Baltimore Half-Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

Seeded myself about 50 yards back which was a bit conservative - so passed a number in the first few miles as things settled down. Looked at my watch after about 0.5 mile and it was reading a 8:38 pace so clearly I was settling into too gentle a pace. After first gradual hill found a rhythm of around 7:30 and kept this around the lake. Winds occasionally were gusty and so I had to put my head down and push through them. Took sips at most aid stations and poured rest over my head. By 33rd street around mile 9 felt good and started to push the pace more. Following left hand turn mostly downhill (although great to see Tiger Man at the top of a small incline having read about him in the Baltimore Sun online that morning) really started to stretch out. Garmin was reading 6:30/6:45 - in mile 12 I averaged 7:00 and mile 13 the average was 6:45. Crowds downtown and around the two stadia were superb. Sprinted for the line - again left too much in the tank but since this was my first half since 1988 I guess that pacing was always going to be guesswork.

Push pace a little earlier - started out just right but could have accelerated before mile 9/10.

Just walked around a bit with food and drink then sat down in centre of runners compound (as it wasn't too busy at that point) and ate.


Lack of running pedigree. Training for a 70.3 rather than a Half Mary so only putting in around 20-25 miles a week. Dodgy knees.


Great volunteers and Baltimore Police. Ran through parts of Baltimore I wouldn't have walked through ;-)

Overall a Half Mary PB by 2 mins for me after 22 years off (last Half Marathon I ran was the St Andrews Half Marathon in Scotland as a college student). Only ran this race as a warm up for MiamiMan 70.3 next month but just goes to show that getting past 40 is no limiter !