MCM Carbo Dining In (Friday Five Edition)

On Saturday evening we went to the MCM Carbo Dining In event.  Again, this was something that was part of the VIP package, but anyone could buy tickets.  Here are five things about the event.

In case you missed previous posts from the MCM weekend:

• Highlights
• Expo & Hotel
• White House Tour  
• bRUNch - 5K Shakout Run and Brunch

 

1.  There was an exclusive reception before the dinner.  When we went down we saw that it was some appetizers outside the dinning room and a cash bar.  We just wanted some water and they wanted us to pay for it.  The appetizers were OK and there was no where to sit.  We decided to go down to where the expo was because we knew they had water coolers.  We found somewhere to sit and just hung out till right before the dinner started.

2. The cheese tortellini was amazing!  Though they only had marinara sauce and I think it would be better with some sort of cream sauce.  I had to go back for seconds.  They had really good big cookies there too for desert, but I was too full of pasta for them.  Didn't stop us from taking a couple up to have for after the marathon the next day.

3. There was a fun USO type group of singers there to entertained us.  They did a lot of fun old time songs.  They were really good.  They also sang the national anthem right before the race started the next day.  They ended with singing the song for each of the branches of the armed forces and it was great to see the people from each branch stand up and sing. 

4. The speaker was Billy Mills, who was the winner of the 1964 Olympic 10,000 meter run.  No American before or after have won the gold medal in this event.  They showed us the film below showing his come back win.  It's amazing!  Seriously, watch it.

He talked about being young and losing his mother and how his dad tried to help him with his loss by telling him that one day he will fly like an eagle.  He said that he saw the wings of an eagle on one of the other runners and that got him sprinting at the very end, even though he had nothing in his tank.  He talked about getting into running and setting goals.  It kind of hit home for me as I'm in a bit of a transition in my life and I've been trying to figure out what I want to do.  Setting goals is something that I've been thinking about.

As I was running the MCM the next day it was so hot and I was so tired and I kept thinking about his speech the night before.  I knew that I would finish the race, but there wasn't a lot keeping me running.  And at the end of the race, I sprinted to the end just like Billy did.

5.  They had a fun raffle going on to win Brooks shoes and a goodie bag.  Neither Candace nor I won, but I would have loved to get a new pair of shoes.

We headed back to our room to get ready for the big day.

Continue reading about the MCM weekend here.

Have you ever won a raffle?  Do you like to go to organized pasta parties for the race? 


P.S. - Looks like I decided to do the Richmond Marathon tomorrow.  Wish me luck!!

I'm linking up with Fairytales and Fitness and Running on Happy for Friday Five 2.0