marathoner452 | Entries tagged with all the marathons in maryland

Some days you have it, some days you just don’t. Ran the first 5.5 miles at an easy pace (10-10:30), then was supposed to pick it up to marathon pace (9:10) for the rest of the race. Well, that didn’t happen. Ran 5 miles at 9-9:20 pace, then just lost it and jogged it in for a finish around 2:10. Not a bad race by any measure, but not my best effort either.

I did get to meet and talk with a bunch of other marathoners-in-training, which is always fun. Long runs/races are boring when you just do them by yourself. Turns out the woman I was running with ran her first marathon last spring in DC in 4:40, ran the Annapolis 10 Miler at the end of August (great race), and is training towards/tapering for Baltimore in 2 weeks. Great fun.

Next up: 6×800 in 4:00 or less with 400 recovery in 2 days.

See more progress on: run another marathon

Current Mood: sore

(races still left to run are in bold)
GW Birthday Marathon (next one is late February 2007)
Greenway Trail (almost a) Marathon (next one is early March 2007)
Lower Potomac River Marathon (next one is 3/11/2007)
B&A Trail Marathon and 1/2 Marathon (2005)
Ocean City Maryland Marathon (next one is 4/7/2007)
Frederick Marathon (full marathon 2003, 2-person relay/half marathon 2005)
*Riley's Rumble 1/2 Marathon (possibly summer 2007, next one is late July 2007, also known as hilly and almost as hot as the Annapolis 10-Miler in August)
Bachman Valley 1/2 Marathon (2004, 2005, race director 2006)
BRRC NCR Trail 1/2 Marathon (2006)
Baltimore Marathon and 1/2 Marathon (half marathon 2004, full marathon 2005)
Montgomery County Half Marathon (same weekend as Bachman Valley, next one is 9/23/2007)
NCR Trail Marathon (2005, going under 4 hours in 2006)

If there are other marathons in Maryland that I should know about, tell me! I also want to know about good mid-distance races in the area-DC, NoVa, south-central PA.

I'm thinking that if I'm ever going to finish all the marathons and half marathons in Maryland, I'm going to have to stop running so many repeats. Unfortunately, as of this morning I've run all the fall marathons, with the exception of the one held on the day of my race so I won't be running it in the foreseeable future. And I won't be running any of the spring ones this year because I'll be down in New Orleans. I think the GW Birthday one is just days before Mardi Gras, so I definitely won't be home at that point.

So Riley's Rumble it is. It can't be much *worse* than the Annapolis 10-Miler (which I thought was kinda fun and not bad at all with the exception of the Severn River Bridge on the way back). And GW/Lower Potomac/Ocean City in 2008, if I haven't qualified for Boston by that point that is.

~Bethany

Current Mood: determined

I was the race director for the Bachman Valley 1/2 Marathon in Westminster, Maryland last weekend. We had 4 water jugs for 3 water stops, we ran out of cups several times, and getting the race results compiled was a challenge because many runners didn't tear off their tags at the finish. We did see a rainbow prior to the race, have race tshirts for the first time in recent history, and have a new women's record set for the first time in 14 years. So I'd call the race a success. I think the runners would too:

"It was an excellent race on a beautiful course. Directing a race is huge, and can be very nerve racking. Thank you for your service to the running community."

So as we head into the heart of the fall racing season, remember before you run or before you complain that organizing a race is more difficult than you think. So offer to be on the planning committee. Volunteer at a water stop or put blankets around finishers after they finish their first marathon or set a personal best or qualify for Boston. Give back to the running community, because not only could races not function without volunteers, volunteering at a race does wonders for your motivation.

Besides, how else are most of us going to get to watch the winners cross the finish line?

~Bethany

X-posted to

marathoner452,

runners,

marathoners.

Current Mood: accomplished

As of 12:30 pm Saturday, I will have run the following marathons and 1/2 marathons in Maryland:

Frederick-full marathon 2003, 2-person relay 2005
Baltimore-1/2 marathon 2004, full marathon 2005
Bachman Valley-1/2 marathon 2004, 1/2 marathon 2005
B&A Trail-1/2 marathon 2005

Up after Baltimore is the NCR Trail Marathon in late-November, where I'll be running the full under 4 hours.

