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Across the Bay 10K - Run


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Annapolis, Maryland
United States
52F / 11C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 05m 2s
Overall Rank = 6630/20892
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 457/1843
Pre-race routine:

Headed to MD Saturday afternoon to do packet pickup and hit the expo. They were out of shirts for many sizes, mine and EFP's included. Frustrating. They took our names and will mail us our shirts in a few weeks.

Got a few items at the expo like a Natty Boh pom beanie for me and a nice Nike shirt for EFP. He got something else, too, but I forget what. It's a nice expo.

Dinner at Smokey Bones, then ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery. Both were good, but I was especially taken by the banana ice cream at CSC!

In bed at a ridiculously early time, Cuda and EFP fell asleep early, I stayed up reading until around 10:30.
Event warmup:

Got up around 5:30 to leave by 6:45. Cuda stayed behind to drive over later. We met LT outside and drove to our parking area to discover that traffic and parking coordination wasn't as coordinated as it had been in past years. Oh well. Eventually got parked and took a bus to the bus that would take us to the start.

Because of the unexpected traffic/parking snarl, we got to the start closer to our starting time than ever. It doesn't really matter if you are late because they have 11 waves that go out and we were in wave 6. We had enough time to use the porta-johns, stretch a little, then donate our extra shirt layer to charity and line up!
Run
  • 1h 05m 2s
  • 10 kms
  • 06m 30s  min/km
Comments:

The start seemed more crowded than in previous years and seemed to stay crowded longer, too. They tried to separate walkers and runners as we approached the base of the bridge, but the walkers were everywhere - left, right, middle - often multiple people wide in a group. A bit frustrating at times, but what can ya do?

EFP and LT stayed with me for a while. LT is coming back from a hip injury and EFP didn't want to overcook his start. I think they left me somewhere between miles 2-3 which was perfectly fine with me. I'm perfectly content running solo, people watching, sight-seeing, minding my own pace/performance.

Persons of interest: tall guy in a big, bushy beard wearing a hat with a plush fish on top. 2 different teen boys who would speed ahead, then walk. Speed ahead, walk. The one I totally missed his walk stage and wondered how he was blowing past me again, funny! A lady doing the whole thing with a cane, another lady doing the event with a wheeled walker.

I love, love, love running over the water!! For me it's totally the best part. I get bummed out when we come off the bridge on the other side and have to do the last mile or so on boring old terra firma. It doesn't help that the last section isn't particularly interesting and the road is a bit choppy at places, not to mention the runners get funneled down into a narrower coned-off area.

I lost some of my momentum near the end, hard to say if I was just out of oomph or if being off the bridge was demotivating enough to slow me down. At any rate, I was glad to finally see the turn to the finish. My name was announced and I gave a little acknowledgement by raising my arm. I spotted Rob and Dave along the side and collected some high fives. This set off a spur of high fives from strangers as I went down the line; I'll take them! :) I saw LT either right before or right after the finish we joined up then found EFP.
What would you do differently?:

Lose weight. Run faster. The usual.
Post race
Warm down:

Collected my medal (the 3rd of what is to be 5 pieces of a puzzle, see pics) and a bottle of water. We headed straight to the merch tent for finishers shirts which were flying off the racks. We got our bag from bag check, put on some sweatshirts then enjoyed post-race fun: a few Michelob Ultras, grilled oysters (SO good!) and chatting with friends.

Eventually it was time for Cuda to come across the line, so we cheered her in to the finish. Later I bought some kettlecorn to go (such a weakness!) which was extra good because it was as fresh as possible. I watched them dump the popped corn out of the kettle, salt it, then bag it. It was still warm and heavenly!

The Ironman organization just purchased this race, so who knows what changes we'll see for 2017. Hopefully the keep a lot of what makes this race special and good and improves on the few things that need a little fine tuning.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Carrying some extra pounds.

Event comments:

The best part of this race is being able to run over the bridge!


Profile Album


Last updated: 2016-01-07 12:00 AM
Running
01:05:02 | 10 kms | 06m 30s  min/km
Age Group: 457/1843
Overall: 6630/20892
Performance: Good
Course: This 10 kilometer, 6.2 mile point-to-point course will take runners over the eastbound span of the 4.35 mile long Chesapeake Bay Bridge, which reaches 186 feet at its tallest point. Runners will experience water vistas dotted with sailboats and cargo ships from atop a major dual-span bridge that doesn’t allow pedestrian traffic at any other time of the year. This event happens once a year and is the only way to cross this majestic span on foot. The race is open to participants of various levels of fitness and physical abilities as long as you are able to complete the event in under 2.5 hours After departing the start line near Northrop Grumman bayside campus, participants travel about a half mile over MDTA property before they leave the western shore and begin ascending the eastbound span of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. There is a gradual but sustained climb for approximately 1.7 miles until you reach the midpoint of the bridge and the first water station. During those first two miles, runners will climb to nearly 200 feet above sea level. The climb isn’t overly steep and has a maximum grade of only 3%. You will be almost 200 feet above the bay – so don't forget to check out the view! Fortunately, what goes up must come down. After passing through the water station, runners descend the same 200 feet over the course of 2 miles before reaching the eastern shore and our legendary finisher’s celebration.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized?
Events on-time?
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2016-11-17 10:05 AM

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Pennsylvania
Subject: Across the Bay 10K


2016-11-17 10:34 AM
in reply to: 0

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Master
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Rio Rancho, NM
Subject: RE: Across the Bay 10K

What an awesome sounding event! Hope WTC continues the puzzle pieces!

My fave at CSC is the sweet cream, mmmmmm

Walkers several people wide clogging the course makes me crazy!

The few times I've run across large bridges (Charleston, St. Simons) I've loved that view and the sensation of looking out over the water.

When you talked about being alone doing your own thing I pictured you looking out to the water and up to the sky

Great job!

ETA: love the pix!



Edited by rrrunner 2016-11-17 10:34 AM
2016-11-17 3:05 PM
in reply to: rrrunner

User image

Pennsylvania
Subject: RE: Across the Bay 10K

Originally posted by rrrunner

What an awesome sounding event! Hope WTC continues the puzzle pieces!

My fave at CSC is the sweet cream, mmmmmm

Walkers several people wide clogging the course makes me crazy!

The few times I've run across large bridges (Charleston, St. Simons) I've loved that view and the sensation of looking out over the water.

When you talked about being alone doing your own thing I pictured you looking out to the water and up to the sky

Great job!

ETA: love the pix!

You called that one!  I like to take in my surroundings.

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