RACE RECAP: The St. Jude Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon

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Race Recap: St. Jude Rock n’ Roll D.C.

69 half marathons - done. In the world of social media, it feels unimpressive, which is funny. It’s an incredible accomplishment to run a 5K, a half marathon, a marathon. But these accomplishments can be lost in the world of Instagram where “everyone is running marathons every weekend” “everyone is running the world majors”. It’s not everyone. It’s the 1%. You’re the 1%. I'm the 1%. Go us.

So no matter what running milestone you’re celebrating, congratulations! It’s important to celebrate all of them.

BEFORE THE RACE

The reason I registered for the St. Jude Rock n’ Roll half of stems back to a family friend who works for St. Jude, Susie Tatum. Susie lost her daughter, Kelsey, to cancer when I was in high school. I was friends with Kelsey’s sister, Amanda.  Even in high school I remember it being hard to comprehend.

Fast forward and my mom is still friends with Susie. My mom invited me to play with her in a St. Jude golf outing last year where Susie introduced me to someone else on the St. Jude team who then introduced me to Caroline Rigg (Barlow). Caroline lost her brother, David, to cancer and ended up working for St. Jude Indiana to manage their Heroes program (among other things).

So, of course, I interviewed Caroline for my podcast, Finish Lines & Milestones. Here’s a link to listen to her episode, 137. Recently, Team David crossed the $500,000 mark raised for St. Jude.

Somehow the topic of D.C. had come up and Caroline invited me to run the race for St. Jude to experience what being a hero was all about. Since it was also an excuse for my family to visit family, I was excited to accept the offer.

If you’re not familiar with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, it’s a hospital for kids with childhood cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. Through donations, the hospital ensures that no family gets a bill for treatment, travel, housing or food. You can support them through Team David or my friend Alex Baker of Ketchup to Cancer.

Fast forward to late February 2026, and I ran the Ft. Myers half marathon as my 67th half. I forget who asked me what I’d be doing for my 70th, but it then dawned on me that the Carmel Marathon falls on my dad’s 70th birthday and I could run my 70th half marathon in his honor (he’ll be celebrating in Florida).

With D.C. already on the books for 3/21, I needed to find one more race to squeeze in before 4/18. I found the Shamrock Half Marathon in downtown Indianapolis on 3/14.

I tell you all of this because that means I also ran a half marathon last Saturday. And I ran pretty hard. Not PR attempt hard, but a challenging pace for me. 1:48:53

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We planned for the entire family to go for the weekend - me, my husband, and our two girls (8 and 4). My SIL, Mandy, and BIL, Tyler, live in Alexandria with three cousins my girls adore. We also got to stay with them during Marine Corps Weekend last October.

As would happen to Mandy, their basement flooded last week. Leaving them with a ripped up guest room. We opted to stay in a hotel about a mile from their house and walkable to the King Street metro station.

Our flight Friday was scheduled to get in around 5pm and I didn’t realize the expo was only until 7. When I told Mandy, she offered to grab my packet since she’d be in D.C. anyway. Pretty sure she drove 30+ min out of her way for me which is insanely kind of her (she has a big job, three kids and a flooded basement after all).

There was a slight debacle in getting my bib, but thankfully it was resolved and didn’t involve a new non-hero registration.

I wished we would have flown in on Thursday, but didn’t want my 8yo to miss school. D.C. running royalty, Rob Perez, hosted a sunrise shakeout run on the National Mall that I was bummed to miss. If you don’t already, go follow Rob on Instagram. Rob and I ran the Marine Corps marathon together with Ainsley’s Angels after I sent him a cold DM and I recently had him as a guest on my podcast for episode 150.

Naturally, our flight out was a bit delayed so I’m extra grateful that Mandy got my bib. It would have been really stressful trying to get to the expo in time.

We checked in to our hotel (our room had a toaster!) and met Mandy, Tyler and kids for a pasta dinner at a local Italian spot they like, Aldo's Italian Kitchen. It was the perfect pre-race spot. Garlic bread, spaghetti and meatballs… what more could a girl ask for.

