The 17th Street High Heel Race - Tuesday October 24th, 2006

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THE MOST FABULOUSLY RAUCOUS RACE EVER!!!!!!!!

"Traditionally held on the Tuesday before Halloween, this annual neighborhood event features elaborately costumed drag queens racing down 17th Street (from Q to Church streets) and attracts a large crowd eager to cheer them on. The race begins at 9, but the real fun takes place before the main event, as the contestants parade up and down the race course showing off their outfits. The informal block party continues long after the last Mary Jane (size 13 EE) crosses the finish line." ~ Washington Post

To get any sense of what insanity transpired on 17th Street this Tuesday, click on this link to see a short video put together by the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2006/10/24/VI2006102400655.html

So I spent the last week assembling my costume for the big race. Thigh-high white leather platform-heel boots, feather boa, leather choker, and body glitter from the Pleasure Place. Red plaid skirt from Urban Outfitters. White button-up shirt from H&M. Pink wig from Commander Salamander. I won't disclose how and where my buddy Adam Kutcher got his priest outfit.

See the picture of me above with my housemates before heading over to 17th Street. Believe me - hailing a cab was not difficult. In fact, I didn't need a cab as I got picked up by a couple in their 50's who thought I was a prostitute at first but then realized where I must be going and wanted to give me a ride. I am sure they had fun telling all their friends about their out of the ordinary ride from Georgetown to Dupont Circle that night.

I got to JR's on 17th Street at 7:30 p.m. and the scene was already raging. So many people gathered for an evening of drinking and gawking. Oh my god gawking. Everyone would not stop staring and whistling and asking me to take a picture with them. I met up with my brother Steven at JR's where I got registered for the race and then had some beers in their beer garten. Then Adam Kutcher finally showed up - we were priest and naughty catholic school girl together at last.

Parading was unbelievable. I ran into my friend Filip who was Orange Fanta together with the other three Fanta Girls. Everyone's outfits were totally outrageous. So many friends were out to watch and were screaming at us parading up and down the street. I ran into the newly elected mayor of DC Adrian Fenty who shook my hand and told me I was looking beautiful. No joke! I got in a little bit of stretching and did some strides and it was time for the race to begin.

We lined up at Church St and believe me there was a lot of elbowing trying to get to the front of the starting line. People on the left side of the street were screaming "HIGH" and people on the right side were screaming "HEEL" back and forth like the "tastes great / less filling" Bud Lite commercial. The gun went off at 9:00 p.m. and we were off. I had the desire but not the shoes on to win. I sprinted the four blocks hard but my heels were just too tall and clumsy and I couldn't keep up with the leaders. I crossed the finish line somewhere in the 10th-15th place range but am absolutely certain I had the fastest time/heel ratio of any drag queen racing Tuesday night.

The block party began only minutes after the race had just begun. An overwhelming number of friends came over to tell me how beautiful I was and how fast I had run. Many more pictures with people on the street. A huge group of us went to Annie's Steak House and caused a scene at the bar I am sure that restaurant won't see again for a long while. At some point a few of us moved over to Cobalt for their Tuesday night 80's dance party that was more fun than ever. I ran into the winner of the race carrying the golden high heel trophy and we did a shot together. I told him to watch out in 2007.

What an amazing night! I am already planning my outfit for next year. And am already strategizing on how I am going to be first across that finish line to win the golden high heel.

PACE Race 5K -- Saturday October 21st, 2006

At 7 a.m. on Saturday October 21st Bill Scully and I drove down to West Potomac Park to run the third annual PACE Race 5K, an event organized every year to raise awareness about prostate cancer. The course is a speedy out and back starting in West Potomac Park and returning from halfway down the river side of East Potomac Park. I actually got more than a couple hours of sleep and didn't have too much to drink the night before and was feeling pretty good except quite a bit chilly. The gun went off at 8 a.m. and we all took off. The cold air was painful to the lungs with the first deep breaths, and the hands were completely numb for the duration of the run. About 10 of us had broken away by the 1 mile mark but the leaders were running an insane pace and I just couldn't keep up. After crossing the 2 mile mark I knew I was going to make it and turned up the pace for the run to the finish. I wound up crossing the finish line in 19 minutes 6 seconds (6:10 mile pace), good for 9th place overall out of 212 runners and 1st place in the males age 25-29 group. I got a $25 gift certificate to Safeway and a $25 gift certificate to the restaurant Glory Days. Bill also finished well on what turned out to be a beautiful fall day. Two weeks until New York!!!

