Rock n Roll Virginia Beach 2014 kicked off my Fall 2014 season and was as one of my most enjoyable races to date. I had the pleasure of pacing the 2:15 group, an incredible new Pacer Booth experience. I barely noticed the miles sliding by as I chatted, cheered and guided a group of awesome runners through the course. Unfortunately, I was unable to get many pictures due to not having my phone all day, but there are a few.

Rock n Roll Virginia Beach 2014 Race morning dawned warm and humid, as expected. I dressed, ate breakfast, had Doug snap this photo (nice shorts tan) and I was on my way around 5:45. Knowing I wouldn't be crossing the Start Line until almost 7:15, I plopped down and relaxed on the grass near my Corral while I waited for go time to get a little closer. At 6:45 I met up with Erin and a few runners who rock n roll virginia beach 2014would be going after RnRVB with us in Corral 9. We inched ever closer to the Start as each corral before us went and were off at 7:12.

I won't do a Mile by Mile recap because, honestly, I wasn't paying much attention to the things I normally do. I was too busy chatting with amazing runners and making sure our group stayed hydrated, together and happy. For the first time in a race I walked through every water stop, which was nice because of the heat, drank half a cup of water and dumped the rest on my head. Each of the 13.1 miles flew by as I cheered, high-fived and encouraged those around to keep going after their goals. One member of our group had run the Flying Pig this year, which I'm thinking about for my Ohio race, and gave me great insider info. Another was prepping for the Marine Corps Marathon as part of her training for the 2015 JFK 50 miler! She ran the first 11 miles with us, then pulled away when we hit the home stretch.

By the timewe hit the Boardwalk, most of our group had taken off ahead or fallen behind so we teamed up to push a few struggling runners to a strong finish. We crossed the Finish Line right on time and congratulated those around us. As I moseyed through the Finish Line chute, snagged my weighty nautical medal, water, snacks and an ice pop while trying not to stab anyone with my big 2:15 stick. Several runners walked up beside me to say thank you as I piled my hands full of Powerbars and Chocolate Milk. One girl told me she fought to keep our signs in her sights the entire race and ended up PRing by 15 minutes! Another said she had made sure we didn't pass her the entire race, picking up the pace when she saw us approaching a water stop behind her and hit her goal of breaking 2:10. The woman who had run with us the first 11 miles before kicking it up to finish hit her goal in 2:12+, having an awesome training run before her Marine Corps event.rock n roll virginia beach 2014With this amazing new experience, however, did come a few notes on the race. First, there was more traffic than I'm used to being in further back in the pack. At one point I was looking for one of the group's runners who had fallen back a bit and ran right into a gentleman who had started walking in front of me. I'm still sorry! There were also a few long miles where there was no music or band in sight which is where I saw the most runners start to fizzle out, especially past mile 8. Notorious for being a hot, humid event I was also surprised there weren't more misters out on the first half of the course. Friendly neighborhoods had hoses out for the last few miles and mile 10 featured wet sponges, but I think a lot of people would have benefited from more cooling on the course. The course itself is flat and fast with lots of shaded areas. Port-a-potties abounded on the roadsides, water stops were well staffed, cheer squads kept things pumped up and the bands were excellent.