Army 10 Miler -- Piece o' Cake

Well, at least compared to the Marine Corps Marathon, which is only 60 percent longer!

It's a beautiful run and it was a beautiful day. One thing that's different than the marathon: the crowds of runners don't thin out and by the time my end of the pack makes it, the spectators are much sparser. I ran slower than normal at the beginning and actually picked up my speed at the end, when most folks around me were slowing down considerably. Even did a sprint across the finish line. Wh00t! Or should I say Hoo-ah?

It's also different to see a running route from a new angle. The view from the street is different from the view from the sidewalk. With fewer obstacles. No traffic lights to interrupt. No maintenance trucks parked on the sidewalks...

There were also lump inducing sights to put things in perspective. Like the Army amputees valiantly making the run. And the people wearing T-shirts on the run dedicated to their loved ones who died in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Edited to Add: of course, to keep this whole surpassing people thing in perspective: I came in ahead of only 1800 people (hmmm. 26,000 registered but only 17,000+ finished). That's only 10 percent of the pack! Even among my peers, females in the upper 40s, 83 percent finished first.