Under Armour Baltimore Marathon - RunMarathon

I went into this way undertrained ..... okay, not trained at all ..... and was simply banking on the last 4 years of running as my base and to see what I could do. The main reason for running was it has become a tradition as this would be my 5th year participating in the event and I wanted to keep the streak going. Last year I went in with a similar attitude of "who cares how I do, just run and see what the day brings" and ended up running with Scout7 most of the race and got a BQ. I am even less trained than last year though since I was in the middle of my IMFL training at the time.

Started in between the 3:10 and 3:20 group based on my usual training paces for shorter runs (low to mid 7 minute pace) and figured I'd just hold there until around mile 10 and take an evaluation of where I was before deciding to back it off or not.

Gun went off on time and we were off. Filtered through some people who had no business being near the front and settled into a groove early. I was able to get around a 7:25-ish first mile since I got through the front log jam quickly. Second mile was a 7:09, third one was a 7:07. Effort seemed easy, mental effort level was good and I was trying to be really relaxed and smooth. The first 3 miles are generally uphill and they went really easy.

About then I came up to a guy who was pacing about what I was running and we started chatting. Turns out he was in my AG and was thinking about going for his BQ as well. We ended up running together for most of the race and I was telling him what to expect at each section since I know the course so well. I think he was was appreciative of that as he was mentally ready for the hills that would come later.

At about 9 miles the 3:10 group passed us so we were still on good pace. I was hitting every water stop for a quick drink with water when I was hitting my Gu bottle (about every 40 minutes or so) and mixing Gatorade and water in between the gel shots at the other stations. Running through Ft. McHenry was nice and relaxing and I just tried to enjoy the view and the day.

From there we went through the next relay zone which was right before the half. They still had not started the 1/2 yet, so we got to see all 6,000 of them milling around waiting to start and cheering for us. I looked for a guy on the Howard County Striders that was looking to place in the Masters field for the race (I think he actually won the Masters category with a 1:18 when I looked at results last night) but didn't see him. No surprise there. We went through the half in 1:35:19. Solid pace (a little above 7:15) but I was worried that it would come back to bite me at the end.

The next portion was the run through Fells Point and Canton and the right after 15 you make "the turn" as I call it where the fun really begins. From there through about 19.5 is generally uphill. There are some flatter and downhill sections, but the majority is climbing. Lars (the guy I was running with) was pulling away a little but was still about 100 feet or so in front of me - he was running through the water stops drinking while I always take 4 or 5 steps walking to get fluids down ..... I suck at drinking on the run. Around 17 the two leaders of the 1/2 finally caught us and they were flying. It was a good few minutes before the next person passed, then it was a light stream of them. I also caught back up to Lars right before Hopkins and he said that he was just going to make this into a long run and sign up for a race in IN to go for his BQ. I told him that he was well on pace and if he could just hold it together he'd get it, but he was not there mentally anymore because of the hills. Oh well, sucks to throw in the towel, but he has the physical ability to get it .... I just think he has a big mental block as he has come close before and blown up (he told me).

Well, I was still on pace and even though I was tiring, my splits were not falling that bad yet and I had time in the bank. As I went past the last relay group I looked for my co-worker (as I had at every relay point since my firm had a team running in it) but didn't see him. We run a mile around Lake Montibello and at that point my pace started to slow even though it was flat. Hit 21 at 2:35:55 which means I had 40:04 to finish 5.2 to get another BQ. My pace had slowed down to just over 8 then and I knew it was going to be tough to do. Having run so little and basically nothing long in months was catching up to me quickly!

The good thing was I never really got a lot of twinges from cramps, in fact not at all, which is usually the result when I go out to fast. But as I got near 22 the race turned into a "Don't you dare walk, suck it up buttercup and keep running no matter the pace." The splits were going up into the 8:30's then 8:40's. 25 came at 9:30-ish and I knew it was going to be impossible to break even 3:20 at this time. But I was going to finish, I was going to run the whole thing and I was sitting pretty well overall.

From 25 in it was just relax and keep going, no worries about people passing, zip up the tri top (I wore my Team Zoot Gu tri top, running shorts, my Zoot visor and even my Zoot tri shoes - gotta represent my Team Zoot Gu peeps!!), give a little Gene Simmons double metal sign accross the body with the tongue hanging out and crossed the finish line for successful marathon #7.

I don't think there was much else I could have done to run any faster. I tried to ramp it up a little as the miles wore on but there was simply nothing there. So I left it all out on the course, which was my intent for the race. Best result I could realistically expect on my training even though through 21 I had aspirations of another BQ.

Hobbled through the finish area, grabbed some Gatorade and a bottle of water, went over to the massage tent and was able to beat the crowd and got right in. The massage therapist worked on my legs for about 10 minutes which felt great, and then I went outside the tent and relaxed on a chair while drinking the water. Went over to the bag tent, grabbed my stuff and went home.


Zero marathon training since April basically. No runs over 12 miles during that whole stretch except for Ironman Lake Placid (which I only ran about 16 miles of that approximately).


Always a great race, and getting bigger each year. It is a challenging course that takes a lot out of you towards the end. This was my 5th year participating in it (4 finishes) and my 7th marathon finish!!