Sunday, October 5, 2008

Way to go, Daddy!

This morning we got up at the crack of dawn and headed downtown for the Army 10 miler. Jon was the runner and Kate and I were the cheerleaders. (Surprise, surprise :)) It was a beautiful morning--not too cool, not too warm--and the atmosphere at the Pentagon was lively and excited. Thankfully, we had no trouble finding a place to park and we milled around with about 50,000 of our closest friends before the runners separated to find their starting place. We saw several people who had lost limbs (assumingly in combat) and several others who were wearing shirts commemorating a loved one who had fallen in battle. There was a group of parachuters and a flyby of Blackhawks, but the most surprising thing was a prayer that was offered before the start of the race. It was awesome.

(The tall pointy thing in the background is the Air Force Memorial, and this shot was taken from the front of the Pentagon as the Blackhawks flew over.)

Since it was really hard to see the starting line, Kate and I jumped on the Metro to meet Jon later on in the race. We settled in a spot along Independence Ave, just behind the Air and Space Museum (after a quick stop at Starbucks). Kate was such a trooper! We scanned the crowd for Daddy but it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. My eyes got buggy trying to find him and not miss him. We thought we were out of luck when I heard Jon's voice and shot this as he raced past:

Wahoo!! Please don't ask me to duplicate that picture--I couldn't do it again in a thousand years. Here's a look up Independence Ave, toward the Capitol, just before Kate and I headed back to the finish line:


It's hard to see, but all those little colorful bumps in the distance are runners. They said about 26,000 people signed up to run today. Whew! We met Jon at the garment check (the finish line was incredibly packed and I probably would have lost myself trying to find Jon) and he was very happy with his time. He ran the 1o miles in a little less than 1 1/2 hrs. Jon received a really neat coin for finishing the race, and now has another bib to add to the collection of races run. We walked around for a bit, enjoying the hubub and after-race food, then headed back home. I think this final picture says it all about the success of the day. Great job, Daddy!



8 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a great day for you all! You are really getting to know your way around DC, Jen...good for you. We imagine that Kate loved all the sights and people! What a GREAT shot of Jon! Super shot, Jen...one in a million opportunities! Great time, Jon...way to go! Loved the entry...love you all...Dad + Mom

Sally Brewer said...

Cool picture of Jon running. Jon, congrats on running the race!

Anonymous said...

Nice run Jon and great picture Jen -- both of them--Jon perpendicular and Jon horizontal. It looks as though he's had plenty of practice at both positions. -- Dad Tom

Anonymous said...

Way to go Jon. We are so proud of you! Way to go, Jen. Jen, you have challenged me to get a picture of Tom and Beth during their marathon next Sunday. What a challenge! Evan and I are going to try and move from the start to somewhere else along the race course. What a beautiful day! Love, Mom M.

Stephanie B said...

Jen, the "run-by" picture is great! Jon, congrats! Now you need to train for the largest half-marathon in the country... The Indy 500 "Mini-Marathon" (locally known as simply, "the mini"). Keep it up! PS, every time I read your updates, I think of my brother and his family, also in northern VA. We are going to see them at Thanksgiving- yea! Coming closer every day!

Erin said...

WOOHOO!!! Way to go, Jon! And I can't believe you got that photo, Jen. Way to cheer him on!

Beth said...

what an awesome picture of jon! great job, jon. Nice time, too. Makes me excited for this weekend...yayay! wish you all could be there. love you and thanks for the update.

Anonymous said...

Great picture,Jen! How did you ever catch him!
JoAnn

Jon, keep on running!