Baltimore 10 Miler, 2012

Place: 1795/4687

Bib:  3442

Time:

1:32:48

Place: 1795/4687

Bib:  3442

Time:

1:32:48

I've heard lots of wonderful things about the Baltimore 10 miler, but I've never run it! I've done the Baltimore Half Marathon a few times, but I've never ventured to the "wild side" for the hilly 10-miler.

Signed up online, did packet pickup the day before the race and then the day of the race I was all set. I met up with my good friend Katie Audy and we ran part of the race together. It was quite hilly - much more so than the half marathon. It does follow some of the same course as the Dreaded Druid Hills 10k. It was also hot as HADES this day, so I was definitely struggling. The premium was pretty nice - since the race I've worn it a lot (it was a white quarter zip). Definitely would recommend it for others to do!

Overall rating? A

Main complaints? The heat 

Favorite parts? The premium!

Communication before the race? A. Same group that puts on the Baltimore Running Festival on puts this on 

Expo? None. Packet pickup was kind of randomly at Druid Hill Park (even though that's where the race was)

Premium? B. A white, generic long-sleeved quarter zip with the Baltimore 10 logo on it.

Water Stops/Aid Stations? A . Definitely frequent enough and well stocked! Friendly folks

Finisher's Medal? N/A

Finisher's Festival? B. Tons of watermelon and snacks, but I was kind of disappointed that other fellow runners were walking off with boxes of treats....leave some for the rest of us, would ya?

Would I run this race again/recommend it to anyone? Sure

Zooma Annapolis 2012

When most runners hear about a new race in town, they want to give it a try, right? At least I do! I did make the mistake with the Hot Chocolate 15k last year, but this year I was willing to give a "new race" a try! That's why I signed up for the Zooma Annapolis Half Marathon.

Jenna & I

Placed: 365/1220

Bib 7656

Time:

2:03:20

Placed: 365/1220

Bib 7656

Time:

2:03:20

I did this race with my good friend Jenna. We missed the start because we were in line for the potties - but have no fear - we had timing chips in our bibs (or maybe on our shoes,  I can't remember) so our clock started when we crossed the starting line. Water stops were pretty frequent and I know that I was glad have my fuel belt. From what I remember, the course did have a few hills in it, but it was almost identical to the Annapolis 10 miler course. My favorite part was probably the group that stood at the top of the bridge and cheered for us - really helped those uphills get smaller :)

Overall rating? A

Main complaints? Premium was an off-brand and the expo was in a small room in a hotel

Favorite parts? The premium!

Communication before the race? 

Expo? B. It was okay, kinda small . They did have lots of give-aways though

Premium? B. Off brand black tech tee (I'm wearing it in the above pics) I always am a fan of the Under Armour ones :)

Water Stops/Aid Stations? B

Finisher's Medal? C. We got a necklace. Not a Tiffany necklace..but a necklace. I know we were told beforehand we'd get a necklace, but I prefer to run for medals :)

Finisher's Festival? B. I'm pretty sure they had wine but it was so hot I just left. They did have lots of cold water though!

Would I run this race again/recommend it to anyone? Yup, but I'd recommend the Baltimore Half over this one (who wants to run long distances in the heat anyways?)

Sole of the City 10K 2012

This was the first running of the "Sole of the City 10K" hosted by Charm City Run. I loved the run and think it was really well organized event! Would recommend to all.

Overall rating? A

Main complaints? None

Favorite parts? The premium!

Communication before the race? A

Expo? None- but they did have race day packet pickup

Premium? A. Under Armour long-sleeved quarter zip

Water Stops/Aid Stations? A . Definitely frequent enough and well stocked! Wish they had used paper cups instead of plastic cups

Finisher's Medal? N/A

Finisher's Festival? A. Great boxed lunches from the Greene Turtle!

Would I run this race again/recommend it to anyone? YES Defeinitely.

Run for Love 5K

This morning my good friend Emilie Cecil and I "Ran for Love". The course started at Fraternity Row at the University of Maryland, and wrapped its way around Lake Artemesia. Although it was untimed and a little short of a 5K, I still had a great time :)

2012 Cherry Blossom 10-miler

This was one of the first
runs I did for Lew Goode,
 battling brain cancer.

One of my dear friends, Lewis Goode was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago. This was one of the runs I did "for Lew". Ever since he was first diagnosed, whenever I lace up my running shoes, I run for him. Whenever I hit a wall in a run, I think of Lew and he helps me get through. This is for you, LEW!

I'm glad I did the George Washington Relay two months ago! I didn't really train much for this 10 miler, but I really enjoyed it. It was great to be out in DC, and after not "making the cut" last year, I was happy to lace up my shoes and run with thousands of other runners in DC for this historic event. In 2011, I entered the lottery, but was not chosen to run so I opted to volunteer (I helped with the random drug testing for the elite athletes :)).