By the time we finished dinner it was already after 8pm. We went back to their house to drop off Sydney for a sleepover and let the kids play for a little bit before bed. My BIL, Tyler, also a big runner who did the JFK 50 miler last year and is training for a 50K in the Poconos this year, loaded me up with bagels and peanut butter to take back to the hotel. He also helped me determine my metro strategy for getting to the start line in the morning.

We left Sydney with her cousins and took our 4yo Sloane back with us to the hotel. While Zach went down to grab snacks, I meticulously set up my pre-race flat lay. I can’t help myself in trying to get creative when I lay out all of my things for race day. There was a mantle above the pull out couch I decided to use to showcase everything I would be using and wearing on race day.

Our 4yo isn’t the best sleeper, and while we tried to hype up the pullout couch, she demanded to sleep between mom and dad in our king bed. Not the ideal setup the night before a race, but we survived, falling asleep somewhere around 10pm.

RACE MORNING

The race started at 8am and I was about a 45 min trip away from the start line. So, I set my alarm for 5am and planned to leave the hotel around 6:15.

The setup of our room was ideal for making my morning bagel and peanut butter, but not for keeping a kid asleep. The bathroom had a door on the shower/ toilet area, but not on the sink portion. This meant I had to eat and get ready using the flashlight on my phone. Which ended up being worth it so I didn’t wake up Sloane.

My morning routine always starts with coffee to get things moving. Then, breakfast and bathroom. With about 30 min to go, I got dressed and applied my glitter freckles, temporary tattoos and anti-chafe. I loaded my pockets with fuel, my hotel key, and the metro card I’d accidentally mailed to Indiana when attempting to buy one for MCM. (You can just use your smartphone now by the way)

At about 6:15, I left the room to head to the race. It was still dark and very quiet in Old Town Alexandria. We were about a half a mile from the metro, and I opted to jog so I didn’t waste any time.

When I made it up to the platform, I met a group of women all decked out for the race. They had face glitter, skirts and were in red white and blue. One said, “So cold, isn’t it?” Mind you it’s about 50 degrees - not cold at all by Indiana standards. “It’s chilly but not too bad” I reply. “Where are you from?” Florida they tell me. That explains it. One of them offered me a hand warmer which I was reluctant to take at first, but then relented. It did feel nice. When I told them I was from Carmel, IN we talked about roundabouts.

We got on our train and I opted to sit alone. I didn’t want to barge in on their girl time even though I know they wouldn’t have cared.

The train ride was about 25 minutes or so. I had no headphones or company, so I scrolled Instagram to pass the time and motivate myself.

When we got to D.C., the sun was just starting to come up. We were instantly in a sea of runners walking towards the start. I wished the Florida crew a good race and followed the masses. By the time I got to the start, it was only 6:50. It had taken way less time to get there than I’d planned for. This was the earliest I’ve ever been for a race.

The capitol building and finish line were looking magnificent in the morning sunlight. The 13 and 3 mile markers signaled the final stretch of the race. I walked around to get a better picture and stumbled across the St. Jude tent. Caroline had told me about going to the tent after the finish, but I hadn’t considered that they would be up and running before the race as well.

And man do they know how to take care of their runners. There were heaters, tables and chairs, coffee and snacks - and most importantly- private port-a potties.

I stood awkwardly under a heater by myself since I didn’t know anyone else. It seemed most of the heroes were local to D.C. There was a big crew from a local OrangeTheory. There was a pregnant woman and her husband - I took their photo and talked to the dad a bit when the 5K started. His baby momma to be was running the 5K as a hero while pregnant with their first kid.

The tent was right next to the 5K start which took off at 7:30. This gave some people the opportunity to run both races if they could complete the 5K in 30 min or so. I took a video of the first 5K wave and accidentally caught a video of this guy tripping and getting right back up. It looked so painful. Hope it didn’t impact his race too much.

The tent was fairly empty now with only a few half marathoners remaining. A woman asked me if I was going to head to the start soon and we realized it was about a half mile up the street vs. close to the 5K start. I used the bathroom one more time while I had the chance and then the two of us and another hero walked towards the start together until I opted to start jogging to make sure I could get up to my corral on time (corral 3 of 20 or so).

