Our Army 10 Miler Recap

Considering taking on the Army 10 Miler? Here’s what to know before signing up for the Army’s ten mile race through Washington, DC!

When we found out we were moving to Washington, DC, Dane and I were determined to sign up for at least one of the big races that happen in the city. As the twists and turns of the year kept happening, training for anything big fell by the wayside. We ultimately landed on running the Army 10 Miler, which is an annual race that happens every year in October. If you’re considering signing up for the race, here’s what to know about running the Army 10 Miler!

Our Army 10 Miler Recap

If you’re interested in registering for this race, be sure to watch the website! The race sells out quickly, but then will open up later in the season with a few more slots. Priority is given to those who have done the race before, so if it’s on your bucket list, be sure to keep checking back. I think registration was $89 (or close to it), but I can’t remember exactly.

When race weekend rolled around, packet pickup was at the DC Armory. Dane and my mom picked up our packets on Friday since I had to work and we figured it might be a little crazy on Saturday. They said it was a great expo with a lot of booths (and tons of freebies).

The day of the race, we scheduled an UBER to get us down to the Pentagon and left our house around 6:30AM.

Army Ten Miler – Washington, DC

The Golden Knights were parachuting in at 7:15 and we didn’t want to miss it. It was very cool to see the parachuters, but man, it was so cold. I think it was 38 degrees when we woke up…

Race staff does a great job of organizing the entire event, so participants are lined up in the corrals ahead of the start and signaled to go in waves. The course starts at the Pentagon and weaves through all of DC’s iconic monuments and historical sites before winding up back at the Pentagon again. Thankfully as the sun came out, it wound up being a beautiful day!

There were people sporadically along the course, though I will admit, not as many as the Honolulu Marathon. 

Something interesting I learned in this process is that the Army 10 Miler is the second largest 10-mile race in the United States (the largest is the Broad Street Run in Philadelphia!). We were honoring our friend Greg and my mom was participating in her first ever race!

One thing I will say is that because of how the race is laid out and because of traffic patterns, you had to walk a good bit (probably close to a mile) after the finish of the race just to get to transportation, whether you drove and parked, or wanted to UBER home. 

All in all, I would say the Army 10 Miler is a great race and beautiful course. If it’s on your list of runs across the U.S., I would definitely recommend it!