DoomBuggy Runner

	Half Marathon State # 11 Half Marathon #21

On Saturday, October 17, 2015, I ran in the Baltimore Half Marathon.  There were approximately 11,000 runners in the half marathon, with another 4,000 in the marathon.  For me, this race was the first leg of a back to back half marathon weekend.  I paired this with the Hershey Half Marathon to accomplished two states in one weekend toward my 50 By 50 Challenge.

The weather for the race could not have been better.  It was around 54 degrees at the start and maintained throughout the race, with about 54% humidity and a 8 mph WNW wind.

This was an unusual race for me in that it started at 9:45 AM.  Most races start at 7:30 AM or earlier, so this was nice, as I got to sleep in some.  They do this so they can start the marathoners at 8:00 AM in another part of town, then we all end up finishing in the same time.  I was in the first of five waves to start.  Since I was on a time crunch to get to Hershey, I got as close to the start as I could.

For this race, my wife did not go with me, so I flew up the day before and met up with friends Chris & Beth Darling.  I will discuss our excursions later.  Once I got up and got ready for the race, I had about a 10 minute walk from my hotel to the half marathon starting line.  I stayed at the Home 2 Suites by Hilton, and it was really nice; however, if you are planning for an ice bath post race, this is not a place for you.  They only had showers.  This would turn out to be a real issue for me.

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Once I got to the start I had a little time so I took in the sites around the starting area, and also got to see the marathon leaders come through.  After that. I met up with some of my fellow members from the 50 States Half Marathon Club.  The logistics at the start line left a bit to be desired as half marathoners had to cross the marathon course, which was already in progress (the half started 75 minutes after the full from a different location).  They also had no porta-johns at the half marathon start.

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It was great getting to meet Patty & Alison from the 50 State Half Marathon Club to get a quick photo before the start.

This was a challenging course for me.  There were quite a number of elevation changes.

I use a pace chart cart throughout the race to make sure I stay on pace.  Since my goal is always under two hours, I just shot for a 1:59 this day.  I stayed pretty consistent and finished with a 1:57:51 overall.  Would you look at those first three mile splits, whoa I was hauling the mail!

The course started at the waterfront downtown and finished at Orioles Park at Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium where the Ravens play.  This was an awesome location for a finish as you got to see a lot of the parks.  Here were a few of the shots of the finish while we were at the expo on Friday.

Here is a link to a recap video of the race weekend.

I was satisfied with my results for the race.  Not a bad outcome for all the elevation changes we experienced.

Here is a video link to my finish of the race.

The race medal was really cool as it represented the area’s crabbing along with the 15th anniversary of the race.  You can see my medal on the Maryland Race Medal Page.

We went to the Health & Fitness Expo around 1:00 PM on Friday, and it was busy, but not too awful crowded.  It was at the M&T Bank Stadium Club Level.  It is toward the top of the stadium, so there are a lot of incline ramps to climb, so be prepared.  It had a lot of vendors on hand, and was sufficiently spread out to feel comfortable.  It wasn’t bad for an expo.

As with all of my 50 state races, I try and find a cupcake store that is unique to that particular location.  This trip was no different.  My friend Chris did some recon on this, and located the Midnight Confections Cupcakery.

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It was a small place, but very good.  I got two cupcakes, the Birthday Cake and the Midnite.

Since I got in on Friday, we had some time to tour the town before the expo.  Here are some recap photos from the tour of the town.

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To wrap up this recap, I cannot go without telling you about my awesome friends Chris & Beth Darling.  They picked me up at the airport on Friday morning.  We then toured the sites of Baltimore and ate lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, before heading out to the expo.  Chris will be going to Hershey with me for the Hershey race, so you will see him a lot in my Hershey recap, but just wanted to give them a shout out as I wrap up.  Thanks Chris & Beth!