Inagural Baltimore 10-Miler Race Report

The day started very early (for me at least) when my alarm sounded at 5:25am. I begrudgingly got out of bed and started cooking my breakfast. A cup of water in the microwave and two pieces of bread in the toaster. I went back up stairs while everything was cooking I got changed into my race clothes. I came back and added the water to my bowl of instant oatmeal and chunky peanut butter to my toast. I ate breakfast and was on my way.

The course was about a 20 minute ride away, my GPS tried taking me in through the back side of the park, which was closed off because of the race. After a few laps around the park a few other cars and myself came upon a race volunteer who pointed us in the right direction. When I parked I grabbed my stuff and changed my shoes, got out of my pants (I wear pants over my racing shorts, habit.) While I was making my final preparations I was talking to my parking lot neighbor, Grace. We walked over to the packet pick-up together and chatted a bit before parting ways.

I had an hour or so to kill so I found a chair and relaxed as best I could. About 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time I made my way to the sign that read "10:00 Pace." My goal time was 1:40:00, so I figured thats where I wanted to be. While waiting for the gun a friend of mine, Scott, came up and said hi. We chatted for a bit, he said that 10 minutes was probably a bit quicker then he was going to be able to run with his knee, but he'd start there with me and see how it goes. 7:34am the gun goes and we are off.

The course opened up with a 2 mile consistent downhill of about a total of 200ft. Which was very bad, considering the course was an out and back, so we finished with a 200ft, 2 mile climb. Miles 1 and 2 went by fast, like they do in most races. Mile 1 was done in 8:51, it was quicker then it was supposed to be but it was still ok. mile 2 went by in 9:32, right about where I wanted to be for the 1st half.

After the 2 mile down hill there were 2.5 miles of rolling hills. Still feeling surprisingly well mile 3 and 4 were 9:18 and 9:27. As we approached mile 5 we looped around Lake Montebello. A 1.3 mile loop around a man-made lake with a running/biking lane around it. It is was the only flat part of the course and it gave my leg muscles a great rest. Mile 5 cruised through in 9:53. The clock time at the 5 mile marker said 49:45, which means that according to gun time I was just ahead of my goal pace. During the first half I was having a blast, chatting with Scott, and all the other runners. As we approached the lake one woman was saying that she needed something to cure her boredom, so I asked what she wanted to hear and started to sing for her.

After the loop around the lake we had to re-run the course in reverse to get the total mileage. Back to the 2.5 miles of rolling hills. Miles 6 and 7 came and went in 9:42 and 9:47. After the set of rolling hills came the final 2 mile climb. The 8 mile marker came at the bottom of the last hill, and passed at 10:01. The fatigue was beginning to set in, right as we got to the final 2 miles. Coming up on mile 6 Scott and I came up on Grace, she was walking when we reached her but she ran with us for a little. She said that the heat was getting to her, so after a few minutes she went back to her walk. Around mile 7 I could feel that I could push a bit, and knew that I would need to push if I would make pace with those hills to close out the race. I told Scott I'd catch him later and I was now running 'alone.'

As I said earlier the last 2 miles were a 200ft climb. Miles 9 and 10 were slower then all the others. I had to walk a bit in mile 9, the climb killed me. Mile 9 went in 11:05. Mile 10 was only slightly faster, but I kept in a running stride the whole way, it finished in 11:03. My Garmin read the course as a total of 10.18 miles, so that means I still had another .2 miles to the finish, which I did in 1:19, a 7:29 pace.

When I stepped on the mat I stopped my watch, I looked at it and saw it read "1:39:59.93." I did it! My time said I did it! I hung around for a bit snacking on the watermelon they supplied, YUM! While hanging around I ran into Scott again, who was surprised with his finish time and that his knees held up as well as they did. As the results were coming out they posted them, I couldn't find my name which worried me, what if my chip malfunctioned? I tried not to think about it and returned to my car, where Grace was on the phone with a loved one. She came in with a time of 1:48:xx, slower then she was hoping for, but she was having problems with the heat so she was happy with it.

I got home and checked to see if the results were online yet, they were. I searched for mine and found a listed chip time of 1:40:00. Right on my goal. I took a shower and then a nap, it was wonderful. Today I am feeling almost no pain, which is that much better.