Got to my corral around 7:52. They played the national anthem over the speakers (I was surprised it wasn’t a live version in DC of all places). I only talked to one person - the guy behind me wearing a shirt with a face on it that I captured in this picture.

The 1:50 pace group was nearby and I decided I’d start with them and see what happens. We were corral 3, but ended up starting at the tail end of 2. The pacers for 1:50 nearly split up and I kind of did a dance to make sure I crossed with them. But I did and then we were off.

There were three pacers and they were all pretty young. And I’m going to try to say this without sounding like I’m bashing them, but it seemed like they’d signed up to pace and hang out with each other. Which is totally fine but not what I was hoping for. I tried making conversation with one girl by asking her about the big hill on the course. I’d seen a video from Rob Perez about the elevation and I’m glad I did. There’s a very big hill about halfway through the race. What Rob didn’t say that the pacer did was that there were several more rolling hills after the big one. Talking through it with the pacer was helpful.

It’s really scenic by the National Mall in the first mile. I resist the urge to take out my phone to take a video.

Mile 1: 8:17 

I talked to the other girl for a while. She was local and was a marathoner so we talked about that. I think I asked her what her favorite marathon was. We weren’t vibing.

As luck would have it, I noticed a guy right in front of us wearing a red tank with Monon Track Club on the back. If you’re reading this and you’re not local to Indianapolis, this is one of our run clubs named for our popular paved rail trail, The Monon Trail.

I left the pace group to run up beside him and ask if he was from Indy. He was. What a small world. We realized our goal pace for the day matched up. Both looking to be around 1:50.

It’s safe to say I got excited talking to my new friend who I now know as Mitch. (We chatted for miles before we exchanged names.) Mitch and I talked about local races and I found out that he’s running the Carmel Half Marathon with his 65-year-old mom.

Mile 2: 8:11

We’re now on the bridge that heads straight across the river to Arlington National Cemetery. On our left we can see the runners that are ahead of us. I move over to the left so I can try to spot Rob and Irwin (the blind runner that Rob guides for Achilles International) in their bright neon shirts. Sure enough I was able to see them and yelled “GO ROB! GO IRWIN!” I was happy I got to see them and I was also glad it wasn’t the last time. I tell Mitch about my experience meeting Rob at the Marine Corps Marathon last year and having him on my podcast.

Mile 3: 7:52

Whoops. Another fast mile that flew by. I need to cool it. We’re off the bridge now and running alongside the river. It’s such a beautiful day. I take my first fuel - Pure Fuel maple syrup.

Mitch and I keep chatting. He’s a Purdue grad and engineer. He lives in Broad Ripple - the part of Indy I lived in before suburb life. He also ran the 50th Marine Corps Marathon in D.C. last year - and he ran the year before that.

We’re running part of the MCM route just in the opposite direction. I recognize it as the spot where my family had been waiting for me and I somehow missed them.

Mile 4: 8:06

Still speedy. Feeling pretty good. I think this is when Mitch started keeping an eye out for his two friends who were out cheering him on - or supposed to be.

Again we are alongside the runners in front of us and we’re running under an overpass. And again I move to the left to cheer for Team Irwin. They’re easy to spot and I yell “GO ROB! GO IRWIN!” I felt bad because I didn’t know the name of their third teammate - who I now know as Victoria thanks to the internet. Around this time, I realize Mitch is running the half marathon with his mom at Carmel, but he’s running 20 miles today. “So, what marathon are you training for?” I ask. “Paris” he replies. I couldn’t believe he waited until miles into the race to tell me this! I will need to have him on my podcast after the race in April. It’s the weekend before Carmel!

Mile 5: 8:11

We don’t see Mitch’s friends. I remember making a comment about finally hearing some music. There were a bunch of large speakers blasting music. A guy next to us tells me this is the 4th music station and I missed the others. Guess I was in the zone.

