Brad and I ran the Air Force Half Marathon once again this year. The races take place on the Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. Here is the view as we take the long walk from the parking area to the start line.
At that time of the morning I love watching the sun come up as the fog dissipates. I also love taking pictures of the stillness of the final mile of the course before the entertainment begins and spectators arrive.
The 13th mile marker.
The very long .1 mile to the finish line.
The finish line.
The metals hanging row by row (every finisher receives a metal placed around their necks by a Senior Air Force leader).
The recovery and medical tents.
The food and water tent. So, some fun facts, volunteers are gearing up to give out 31,200 water bottles, 19,000 bottles of Gatorade, 150 cases of bananas, 7,000 bagels, and 12,000 silver heat sheets or blankets.
The traditional flyover of the official race aircraft. This year there were two featured aircrafts: the F-22 Raptor stealth jet fighter, and a World War II-era P-51 Mustang. Here they come...
and there they go.
Brad watching the flyover.
It always amazing me the number of porta-potties (405 to be exact). But, I guess you need that many with 13,500 runners and 2,400 volunteers!
Brad waiting in line, you've gotta get there early!
And then waiting for me.
I love watching the sun rise as participants start lining up in their corrals.
View of the start line.
Watching the commentator on the big screen, and standing at attention as we listen to the National Anthem.
It's then time for the American Flag parachuters to jump from the airplane and slowly make their way down to the start line...
(Brad's big head in the way)
One last selfie (for posterity and just in case we don't make it - heaven forbid), and then the gun sounds, and we're off!
I took this picture about mile Eleven. It's a small hill, one of the few along the course (another reason we enjoy running this particular race).
Our traditional after race picture in front of the airplanes. As you can see, we survived another race. Brad was hoping to get a PR, but didn't quite make it due to being plagued with injuries this season, and the unexpected hot temperatures on race day. We still had an enjoyable time, plus, there's always next year!
Walking the long road back (it's a little more difficult post-race) and trying to find our vehicle in the sea of cars.
Me, modeling our cool race shirts this year which commemorated the 70th anniversary of the Air Force.
Side view of the cool sleeves.
No race weekend would be complete without rewarding ourselves with our favorite Italian Ice from Twelve Degrees in Morrow, KY!
We had such a great weekend that we are already looking forward to next year when we can do it all over again!!!
