of the race and then you just throw it away. If you are going to be doing a lot of sight seeing plan to do the race when you first get there so you don’t have the big event hanging over you.

There are great races all over this country so plan to do one that will work for you and incorporate a nice vacation while you are at it.