The Richmond Sprint Triathlon -- Sunday October 15th, 2006

The brother Steven and I drove down to Richmond, Virginia on Saturday October 14th to compete in the Richmond Sprint Triathlon. We made it down in time for packet pick up and to go for an easy ride along the bike course for the event. We got a hotel room and all set for the morning before going out to hit the town. We went and got an awesome dinner and mojitos at Havana '59. Then we hopped down to the Tobacco Company for a copious amount of alcoholic beverages, dancing, and met up with some college friends living in the area. We then traversed over to Richbrau for more drinking, dancing, and frolicking before heading back to the hotel at around 2 a.m. Not the kind of night you're supposed to have before a triathlon.

We got up quite a bit hung over at 6:15 a.m. and headed over to the big event. The Richmond Sprint Triathlon is a 400 meter indoor swim, a 20k bike (12.4 miles), and 5k run (3.1 miles). The swim was a snake swim going up and down each of 4 lanes in a 50 meter pool with one swimmer going off every 15 seconds. It was not until about 9 o'clock before it was my turn to take off. My left shoulder was still a little bit tender from the bike wreck a few weekends ago but I was able to make do and get the swim done in 8 minutes 25 seconds. There was quite a run in bare feet from the pool to the transition area and it took me 4 minutes 28 seconds to get from the pool to on my bike. I trucked it on the bike crossing 12.4 miles in 38 minutes 26 seconds and passing dozens of people without any glimpse of a faster biker approaching from behind. The 23:57 5k run was certainly not my fastest of the season as I was experiencing some pretty severe stomach cramps I'm sure from being dehydrated. I wound up crossing the finish line in 1:16:57 good for 77th place overall out of 530 participants and 12th place out of 34 participants in the males age 25-29 group. Steven also crossed the finish line of his first triathlon smiling and in good time finishing 4th in his age group. Check out the adorable picture of the two of us at the finish line. We did have a blast and got to see the nightlife of Richmond but I am going to start taking this whole running and biking thing a little bit more seriously from now on. No more dying during a 5k run because I needed those last few drinks the night before! We'll see how this resolution turns out.

The Fifth Avenue Mile -- Saturday September 30th along Central Park in New York City

I was ready to see how fast I really am so I decided to try a one mile race...

I took the 2 a.m. Chinatown bus on the morning of Saturday September 30th from Washington, D.C. to New York City. I got let out in Chinatown in Manhattan at 5:45 a.m. still a bit tired and 4 hours til race time. I wound up taking the subway up to Chelsea and hanging out at Starbucks for a couple hours until heading to the Upper East Side where the race was going on.

The Fifth Avenue Mile is a 1 mile road race down Fifth Ave along Central Park from 80th Street to 60th Street (see the map). There is a small uphill during the first quarter mile and then the rest is downhill -- the course is the fastest and most prestigious 1 mile road race in the world. The race was run in waves going off every 15 minutes. I got to see the wave of under 15 year old runners start and then the 15-29 year old females. I did a 10 minute warm up jog around Central Park before it was time to line up with the males age 15-29 for the 9:45 a.m. wave start. There turned out to be more than 500 people running in my wave and 372 finishers in the males age 20-29 group. I lined up in the middle of the pack so it took a few seconds to get going once the gun went off. I ran hard and thought I was trekking pretty good but wound up crossing the finish line at 5 minutes and 31 seconds -- 1 minute 8 seconds behind the winner of the 20-29 age group (4:23) and 1 minute 37 seconds behind the professional winner (3:54). I was out of breath for a couple minutes after the finish but once I caught my breath I was ragingly pissed I hadn't pushed harder during that short 5 minutes.

I met Jill at the finish line and we went to FAO Schwarz to play with the stuffed animals and eat a brownie sundae. Then we walked up through Central Park and saw John Stewart playing with his kid under a bridge. We traversed up to the Guggenheim Museum and saw a cool architecture exhibit and some famous art. Met up with Dee for sushi in SoHo before a crazy night of barhopping - "it's raining Jagermeister all night long", a trip to the store "GirlProps" for sunglasses & wigs, and then clubbing first at Bank and then at the infamous Roxy before getting back to Jill's place sometime around 6 in the morning. Jill and I met up with Adrienne at a Ukranian diner on Sunday morning for brunch which was awesome, and then some shopping before hopping on the bus back to D.C. Overall, I had a blast and it was great training for the NYC Marathon coming up in a few weeks. I will be back next year to break 5 minutes.