10. The release of a new flavor of Metamusil

9. Watching while some guy run backwards into a car

8. Getting people to take their picture at all the historical points during the race

7. Getting their race number signed by cool people

6. Breaking into the Smithsonian Merry-go-round

5. Meeting the Commandant of the Marine Corps

4. FOOD

3. The American Belles

2. Kisses on the Race Course

and the number thing the Pirañas enjoyed during their trip to DC….

1. Sightseeing while running the mall (both times!)

The morning started well for the Pirañas. In Mav and T3’s room, all four alarms they set went off. In Samsonite’s room his mommy woke up 1 minute before the alarms went off and heard both Samsonite’s and his dad’s watch beep at exactly the same time. No one knows what Obi did this morning because he has a room to himself and frankly, everyone is afraid to ask what goes on in there.

The VIP shuttle was scheduled to leave at 0530 (it is the Marine Corps Marathon after all) and everyone was downstairs and ready in plenty of time to board the bus:

Of course, nothing can be perfect, so T3 made it onto the bus with his regular glasses (and no place to leave them during the marathon) so he had to run back up to the room and just barely made it back before departure. The shuttle whisked the PIraña team to the start/finish area through the barricades that blocked the way for mere mortals and dropped them off near the start line.

Since it was still 2 hours to race time, Team Piraña walked back to the finish area where their VIP passes got them into the VIP tent complete with lit and normal bathrooms and a really great breakfast spread.

The table centerpiece was really great!

And the Pirañas got to meet and have a photo op with Miss Virginia.

Somewhere (probably in the bathroom) Mav lost his gloves. His hands were freezing, poor boy.

The time came for the team to walk back up the road to the start line. They hadn’t gone more than a few hundred feet when Mav found a glove on the ground (not his, but a glove none-the-less) and as he picked it up, someone walking the other way told him there was another down the road. So Mav ran ahead a score another glove. Turns out it was a matching pair! Further along, Samsonite noticed the stars (4 of them) on the collar of a Marine they walked by. They asked for his picture (that sounds like, “may we have a picture taken with you SIR.”)

Turns out it was General Conway, THE commandant of the Marine Corps! Now that is cool, go to run the Marine Corps Marathon and get to meet the commandant. Obi, who was not running, got to meet him later that morning.

The General told Obi, “I want to express my best wishes to the people of OKC, and the survivors and families of the Murrah bombing. I am working with the Joint Chiefs to ensure that this type of incident does not occur on US soil again.”

Team Piraña got themselves situated in the start corrals. They had decided to start with the 4 hour group and see how the day went. Their goal was to go slow and steady and protect the various injuries that have plagued the team during Summer training. While they waited for the race to start, Mav found his gloves in his pants!

Of course, they were appropriately tatted up.

Prior to the mass start they send off the wheel chair athletes. The Pirañas salute these brave individuals. They saw them all day long on the course working their way up and down the hills. They are an inspiration!

And then it was the runner’s turn. The commandant starts the race.

They fired the howitzer and the Pirañas were off.

If you have ever run with the Pirañas you know that it is a show from the beginning to the end. They sing, they talk to runners, they take polls, the tell jokes (Piraña Kimo started that), they help, encourage, banter with, and try to motivate everyone they meet. And since they were running in the nation’s capital they stopped and took a lot of pictures….

Across from a memorial (they can’t remember which)

Before they got to the Lincoln Memorial.

In front of the White House.

In front of the Washington Monument.

In front of the capital the Pirañas asked a guy to take their picture. He had the camera turned backwards and took a picture of himself instead!

They don’t know who this is, but they thank him for taking this picture.

Of course, the Pirañas continued their tradition of collecting kisses during the run. They run up to a female spectator and say, “you know it is good luck to kiss a marathoner..” and hope to get a kiss. They collected too many to count (MCM is a big race with a LOT of spectators!) Mav got denied once and T3 got a kiss from a guy.

Overall the run went well. Samsonite had some left leg issues with his ITB. Mav had someone stop right in front of him and stopping short frogged his left hamstring. T3 had some knee and hip rotator issues. But they were having fun. All good things must come to an end though, and after 26.2 miles (the last .2 is uphill!) the Pirañas finished.

