This is probably one of the first running races in quite a while I'm actually shooting for a goal time and pace. Hopefully 7:15 or better and I have my Garmin pacer set for that. I wanted to try the Virtual Racer but didn't have enough time to set that up. Another race. My foot is still a bit worrisome as well as my inner thigh, but I think both will be manageable. It was a super morning for such a race and other than a bit of chill in the air (temps in the upper 40s to low 50s). Calm to light wind as well. So different than the Mission 10 Miler a little over a month ago. So as I said above I was shooting for a 7:15 pace and worked my way up through the massive crowd of folks to find the 8 min pace corral area. Then as the fastest pace group was only a 1:40, I actually had to work my way up in front of them! THIS...IS...VERY...STRANGE for me. I mean here I am with folks who have to be faster than me but pretty close to the Start Arch. Have I bitten off more than I can chew?? My M10M pace of 7:11 says No. So, here I start and stretch a bit like others. I meet my MEC teammate Nick Hetro who I know will be a LOT faster than me. He's actually looking for another tri guy from the Baltimore area who hasn't shown up but Nick has his Bib. Well, it's getting close and I wish Nick well as he moves up a bit. Not too long after that we're given the GO! start and we're off and running!

Unfortunately, not too long after the start, I was jockeying for some position, twisted to look back, and felt my right hip twinge. Really? This was an issue a few weeks back and I had to back off from training for a little while. Well, there was some discomfort but not like the Half+ I did at Antietam a few weeks ago. So, I just kept going. Garmin at Mile 1 says that I'm faster than my goal pace and I thought that I should be able to maintain this pace without too much discomfort. There were really only a few places that taxed me a bit more but I also used downhills where I could as I can run down them whereas a good number of folks can't. Those help keep me just at or below threshold. Pretty much was able to stay there the entire time. During the early part of the race, a woman was just ahead of me and I was staying with her until I passed around mile 7 or 8. Saw several of my friends cheering me on during the course - Mike S and Ed H (my cycling friend) who grabbed a traffic cone when he saw me and used it like a megaphone to cheer me on! Nice! Somewhere around mile 10, I saw I had slowed and was having just a bit of an issue maintaining pace. But, I was able to pick it back up during the next mile. Then just around mile 12, the woman I had passed back about 4 miles ago, passed me back. Wow! Kept her in sight, though. At last I turn onto the last mile and I'm getting anxious to finish. Push up the last hill and enter the final stretch on what is the horse track at the Frederick fairgrounds. As we came down the home stretch to the Finish, I was able to kick and pass the woman along with 4 other guys! Saw 1:32 something on the Finish clock...just couldn't believe it!



Really not much I can think of. I had a great race and it was a good test of how well I could maintain at a threshold (Z4) rate/pace.

Congratulated all who finished next to me and slowly moved along to get water, my Finisher's medal, Gatorade, and snacks. Met up with several of my friends from the tri club and stayed for quite some time just gabbing and catching up with a few folks I hadn't seen in a while. No result available on site which I find strange considering that the bigger tris I've been in have them almost instantly on site. There were no AG award ceremonies either, another strange thing. And unfortunately there was also some last minute confusion between the County and race folks about serving beer to the racers and we couldn't have any until after 11! Well, I wasn't sticking around for that and packed up for home.

After I got home, I was on Facebook for a bit. First checked to see if there were any results yet and they weren't available yet. Then Nick messages me and asks if I had seen results, with some urgency in the message. So I checked....there at the top of my AG is my name! YES! I took 1st in AG!! Amazing! I expected top 10, maybe if I got lucky, top 2nd or 3rd because last 2 years, sub-7 pace guys took 1st. Not this year...:) Unfortunately, I had no idea what my AG award was and won't get it until about a month later (it was a Wegman's $25 gift card, which I appreciated). Again, surprising.

Celebrated with a couple of pints at Milkhouse Brewery and some great Uno's pizza!


Nothing really.


I still find it strange that there were no results after the race on site and that there were no AG awards ceremony. To me, these are important and also friends/family like to take pics as well of their finishers. Long-sleeve T shirt was very so-so and actually looked like a woman's top. No offense to ladies out there, but just didn't do much for me.

On a positive note, the race was well-organized overall with things for kids/families to do post and during the race. The lightly rolling course makes this a fast course for those that want to set PRs, plus provides a few challenges for those that want one. I do recommend it if you're looking for an early Half Marathon challenge.