I'm happy to say that I really enjoyed this race! I ran the race a
couple years ago when it was a Zooma race but it's under new management now. It's being run by Pacers, a local running store, and the theme has changed from a women's race to a travel inspired race. I've done some local Pacer's races and I knew they usually put on a well organized race, so I was excited to give this one a try again.
There was a 10k and a half marathon but given that the race was in June, we decided on doing the 10k. That's kind of my limit for races between the start of June and the beginning of October. Too much heat and humidity for me otherwise.
The weekend started off with my friend picking me up Friday afternoon and we drove to our Annapolis hotel, which took about an hour. There was bib pick up at a local running store right by our hotel. There was no line and no fan fare. In fact, there weren't even any signs and we were a little worried we were in the wrong place. But we asked the woman working at the register and she was able to get our bibs for us. Instead of shirts, they had fanny packs. There were four different designs we could pick from. I like that they did something different than shirts but I'm not sure how much use I'll get out of the fanny pack. After that, we went to Paladar for dinner. They have Latin American food with lots of veggie and gluten free options, so it was a win for both of us.
The race started at 7am the next morning. We woke up at 5 and left the hotel by 6. It was only a 15 minute drive to the Nave Marine-Corps stadium and there was plenty of parking. The other benefit of the start is that there were actual bathrooms in the stadium. We also did a 15 minute warm up and then lined up at the back of the pack. It definitely seemed like there were fewer participants this year than when it was a Zooma race. There were only 313 runners in the 10k and 309 in the half according to the finisher results.
Warm up was just running around the stadium
The race started on time and we were off! All of the runners started together and the half marathon didn't split off from the 10k until around mile 5 or so. Since I was in the back of the pack, it never felt too crowded to me. However, there was one section where the course was really narrow due to construction and I'm sure that must have been difficult to people in the middle of the pack.
It was a pretty course, with some water views, a bit of the course in the old town section of Annapolis, and some hills.
There was more uphill during the second half of the race and I definitely suffered there. In fact, my splits were horrible since I went out way too fast. Look at the difference between the first three miles and the last 6 miles!
My goal for the race was an average of 13 minutes per mile. And I ended up with 13:08, which I was pretty happy with.
I knew that my pace was impacted by the hills and the heat, as well as going out too quickly at the beginning. My coach did the calculation for me later and given the heat and dew point, my goal pace was actually 13:15, so that made me even more satisfied with the 13:08. Of course, I wish I had executed better so that I could have had more even splits but that's something I need to keep working on.
The post-race party was at the stadium and we had tickets on our bibs for a free beer and a free slice of pizza. There was music and places to sit and relax as well. We indulged in a beer but skipped the pizza since we had brunch plans next anyway.
The logistics were easy leaving the race as well. It was a short walk back to our car and there wasn't a lot of traffic leaving the stadium. Overall, this was a great race. It was small, not too crowded, and really easy logistics. The only con I have is that it's in June and therefore tends to be hot and humid. But I would definitely recommend it for anyone looking for a Summer race in Maryland.
A sparkling wine flight and summer veggie risotto for post-race celebration!
