
 |
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.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
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.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
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!

Continue Reading