Overall Rating: Overall, I would give this race an excellent rating. The course was partially paved, and mostly crushed fines on rail trail. Course Difficulty: Somewhat difficult. There was a … MORE
Overall Rating: Overall, I would give this race an excellent rating. The course was partially paved, and mostly crushed fines on rail trail.
Course Difficulty: Somewhat difficult. There was a 2.5 mile out and back that was super flat and easy, and then a 10 mile up the side of a hill and then back down to the finish. I say somewhat difficult because where I’m from, we don’t have 10 mile of uphill at that grade, so no appropriate training. Should have been able to fly down the hill, but my legs were spent from climbing.
Course Scenery: Not bad, some good views, and a little different for a Southern IL flatlander.
Race Production: Very good. Packet pick up was super easy. The race director who I saw multiple times throughout the weekend really cares about the success of the race. It wasn’t fancy, and aid stations were pretty far apart at times, but this was well known coming into the event, so no surprises. I’m totally good with that.
Race Swag: This was probably the only downside, I didn’t love the medal. The shirt was outstanding. I’m divided on this, as the race is run as a true charity for Active Water, so I don’t want them wasting a lot of money on peripherals, however, I feel like more people show up for the swag-I would personally spend a little extra on the medal and attract a few more participants.
My Performance: Not great. Everything was awesome until I hit mile 21 where the knee that got twisted on the trail at Kentucky decided it was not ok (I also think this was partially due to the really long uphill and then really long downhill). I ended up limping the last 5 miles super slow, which tells me I may have had a PR at this course if I had been able to keep running. Anyway, I finished, so it’s ok.
At the end of the day, MD is crossed off of the list. I will not be running this race again, simply because it is out the way for me, however, if you’re looking for a well produced, surprisingly fast, small race in Maryland; this may be your run.
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Overall Rating: Overall, I would give this race an excellent rating. The course was partially paved, and mostly crushed fines on rail trail. Course Difficulty: Somewhat difficult. There was a … MORE
Overall Rating: Overall, I would give this race an excellent rating. The course was partially paved, and mostly crushed fines on rail trail.
Course Difficulty: Somewhat difficult. There was a 2.5 mile out and back that was super flat and easy, and then a 10 mile up the side of a hill and then back down to the finish. I say somewhat difficult because where I’m from, we don’t have 10 mile of uphill at that grade, so no appropriate training. Should have been able to fly down the hill, but my legs were spent from climbing.
Course Scenery: Not bad, some good views, and a little different for a Southern IL flatlander.
Race Production: Very good. Packet pick up was super easy. The race director who I saw multiple times throughout the weekend really cares about the success of the race. It wasn’t fancy, and aid stations were pretty far apart at times, but this was well known coming into the event, so no surprises. I’m totally good with that.
Race Swag: This was probably the only downside, I didn’t love the medal. The shirt was outstanding. I’m divided on this, as the race is run as a true charity for Active Water, so I don’t want them wasting a lot of money on peripherals, however, I feel like more people show up for the swag-I would personally spend a little extra on the medal and attract a few more participants.
My Performance: Not great. Everything was awesome until I hit mile 21 where the knee that got twisted on the trail at Kentucky decided it was not ok (I also think this was partially due to the really long uphill and then really long downhill). I ended up limping the last 5 miles super slow, which tells me I may have had a PR at this course if I had been able to keep running. Anyway, I finished, so it’s ok.
At the end of the day, MD is crossed off of the list. I will not be running this race again, simply because it is out the way for me, however, if you’re looking for a well produced, surprisingly fast, small race in Maryland; this may be your run.