Shamrock 8k - 99.6 Miles!

March 15th, J, B-Daddy and I ran the Shamrock 8k in Virginia Beach.  This was J's first hotel trip that she could remember, which made the weekend a little more fun.  We traveled down the afternoon before to get to the Expo and pick up our race packets.  Jessica loved walking around the booths getting freebies and several smoothie and cereal samples.  

It turns out the 8k is a huge race, with close to 9000 finishers.  The race organizers got it done, though.  We were lucky to have a hotel room very close to the start (and finish) so we didn't have to worry about parking or closed roads.  We just had to make sure we were up and made it there on time.  We started with the hotel breakfast.

Then we headed outside for some pre-race stretches.

 

It was chilly, but not too crazy.  We were in corral 12, since we had planned to walk. 

See the solid crowd of people?  And SO much GREEN!

Right before we got to the start line, J decided she wanted to run.  I kept to my walking plan and she and B-Daddy shot off and they were gone.

Meanwhile, I got to enjoy some interesting views.

The view behind me

Such creative costumes, and hair...

After 2 miles, the race turned onto the Boardwalk with a beautiful, if windy, view of the beach.

Soon enough we were back on Atlantic Ave.

A clock greeted us at the 4 mile mark to let us know we had one mile left.

The a Dolphin and Ronald McDonald cheered us on.

Neptune welcomed us to the finish line.

What a beautiful sight it was.

A view of the after party from our hotel room.  Location, location.

A view of B-Daddy and I at the after party.

Finishers Medal

Adorable model with her medal.

It was a beautiful day to run and add 15 miles to our total, making it just shy of 100.  I loved that we were able to do this add together.