I signed up for this race months ago with my friend Kristin and her family and friends from PA/DE. The Nike Women's Marathon series (which they seem to have renamed Run Nike Women Series) recently added a couple of half marathons to the series, and this was the inaugural half marathon in Washington, DC. Registration was only open to those who were chosen from a drawing for eligibility. We entered as a group, and as luck would have it, our group got in! It was an exciting moment to receive the email notification--but a less exciting moment when I realized that my credit card would then be charged the exorbitant $160+ registration fee, but this was largely because of the  Tiffany & Co.  necklace awarded to finishers in place of a typical race medal. But it still meant a trip to DC, and because I didn't get to run the Marine Corps Marathon in DC last fall, I was looking forward to the redemption race. I have mixed feelings about the overall event. The race itself was wonder