There are a lot of things we encounter that are hard to place exactly on the course. Some examples are:

• honest Abe - an impersonator who looks eerily like President Abraham Lincoln
• Two people wearing eagle masks and American flag attire (I high-fived one of them)
• A runner dressed like one of the founding fathers who told us she hoped to be the fastest founding father of the day
• The Incredibles - a father daughter duo who also spectate the Marine Corps (Rob told me about them when we saw them in October)

Mile 6: 8:15

Finally closer to 1:50 pace - which is 8:23 per mile.

Mile 7 - 8:20

In Rob’s video about the hill that I mentioned earlier, I swore he said it was at mile 6.2. So, I’m waiting for it to show itself. I take my second gel - a Neversecond. Maybe I misheard Rob, because the hill was shortly before mile 8. At least at this point I was fueled up for it and as ready as I could be. Mitch and I tried again to slow down so we could conserve some of our energy for the second half of the race. Here’s the elevation profile so you can see what I’m talking about.

Finally we see the hill up ahead. It’s massive (especially for me - a flatlander from Indiana). As we get closer, however, I can see the top. The pacer had told me it was about 90 seconds of hill and then you’re up, so I focused on that. “You can do anything for 90 seconds” We start ascending and I tell Mitch to do what he needs to do. We’d run up a small hill earlier and his approach was to get up it as fast as he could to get it over with. I wasn’t sure that strategy was going to work for me on this hill. So, Mitch took off to get it done and I focused on staying at a steady pace and thinking about how soon it would be over. A lot of people were walking. There were quite a few spectators encouraging us. It had been pretty quiet the last couple of miles. The 1:50 pace group passed me. This was really motivating because I knew I needed to finish ahead of them if I was going to break 1:50.

I get to the top and I can still see Mitch up ahead. My heart rate is up and I try to take big breaths. I kept moving. I decided I’d take my time catching back up with 1:50 and maybe with Mitch. The rest was all downhill… except it wasn’t. There was a short downhill and I swear another hill right after, which felt like a gut punch. I tell myself I’m feeling really strong.

Mile 8 - 8:33

This mile was my slowest one of the race and rightfully so. There were spectators throughout the next part of the race which was really helpful. The map says this is the Columbia Heights area. I decide to take my last Pure Fuel around this time to get me through the rest of the race. I also had Noogs in my running belt for extra boosts if I needed.

Mile 9 - 8:05

You can sense my desire to catch up with that mile time. I used all of the downhill to fly. And it was around this time I’d passed the 1:50 group and caught up to Mitch. “I’m here!” I say out of breath. Between miles 9-10 we start the St. Jude Mission Mile. It’s right where I needed the reminder that my pain was nothing compared to what patients and families experience at St. Jude every day. The reminder that I GET to do this and I CAN do this.

Mile 10 - 7:52

That’s it. We’re in double digits with a 5K to go. I tell Mitch how much I hate 5Ks - racing them that is. At least I knew I wasn’t going to have to run a 5K pace for the last three miles to achieve our goal, so I thought about giving it what I had left. Just before mile 11 we go up another hill. Ugh. Each one we hit after the big one we’d say, “Surely that’s the last one” but it never seemed like it was.

Mile 11 - 7:53 

The rest of the race was downhill at this point (ok maybe with the exception of one more small roller). But it felt good. Mitch would keep peaking behind us and would tell me the 1:50 group was no where in sight. That we’d left them behind. And even though it ended up being our fastest mile yet, it felt like the longest. I was ready for the finish line.

Mile 12 - 7:49

There were tents with run clubs like District Running Collective and Lululemon. It made me think of running by them during the Marine Corps Marathon with Rob. Everyone would cheer for Rob. I used these moments for additional boosts of energy. They really know how to spectate. Once we even got caught up in a confetti cannon for a club member and enjoyed the aftermath of it raining down on us.

Mitch asked if when we hit 13 we could give it everything we had. I said absolutely (I usually do this). I remembered seeing the 13 mile marker in the sunrise in front of the capitol building just a couple hours earlier. I knew that once we hit 13 we would see a straight shot to the finish line.

