St. Patrick's Day 8k

Today I ran the St. Pat's 8k in DC. I got up at 7am to get ready and catch the metro, I was kind of nervous to be on the metro that early on a Sunday. But to my surprise there were 4 others in my part of the train that were going to the race. I got to Freedom Plaza where everything was centralized and got my packet and all that good stuff. The worst part was being there 45 mins early. It was cold. It was 28 degrees and a breeze and that breeze wasn't nice. I just stood around outside trying to warm up because there was really no where inside to stand. Finally it was race time. The race was really cool. I still have that awe struck feeling when I'm in DC and running around everything. The start line had us heading right toward the Capital, then toward Union Station, eventually crossing by the east end of the Mall where I could see the Washington monument and Lincoln memorial all lined up. I finished the 8k (about 5 miles) in 53:38 and was very very happy about that. After race I hung around and got the free food and watched some Irish dancers, then headed back. If anyone cares, the results are here http://www.runwashington.com/results/searchable.html and then the route is on this page, http://www.runwashington.com/other/stpat02course.html. The rest of the afternoon was followed by my favorite post race pancakes (waffles when I had a waffle maker) and then my post race nap. Next race: well not really sure, I think at the end of April, if not that then the Lincoln half!