Overall rating? B

Main complaints? None really - race was punctual, court marshals were around

Favorite parts? Probably the fact that it retraced part of the Marine Corps Marathon 2011 course.

Communication before the race? A

Expo? C. Kinda small - was in the National Building Museum, but wasn't bad for an expo for a 10 miler!

Premium? D. The shirt sucked - the design was lame and all we got was a cotton tee. I understand it's expensive to host a big event like this in such a large city, but come on... at least give us a tech tee :)

Water Stops/Aid Stations? A . Definitely frequent enough and well stocked!

Finisher's Festival? C. Average. Nothing to write home about

Would I run this race again/recommend it to anyone? Yeah

Ran for "Lew"

One of my favorite pics - kind of invigorating
to have the guy behind you tear his shirt
off :)

George Washington Memorial Run: Marathon Relay

Two of my best friends and I have been running together since high school and decided we should all run together in a race...which wound up being the GW Memorial Run in Greenbelt, MD. Apparently it has been put on for 50 some-odd years by the Washington Road Runners. I ran the first leg of the run, which was the longest leg(~9.3 miles) , and really enjoyed it. This was one of my first low-key races, and I really enjoyed it! I'm not sure what my time was exactly, but our team name was "Da Gazelles". I had a great time and really think the race was put on well - they had a great meal at the end of it! No complaints :)

Overall rating? A

Main complaints? It was a smaller race, but that isn't really a complaint

Favorite parts? Running through a hidden gem of Prince George's County - the Beltsville Agricultural area!

Communication before the race? A

Expo? Wasn't one. Nice that we had race day packet pickup

Premium? A. Black Brooks tech gender-specific tee

Water Stops/Aid Stations? A .Plenty of water!

Finisher's Medal? None

Finisher's Festival? They had a hot meal for us in the Greenbelt Community Center - loved it!

Would I run this race again/recommend it to anyone? YES 

The Worst. Race. Ever: Hot Chocolate 15k 2011

Want to run the worst race of your life? Run a RAM Racing event. Everything possible that could go wrong will go wrong. Sorry to start this post off so negatively.... but I can't help myself :).

To start things off, you had to purchase a "parking pass" (which was like $15) to park at Rosecroft Raceway. No one enforced the parking passes, so you could have easily parked for free. Next, you had to hop on a bus to the starting line, which wasn't THAT bad, but our driver had no idea where they were going. Once you arrived to the start, it was FREEZING (I'm pretty sure it was below 30 degrees) and there was one small tent for all of the thousands of runners to stand in. Obviously we all didn't fit. About half an hour before the race, they started to corral us at the starting line. They kept doing a count down for when the race was going to start....but it never started.... 1 hour and 15 minutes later the gun went off. We literally stood there and froze our hineys off for 1 hour and 15 minutes. If we had used the "premium" we were given (which was simply a black trash bag with the Ram Racing logo on it), we would have been even colder!  There was no way to stay warm (since we had already handed our bags in) except to huddle together like penguins. Also, you couldn't leave to go to the bathroom, which made the wait that much more painful!

We were told that the race was delayed because of an accident on the highway, even though there were no police reports of accidents - only heavy traffic and there was not enough parking for all of the runners (they had originally had the race open to like 4,000 runners and 20,000 runners wound up being there). Once the race started, we found ourselves running on uneven pavement, and even in the same direction as traffic at one point!! They had one lane closed on a four lane highway and we ran the SAME DIRECTION as traffic, so if a car decided to swerve through the cones or one of us tripped and fell over the line of cones, we were toast. Once we crossed the finish line (which was uphill), we had to walk a half mile up ANOTHER hill to the "chocolate festival". Sounds great, right? Nope. Barely gave us any chocolate! I definitely think this race was a ripoff and would never recommend an event put on by RAM Racing to anyone in the future.

Overall rating? F

Main complaints? Everything that could have gone wrong did. They didn't enforce the parking permits, started an hour late, and the premium SUCKED

Favorite parts? None. Well, maybe the fact that a Prince George's County cop was actually SMILING made it okay haha

Communication before the race? C

Expo? D. Bad. Should have bailed for the actual race once I realized how bad the expo was

Premium? F. Basically the equivalent of a black trash bag with a sticker thrown on

Water Stops/Aid Stations? C. Barely any.

Finisher's Medal? None

Finisher's Festival? We had to walk a mile uphill to get to it once we finished and it was not unlimited Ghiradelli Chocolate like we all thought - we only got a little bit

Would I run this race again/recommend it to anyone? Nope! I would actual not recommend anyone ever run a race put on by RAM Racing