The whole experience was absolutely incredible. The Team In Training people
that I met while there were all really nice people, and were a big help with
the race and everything else during the weekend. We got there on Saturday
and went to the race expo, where we picked up out official race number and
free t-shirt. They also had a lot of corporate sponsors with tables set
up giving away free stuff and flyers for other races and running products.
After that we had our pasta dinner, where we all got plenty of carbs. Sunday
morning was the race. It was really hot, 81 degrees with 97% humidity. 
Right before the start, I ran into 3 Team in Training runners from RI that
I had spoken with before but never met. I ran with them for most of the
first 12 miles. At about the halfway point, I started to cramp up pretty
badly. It slowed down my running for the next 3 miles or so, and then I
had to do some walking. I ran/walked pretty slowly for the rest of the race,
but I managed to run most of the last mile or so. I had a good sprint to
the finish line. It was the most amazing, painful, and humbling experience
of my life, and I loved every minute of it. I didn't notice a lot of the
historical places that we ran by, but we went sight-seeing on monday. I
saw the Washington Monument, the World War II Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial,
the Vietnam Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, and some parts of the Smithsonian.
The trip was altogether a great time, and I can't wait to run another marathon.
I want to thank you very much for your generosity in helping me. Without
people like you this would not have been possible.

Here is a link to a web page with pictures from my race:

http://www.marathonfoto.com/order_assigned_photos.cfm?BFI=i8he74al2a&OID=13692004F1&BibNumber=18901&CustomerNumber=T86424&Currency=USD&Language=en