And while I'm thinking about my marathon plans for next year:

A lot of it rides on how well I do at the NCR Trail Marathon. If I barely squeak in under 4 hours, I'll wait until another training cycle for a BQ. If I'm close, I might just take a few weeks to recover and then start right back up with training for the B&A Trail full marathon. And if the planets align just right and I finish the NCR with a BQ of 3:40 or better, I might just have to run Boston. :-)

But conservatively projecting a 3:59 finish, here's what I'm thinking for next year:

B&A Trail 1/2, goal to be determined based on how bad this winter really is.
Frederick 1/2, just because I'm excited that they'll have a 1/2 marathon this year and I can't not run it if I'm working in Frederick. It's on 4/30, so I'd still be able to run the Bay Bridge 10k on 5/7 with my mom, even if I would be pretty sore.
Riley's Rumble 1/2, because I need to add at least one new race a year if I ever want to run all the marathons and 1/2s in Maryland.
Bachman Valley 1/2, if they don't find a new race director I might just have to take that on myself. It's too cute of a race to let it disappear. Now if only they would have had the free apples at the finish this year.
NCR Trail 1/2, because I won't be running the Bachman Valley 1/2 if I'm in charge. That'd be a new race too.
Baltimore 1/2, I'm just doing the full this year to redeem myself.
NCR Trail Marathon, for the BQ that I know I can get after another training cycle if not sooner. 12 week build-up so I don't get burned out by all those miles or all that summer heat.

In an ideal, not-living-on-a-VISTA-paycheck kind of world, I'd love to go down south and run the Mardi Gras Marathon or 1/2 in New Orleans on 2/5. Dunno if I could pull that off though, and it wouldn't be any fun if I did it by myself.

That's 5 1/2s and another full marathon...phew, I'm tired already!

~Bethany

Current Mood: excited

To date, I have run:

B&A Trail 1/2 Marathon, March, 2005
Baltimore 1/2 Marathon, October 2004
Bachman Valley 1/2 Marathon, September 2004
Frederick Marathon, March 2003

My rules: for a race in Maryland to be counted as complete, I only need to run one event. For example, even though the Baltimore 1/2 Marathon is associated with a full marathon, I only needed to complete the one event to mark it as complete. On the other hand, I am perfectly free to run both events if I so choose, as there are just too many good events in Maryland to pass up!

Up next this year:

Frederick 2-person relay (essentially a 1/2 marathon, just the first 1/2 of a marathon with David Kemp, my running partner, running the other 1/2)
Baltimore 1/2 Marathon (though I'm still vaguely debating running the full, I'm not sure if I want to put myself through 26.2 miles of those hills! Plus, running the full at Baltimore might jeopardize my chances at my goal race for the fall...)
The NCR Trail Marathon (otherwise known as my first marathon in over 2 years! Also, a new Maryland race to add to my collection, 'cause even though I've volunteered there twice and run on the NCR Trail bunches of times, I've never run the race.)

Other races left to run:

BRRC NCR 1/2 Marathon
George Washington Birthday Marathon
Ocean City Marathon
Marathon in the Parks (if they find a new sponsor)
Greenway Trail Marathon (if I ever feel up to it!)

And geez, I know there are more but I'm all tired out right now and I don't feel like looking for them. After 13.1 8:47 miles and a wake-up call at 5 this morning, I'm off to bed!

~Bethany

Current Mood: tired

To date, I have completed the following marathons and 1/2 marathons in Maryland:

Frederick Marathon (4:55:07)
Bachman Valley 1/2 Marathon (2:08:38)
Baltimore 1/2 Marathon (1:56:35)

For next year (new ones anyway):

B&A Trail 1/2 Marathon
Riley's Rumble 1/2 Marathon
NCR Trail Marathon

~Bethany

My most recently conceived goal-to run every marathon and 1/2 marathon in Maryland. That's 12 distance races, as follows:

Frederick Marathon (check)
Bachman Valley 1/2 Marathon (check)
Baltimore Marathon and 1/2 Marathon (check on the 1/2 after this coming weekend)

Marathon in the Parks
Ocean City Maryland Marathon
B&A Trail Marathon and 1/2 Marathon (planning on doing the 1/2 this spring)
NCR Trail Marathon
BRRC NCR Trail 1/2 Marathon
Lower Potomac River Marathon
Riley's Rumble 1/2 Marathon
GW Birthday Marathon
Greenway (almost a) Marathon

Plus there's the JFK 50 Miler if I really feel up to that...if you've ever hiked on the Appalachian Trail, imagine running on it for 50 miles-ouch!

Oh, and for me to finish this monumental feat :-), I only need to do one race from each event. (Like I'm doing the Baltimore 1/2 this weekend, so I don't have to do the marathon.)

~Bethany