It has been months since Alison and I found out we were accepted as part of a lottery for openings in the Cherry Blossom 10 miler in D.C. - I didn’t realize how lucky we are to get to be a part of the event until I was reading the race’s website today and found a release for today that had all of the stats about how many people tried to get in this year.

The following information from [url=http://www.cherryblossom.org]http://www.cherryblossom.org[/url] really got my attention:

“Widely known as “The Runner’s Rite of Spring,” the event is hugely popular among the more-gentle running population as well. Over 27,000 people applied for the 15,000 slots through a lottery held last December. This year’s field comes from 49 states and over a dozen foreign countries.”

Something that also got my attention is that a 10 miler is being run at the same time overseas:

“As was the case last year, soldiers and civilians overseas will be part of the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile. This year the Credit Union Cherry Blossom organizing committee is supporting a “satellite” race at Camp Eggers, Kabul, Afghanistan. Both races will start simultaneously. Since Kabul is 8 1/2 hours ahead of Washington, DC, the races will start at 0730 (7:30 a.m.) in Washington, DC and 1615 (4:15 p.m.) in Afghanistan. Because of the limited area occupied by Camp Eggers, the runners in Kabul will have to make fifteen circuits of the course. Captain Jason Ware, the camp MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation) director, says they will have Dramamine at the aid station.  Ware expects fifty or more runners to participate in the ten mile, plus several more for a concurrent 5K.  Using a direct communications link, the Washington, DC runners will give a big shout-out for the runners in Kabul. Results from the Kabul race will be published along with the Washington race results.”

To read more about the big event click here.