• You can’t help but finish this race feeling patriotic! 
• Expo is nice, but always tight. Good to get there at off-peak hours. Thursdays are good.
• Though I didn’t do it this year, it is a good idea to go to the pasta dinner. There are tons of people in town, and it is hard to get into a restaurant otherwise. They usually have great speakers.
• If you talk on the phone for more than a mile during the race about family matters, expect the people around you to make fun of you.
• We encountered a women we like to call “Toilet Seat Girl.” She talked so loudly about her encounter with the Port-a-John seat, we couldn’t help but give her a nickname.
• Lots of walkers (us included this year) line up too close to the front and it can be hard to get around them. In our defense, we thought we were farther back than we were. Regardless, there were plenty of much slower walkers ahead of us.
• Shirts are great! Technical shirts in women’s sizes and the women’s small fits me. Woo hoo! (BTW: I also loved the old long-sleeved cotton tees. Still wear mine.)
• Parking can be hard. We left our hotel 2 hours before the race started just to be sure we got there in time. Needless to say, we were too early, but at least we were there in time.
• Ranking Air Force officers hand out the finish medals. How cool is that!
• The sweat towels handed out at the finish are wonderful.
• LaRosa’s pizza has been in the after-race food tent for the last couple of years, delicious!
• There are a couple of hills, but the course is a whole lot more flat than it used to be. (I’ve seen worse hills in other halves.)
• The volunteers at the Hydration Stations are great!
• There is a point mid-race where the full marathoners and half marathoners share the same road and it is important for the half marathoners to be alert and stay to one side of the road. It is awkward, but I’m not sure it can be avoided.
• Overall, this is a really good race!

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