IRIS EAGLETON's Staging Area

If your idea of fun is running a very difficult city course with over 1,300 Ft in elevation gain with the majority of the gains in mile 15 to 22 then this is your race 🙂 It rain off and on throughout the day so the crowds were on the light side however the spectators I saw were very enthusiastic. The rain wasn’t that bad as it kept me very comfortable while running. The Baltimore Police officers and Safety workers offered words of encouragement.
Pros: Free parking in the Baseball/Football stadium lots which are very close to the starting line
*Normally the race actually starts in the Orioles Baseball stadium however because the team made the playoff it was moved outside the stadium. We still had access to the bathroom in the stadium which was so nice.
*You run through the local zoo
*Post run festival is at the Inner Harbor which is beautiful
*The medal is the coolest crab EVER!
Cons:
*The hardest part of the course has the fewest spectator so you will have to dig deep if you are use to crowds pushing you forward.
*Prepare for the 1/2 mile walk back to your car:-)
*No protein at the finish just water, banana, pretzels,and fruit cup

Overall it was a nice race experience and I am so happy I ran with a friend.
In addition to the Marathon they also have a Half Marathon, 10K and 5K. I’m opting for the 10K next year. LOL!

This is a great small town race. The starting line is a quick 1/2 mile from the free parking garage. You don’t have to worry about corrals just show up 30 mins before and run 🙂 I felt very safe running on the course with police blocking intersections and paroling the course on motorcycles. One lane is closed for runners however there wasn’t a lot of traffic on the roads. Water was every 3 miles so if you need it more often BYOB.
Very little crowd support so bring your music. Although you run through a tunnel on Salisbury University’s campus lined with students cheering which was cool.
The medal ribbon wasn’t distance specific which was disappointing so 10 years from now I won’t be able to tell which distance I completed. LOL!
The course is scenic, flat and fast.
The weather was terrible with rain, wind, thunder and lightning so I didn’t really enjoy the run.
I recommend this race if you don’t mind a quiet solo run around town. I will definitely run this race again hopefully the weather will be better.

This turned out to be my favorite race so far. We had to jump through so many hoops to participate in this race…Health Apps to record our temperature for several days, 2 x Covid Test, a final temperature at the entrance to your corral. I pass everything so I was allowed to run!
The course has 4 out and backs which became boring. However they had nice cultural on course entertainment.
I am a back of the pack runner so the strict cut off times were a concern. I ran the 1st half faster than usual to build a cushion. This lead to a PR!
There is no real food on the course except for a pouch of “Apple Jelly” which I didn’t eat. I packed all my on course food…thank goodness I didn’t drop anything.
At the finish line we were given: beautiful robe, 1 bottle water, 1 bottle of sports drink Pocari Sweet, and one small pouch of “Body Conditioning” (I didn’t eat). No banana! I wish I would have paid for the bag drop so that I could have packed some post race food. I was so hungry after the race.
All in All this was an amazing race!
I definitely recommend this race because the Japanese people are welcoming and friendly. Tokyo is also a very safe and easy to navigate city.

This marathon was so much fun! The crowd support and volunteers are great. The run along the James River is beautiful. I hit a wall at Mile 14 when the temps reached 79 F in full sun with no clouds. The junk food stations and the whisky shots were just what I needed to lift my mood. LOL! The finisher’s festival has beer, pizza, and DJ with tables/chairs. I recommend you adding this race to your calendar.

The start in Grant Park was a quick walk from the blue line train station.
The ran through downtown Chicago which was so cool. The street are wide so there was enough room for everyone. I received my bib and winter hat in the mail which was nice. There was only one water stop on the course. There was
lot of crowd support. We received metal too!

It was a well organized event and the short course was easy to follow. The course was changed from a ~4 mile loop to a ~2.4 mile loop because the Navy was having live artillery practice. We heard lot of gun fire during the 1st part of the race which was a great motivation to run :-)There was one aid station with snacks, ice water, and Gatorade. They had a seperate ice water tube with towels and an ice only cooler. I took full advantage of both as the day got hotter. The towel were great for keeping your body temp down. The view of the Chesapeake Bay and Bay Bridge were beautiful! Also we ran past the parking lot so many people crewed themselves from their car. I will definitely do this next year. I will also try a run/walk strategy next year too. I ran the 1st 4 hours with no issue then 11am hit with 100 degree temps and I hit a hall. I walked the last 2 hours which was hard. I’m looking forward to next year!