Sunday October 25, 2009 started off, and ended, as a beautiful day. Adjacent to Arlington Cemetery, I lined up at the starting line of the Marine Corps Marathon with the other 30, 000ish runners. The temperature seemed to be reaching the 60's as fighter pilots flew overhead and Montel Williams gave an opening speech....then we were off.
As I made my way through the 26.2 miles, sometimes smiling sometimes scowling, and constantly wondering, "Where are the freakin water stations?," I attempted to soak up the scenery. The historic route took me by beautiful foliage, across the Potomac river, through Georgetown and around its reservoir, and past museums and the many famous memorials. It was touching to see three Marines carrying flags as they stopped and honored the Pentagon Memorial before starting again to conquer the last two miles.
Crossing the finish line, I felt the accomplishment of all 26.2 miles. After receiving my medal from a Marine, I claimed my finishers coin and tackled the crowded train station. Then it was off to shower and change before heading to the Peacock Cafe in Georgetown for a post-marathon lunch. To start off my refueling, I ordered a tomato bisque soup. It was creamy, tangy and had the perfect salty touch to replenish the electrolytes that I had lost. Next up, were the Gene Kelly (grilled Portobello mushroom, avocado, tomato, roasted red pepper & tomato pesto) and Paul Newman (roasted eggplant & peppers, warm Brie cheese, pesto, tomato & alfalfa sprouts) sandwiches.
The sandwiches arrived on perfectly toasted multigrain baguettes and despite their sparsity of fillings, the combinations of flavors lent to them being divine. The crunchy yet bland tortilla chips and watery coleslaw left much to be desired, but overall, it was still the perfect culinary end to a longggggg run.
Their ice cream is made from local organic ingedients and they had about 8-10 flavors to choose from. First, I sampled my friend's choice, ginger (delicious), and then the Culture frozen yogurt (too icy for my liking). I had wanted to try a flavor with balsamic vinegar topping but the employee could not locate it. Instead, I settled on Mocha Chip...scrumptuous! 