Baltimore 10 Miler

I was worried about doing this one because I had not been able to properly train any this year so far. The thought of the hills scared me and I thought my knee would break down on me. Well, I did ok, finished, didn’t get pulled, and had a great time! I opted for same day bib pickup because I came straight from a conference a little over an hour away. I was there at 5 am, so parking was a non issue, the only thing was walking back to the car at the end, more hills! Bib pickup was quick and easy, though for some reason Corrigan has non-morning people on this task. I picked up my bib same day at Delaware and it was the same thing. After that though, it was great. The other runners were friendly, I ran into a long time family friend, and chatted with someone from out of town. The route was nice through the park and around Lake Montebello, the parts between that were through Baltimore, so ok, but not what I would call scenic. The policeman handling traffic were awesome because so many of the drivers were impatient and seemed to want to ignore commands. There were also police cadets working at the finish giving medals and swag and helping with snacks. The course was hilly! I do run-walk intervals, but I decided to walk the hills because I was trying to preserve my stamina and my knee. There were 2 brief out and backs and one was right before the finish, so that was a bummer, but you knew the finish was really close. There were plenty of water stops, a Dunkin donut stop, and Gatorade. There were even a few children handing water and cheering us on. The volunteers were awesome. Some spectators were out, a few people just hanging out on their porches, but not a ton of people, enough for me though. One particular man had a whistle he just kept blowing at the start and then he was at another point later on. They had cow tails, watermelon, chips, water (warm), and cold towels–or rather, larger sized wash clothes, at the end. They felt great around your neck. I was not crazy about standing in the long line for my shirt and beach towel at then end. Maybe they can figure something else out for this. Shirts seem to run small. I sized up after my Frederick shirt was too small. People were hanging out on the grass, having their beer, listening to the band, there were interactive games, and merchandise tent. I do not like beer, so I always complain about that, but this finish festival had wine and Titos vodka. That lady made me a better cocktail than I have had in a long time…vodka and cranberry…after a race, how awesome is that?! I completed the Big Freakin Deal challenge and got an extra huge medal. It was for completing Baltimore 10, Frederick half, and Delaware Half. I did not appreciate how cool it was until I finished because all of the courses were hilly to me, Frederick second to Baltimore and the Delaware and Frederick halves were a week apart, and again, I have not done any consistent running since the beginning of the year, so I completed all 3 and felt pretty awesome about it. They also give you a button for that and the King Crab, which I am doing as well, and that gets you 10% off for each. They let you use it on all one purchase so I got 2 shirts and a sticker and 20% off. Corrigan Sports does an awesome job and they are excellent at keeping you informed and giving detailed direction on parking, packet pick up, directions to the race, etc. They are very responsive to questions. The local TV station was there, so when I wore my tshirt to take my dog to the vet, it was a conversation starter because people knew about it. I had no idea it was that big though…I was in the last wave and it took about 15 minutes from gun time because they did true waves so that there was no congestion. This is a race I would do again. I have fond memories when I think of it and recommend it.