The unfortunate reality of a race with 30,000 participants is that you are somewhat of a bull in a cattle shute. But after some time the Pirañas arrived at the finish photo area next to the Iwo Jima Monument.

Some more waiting in line to get food and such and the Pirañas were reunited with the rest of the crew.

The Pirañas had a great time in DC and a great time at the 33rd Marine Corp Marathon. Team Piraña ran about 4:10 which for a training run was fine. Besides, they had a really good time goofing off all along the course. Samsonite’s mom ran a PR with a chip time of 3:38. Overall a great day. The Pirañas are in the airport as this is being posted on their way back to the ones they love.

The Pirañas attended the “Dining In” which is MCM tradition. First they caught the race director at the final meet-n-greet and snapped a pic:

Then off to the Pasta Dinner to carbo load. At the door they met the MCM mascots, Miles and Molly

After going through the line and loading their plates with great food (pasta, fresh steamed veggies, bread, salad, etc) they made their way to a front table reserved for VIPs

The entertainment for the night was a trio of young ladies, The American Belles, who sang several patriotic songs including all the armed forces anthems:

They were captivating:

And they were into crowd participation! Samsonite got to dance with Kelly:

Unfortunately, T3 was unable to get the camera out quickly enough to capture them dancing, but he did get a shot of the result of this encounter:

Since this was Samsonite’s first kiss the Pirañas are pretty sure he will never wipe that off his face.

After the girls did their numbers, the guest speaker, Dave MicGillivray,

the director of the Boston Marathon gave a great talk on defining moments is life. Overall it was a great time! The Pirañas headed off to their rooms for an early bedtime. They have to catch a bus at 5:30 for the start.

So far so good for the Pirañas today. MCM Day 3 started with breakfast at the Hyatt before the start of the MCM Race Director’s Boot Camp. The Boot Camp included a welcome by MCM Race Director Rick Nealis and then sessions on Risk Assessment, Going Green, and Event Schwag before lunch. Lunch brought a presentation by the CEO of the DC CVB. After lunch Obi and T3 went over to the Expo to arrange shipping the booth back, check in with the Swansons and retrieve Bart Yasso. With Bart in tow they returned to the Hyatt having missed sessions on Medical and Event Leadership and then stayed to hear Bart speak.

Overall the Boot Camp was good. The Pirañas made some good contacts for the OCMM and got several ideas that can be incorporated into the marathon.

Mav and T3 also got signatures on their bibs from Bart Yasso, Rick Nealis, and Mike Riley (the voice of Ironman)

Next up for the Pirañas is the pasta party and then an early bedtime in preparation for the 4:30 wake-up to catch the 5:30 VIP shuttle to the start.

This evening was the formal dinner and what-not for the 33rd MCM. Brother Obi represented the Pirañas at the coat and tie event and was rewarded richly for his sacrifice:

Meanwhile, Mav and T3 went to Chinatown for dinner. Just a short walk from the Hyatt the brothers found an interesting church sign.

The brothers found a small place in the center of Chinatown called Tony Cheng’s and went in. The restaurant was on the second floor of the building, so they went up the narrow stair case and were seated in the large and noisy dining area. After spring roll appetizers, Mav had a dish called Sizzling Salmon Fish and T3 had Boneless Duck and Asparagus in Black Bean Sauce. Since they shared some of each dish they were both able to say that the entire meal was spectacular. On the way out Mav got himself some good luck.

Right outside Tony Cheng’s is the center piece of Chinatown.

While eating T3 had surfed the web to discover they were a mere block from a theatre and they decided to go see Max Payne. A short walk found them at the theatre where they changed their minds and decided to get ice cream and go back to the hotel to watch something on tv instead.

On the way back to the hotel the brothers found something they are sure everyone has been looking for…the Government Accountability Office Building:

The brothers are not sure what goes on in this building, but it is fairly obvious that it is not living up to the name on the outside of the building.

Once back at the hotel, Mav got his picture taken with a couple of guys that were hanging around in the lobby.