Mile 13 - 7:45

We turned on the jets. The finish chute was full of spectators. It was also full of runners. I found myself trying to keep up with Mitch while dodging runners who were slowly making their way to the end. I plastered a big smile on my face and crossed the finish line raising my arms in triumph before quickly bringing them down to stop my watch.

FINISH - 1:46:57

Turns out, out of the 68 half marathons I’ve run, this was my 5th fastest half marathon of all time. My PR is 1:43:14 from the 2023 CNO Financial Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon. Mitch asked me what our time was. I didn’t know what my time was right away - the glare of the sun made it hard to read my watch. I knew we were under 1:50. When I looked up my time later, I couldn’t believe I’d run this hot, hilly course faster than my flat, looped half marathon the weekend before (1:48:53).

AFTER THE RACE

I grab a medal and hand it over to Mitch as I grab one for myself. Guys, he didn’t want the medal! He keeps the bibs but not the medals. I couldn’t believe it. I told him to keep it and that there were organizations he could donate it to if he wanted. I wonder what he did with it. It’s a beautiful medal too. We promised to exchange information through Strava and took a quick picture before he took off to run the rest of the miles he needed to get in for the day.

Slowly I make my way past the post-race snacks. I grab a water, some Pringle-like chips, some pretzels. The potato chips were sour cream and onion - skip. My hands are full and I realize I should have waited to snack until I got to the St. Jude tent, but I wasn’t sure what they had, so better safe than sorry. As I’m focusing on not dropping anything, I nearly run into a guy wearing a neon yellow shirt. It’s Rob! I felt lucky to see and cheer for him during the event and didn’t think there was any way I’d find him at the finish (even with the neon shirt).

“It’s you!” I say. I give him a sweaty side hug again while trying not to drop anything. “Did you hear me cheering for you guys!?” He did. “How was your race?!” Irwin (who had just run a sub-1:30 in NYC the weekend before) ran a 1:31. So speedy. Nearly every person that passes by says something to Rob. “We need a picture!” I say. Worried he’d get swept away. A nice girl he was chatting with, Cameron (I remember from her bib), took our picture in the midst of the finisher crowd. Rob tells me that he’s now connected with St. Jude of D.C. and will hopefully be doing work with them in the future. This guy is the best, I’m telling you. He’s using his platform and community to spread positivity and support organizations like Achilles International, Ainsley’s Angels, and soon St. Jude. We all need to be more like him. I’m not sure if Rob is wanting to chat with his friend or others that are around so, regretfully, I rush our encounter and tell him I’m heading to the St. Jude tent. I was a little out of it too. It was hot! As I walk away, I’m kicking myself for not taking a beat and hanging out.

The St. Jude tent isn’t far from the finish line. Funny to think about the heaters I used this morning for warmth now that it feels like summer. A table of nice ladies congratulated me and asked about my race. I did the same. They were all so sweet! I opted to sit down at a table that was mostly empty save for one guy with a half marathon medal around his neck. “How was your race?” I think I asked first. Or, maybe it was the other way around. “Good!” he says. We end up talking for quite a while. So, now I’m going to brag about my new friend, Scott.

Scott is from St. Louis. Scott works in corporate America for SAP. Scott had a life goal to run a marathon - which he did in Chicago in 2018. I believe he’s already done all of the world majors once. He lost his dad to cancer when he was young and his sister was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021. This year, like me, he turns 40 and is running ALL EIGHT WORLD MAJOR MARATHONS for St. Jude. This is the original six (Chicago, Boston, New York, London, Berlin, Tokyo) plus South Africa and Sydney. Don’t worry, he’s going to come on my podcast.

I’m checking my phone to see when my friend, Jamicka Edwards, is going to finish the race. She still had some miles to go. I set a timer on my watch so I don’t lose track of time. And as I’m looking around I see that neon yellow shirt again. Rob is at the booth entrance chatting with Madison from St. Jude. Happy I get a do-over to chat with him for a few more minutes, I walk over to them. Madison is also amazing and has worked for St. Jude for 7 years. Her brother is a patient. Not too dissimilar to Caroline Barlow’s story - the reason I was there to begin with. At least I hope I’ve remembered this correctly.

In true Rob fashion, Rob is looking for the beer tent. Madison says that while they don’t have beer, they do have ice cold soda, and that sells Rob on coming in for a few. He chooses a Dr. Pepper and I cheers him with my Coke. Side note: if you’ve never had an ice cold soda (NOT DIET) after a race, you’re missing out. I credit @indianarunnergirl, Tracie Hunter, for introducing me to this concept with her post-long run McDonald’s Cokes.

A guy dressed like a member of KISS comes by for a photo with Rob (who is equally as excited for a picture with KISS). Then, a young man comes up to shake Rob’s hand and tells him how much his content has helped him in training for this race. I take their photo too. Before Rob leaves to find the beer tent, I ask him if he’ll take another photo with me in front of the St. Jude backdrop. Of course, he obliged. As he tries to leave, I joke that if he ever wants to make it to the beer tent he should take off his neon shirt so not as many people notice him. But that’s the thing. Rob truly wants to engage with his community. Hopefully he did end up getting a post race beer.

When Rob’s gone, Madison and I chat about how we’re such big fans of his. I’m so happy he’s now connected with St. Jude.

I sit back down and chat with Scott for a bit longer and then it’s time to head to the finish line to see Jamicka finish. I belly up to the fencing about 300 yards from the finish line. Just in case she’s checking texts, I text Jamicka and tell her I’m on runner’s right wearing American flag arm sleeves.

If there’s one thing I love, it’s cheering for runners. Okay, and my family. But watching people in the final stretch is so inspiring. We probably saw three different couples holding hands. The women next to me and I talked about how adorable it was to watch.

To make sure I didn’t somehow miss Jamicka, I had my tracking app out and I double checked Instagram to make sure I knew what she was wearing.

And then there she was! I started screeching (that’s the best way to describe my screaming) “JAMICKA! JAMICKA!” She doesn’t hear me. She has headphones in so while waving my flag arms I yell “TURN YOUR MUSIC DOWN! JAMICKAAAA!”  She spots me! She runs over and we hug. She tells the women next to me how much this moment means. I tell her I love her. She turns and heads to the finish.

For the longest time, I’d only known Jamicka virtually. A mutual friend, Jami, introduced me to Jamicka in fall 2023. She was episode 22,. We’d been cheering for each other online ever since. We’d been at multiple races at the same time - the Indy Mini, Rock N’ Roll Vegas - but we still hadn’t met in person. Finally, at the expo for Marine Corps in October we got to hug for the first time. Now, I’ve gotten to hug her twice! And hopefully years don’t pass before it happens again.

While I was at the tent, my husband had texted me. They were heading to lunch at 12:30 and an Easter egg hunt at 1:30. It’s around 11:30 at this point so I tell him I’m heading back and don’t want to miss the Easter egg hunt. The thought of bending down for eggs was comical. Turns out, it wasn’t that kind of hunt.

Waiting for the metro home, I saw one of the nice ladies from the tent who had first congratulated me. Her and her husband loved my bedazzled shoes.

After I boarded the metro, the rest of the trek home was quiet. I stood for a while but then sat down to rest. When I got to Alexandria, it felt so funny walking around wearing my medal and American flag attire. By that time, there wasn’t another runner in sight.

My go to post-race meal is a cheeseburger and fries. It didn’t look like I was going to pass anywhere to grab one, so I ordered Five Guys via DoorDash to the hotel. Since I was going to be with the kids for the afternoon, I abstained from my usual post-race milkshake. This was the right decision since we got Ben & Jerry’s ice cream later (Americone Dream is my flavor).

I showered, ate my cheeseburger in bed, and then my husband picked me up to take me to his sister’s house. Time to return to mom mode and enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Hopefully this inspires you to become a St. Jude Hero and run Rock N’ Roll D.C. If you don’t want to wait until next year, their biggest race of the year runs by the hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. I’m considering the half marathon. It’s their 25th anniversary on 12/5!

Thank you for coming along for the ride.

Happy running!