It is off to bed for the Pirañas. Tomorrow is Day 3! So the Pirañas leave you with the fortunes they received at Tony Cheng’s:

It is day two at the Marine Corps Marathon Expo. The Swansons opened the show and manned the booth for the morning shift and then the Piraña team of Obi, Mav and T3 took over for the afternoon crowd.

Obi knows everybody in the running world. If a runner mentions where they are from, Obi knows someone that is recognizable in that community. If a runner says they train with some group, Obi knows who the coaches and trainers are. It is fun to watch him work the crowd.

Mav loves to talk to people. He is especially fond of children and always makes a connection with them. Mostly though, he is enthusiastic about running and loves to talk to runners about it. In addition to pimping the Memorial Marathon, the Pirañas have gotten to talk to several people about the Redman and the Mother Road 100.

There are 35,000 stories at this marathon. Everyone has a reason to be here. Some stories are a little more engaging than others though. The Pirañas got to talk to a set of triplets who are 33 yrs old and are running the 33rd Annual MCM together! That is 3, 33yr olds, running the 33rd MCM.

Heera, Punna and Moti Khanna will be wearing bib numbers 33, 333 and 3333 on race day. Another interesting note is that their names mean diamond, pearl and emerald. Good luck on Sunday ladies!

After a great run, T3 and Mav asked around for a recommendation for a great place for lunch. The Capital City Brewery Company was the number one choice.

A short walk from the Hyatt brought them to the local hot spot:

After appetizers of clam chowder for Mav and Humus for both, the Pirañas had the Chef’s special for the day, a half jerk chicken with grilled pineapple and fries or veggies (you guess which Piraña had veggies and which had fries.)

The restaurant is located inside what used to be an old post office. Very cool space and very good food.

Ma, of “Little House on the Prairie” fame, always said, “It is an ill wind that doesn’t blow someone some good.” Or something like that. So, given that T3 was unable to get to Pittsburgh, Mav decided to get a run in and talked T3 into going to. Leaving the Hyatt, they decided to head up the hill to the Capitol and then run down the mall. Here is a map of their quest (sort of)…

They got their picture taken (or took their own picture) at several important and meaningful locations:

at the capitol

riding the merry-go-round (not a historical site per se, but we could have gotten arrested after Mav jumped the fence to get in. “no really officer, I’ve never seen this guy before in my life.”)

at the Washington Monument

at the Oklahoma pillar of the World War II Memorial

a tree lined path next to the reflecting pool

where the “Bras Across DC” demonstration was going on

Mav at the Lincoln Memorial

on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial looking back up the mall

at the Vietnam War Memorial

looking at the White House from the Washington Memorial on the way back, when Mav decided that they should run to the White House and see if George wanted to go for a run. They did. He didn’t.

Don’t take surface transportation they said. Morning traffic is a mess they said. Take the train, it is faster and more reliable they said. So T3 left the Hyatt early this morning bound for Pittsburgh and armed with details about the Red Line and the Green Line and Buses…

Unfortunately the combination of unfamiliarity with the system and the lines not running as often early in the am as they do later got T3 to BWI just in time to get delayed through security and finally miss his flight. “No problem,” the lady behind the US Airways counter says, “there are several later flights.” But no room on the next one. Standby on the next…T3 didn’t make that one either. Ah, room on a flight finally…one that would get T3 to Pittsburgh about 2:45 which is AFTER the event he was going to. So back to the hotel in DC he went. The whole morning blown.

Obi, T3 and Mav were relieved at the expo by Samsonite’s parents, Randy and Carol. Back to the hotel to freshen up and then off to meet Bart and Laura Yasso for dinner at Rosa Mexicano. The Yasso’s are a blast and the Pirañas always have a great time talking about running, races, race directing, etc.

Laura is thinking about coming to OKC to run the Mother Road 100 so she spent some time discussing logistics and training with T3 and Mav.

Laura is somewhat of a gardener and raises lots of things including tomatoes and melons and such. Lucky for her they were able to find a pumpkin to get their picture taken with….

In the morning, T3 has to fly to Pittsburgh to attend an awards ceremony and day two of the MCM will commence. Stay tuned…..