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Baltimore Marathon - I did not run it, but I was there :-)
On Saturday, I did not get up before dark, after fitfully sleeping and waking up every half hour or so from nerves. I did not compulsively lay out all my race clothing and bib and body glide and food. I did not worry about having a glass of wine with dinner on Friday. I did not put on my Garmin and obsess about pace and time. And I had a grand time.
I was there in support of my close friend F who was my race mommy for my first marathon last year and who was doing the 26.2 for the first time in about 6 years. She's been the only running partner that I am completely compatible with (pace, distance, random discussions of historical clothing, choice of show tunes, etc.) and I was more than happy to return the favor. We all stayed at our friend K's place, right at mile 1 of the marathon. After F was safely deposited at the start, the rest of us had a leisurely breakfast and cheered all the runners from the doorstep. I then ambled the four miles or so to my designated meeting spot at mile 16.
I walked over to the start where I got to watch the 5 k runners for a few minutes, then I wandered over to the piers, talked to a few women about to start the half and got to see the USS Constellation, the Lightship Chesapeake, and the Coast Guard Cutter Taney among other ships and pretty boats. I made my way back to the course in time to see the front runners at mile 13 and marvel at their form and speed. They run 26 miles faster than I can run my 30 second intervals. I chatted with the band at mile 14 and got to flirt a bit with the lead singer. I continued up the hill, cheering madly for all the runners passing me to mile 15, met several sets of parents cheering on their daughters, and finally to mile 16 where I was to wait for F and join her for as long as she wanted me around. I spent about 45 minutes there waiting for her, right across the street from another band and watching as the half marathoners and the marathoners merged into one beautiful mass of runners. The weather was glorious, sunny and 60, perfect weather for a nice run through the city. I cheered everyone, explained about the race and what was going on to some of the spectators around me. By the time I was getting hoarse from yelling, I finally saw F coming down the hill toward me.
Then the really fun part of the day started. She was looking great and moving along at a terrific steady pace and all I had to do was keep up and chat with her and get to see some of the best parts of Baltimore. And if I couldn't keep up, that would have been fine, too as that would have been just as good a boost for her as having me there. Miles 16 and 17 were uphill, then a wonderful downhill. Somewhere around mile 20, one of the spectators was offering to buy all of us the first round at the American Bar around the corner. There was a wonderful block party at mile 22. Going around the lake and seeing all the runners before and after us was awe-inspiring despite the wind picking up and blowing right in our faces. Everywhere the leaves were turning beautiful red and amber, everyone was in amazingly good spirits, runners and spectators alike. F never hit the wall and pumped out the miles like a machine, I supplied a few GU as needed, we saw her sister and our wonderful hostess at mile 25, I cheered encouragement and peeled off just before the chute just before 26 and F finished strong, negative splits for the last two miles (I think, I didn't even bother to turn on the chrono function on my watch). We met back up at the family reunion spot and I negotiated us to the lightrail and we got back to the house where we all ate more cookies and chatted and napped and eventually made our way to Dukem where we ate approximately our body weight in Ethiopian food followed by ice cream.
All in all, a great day and marathons from the perspective of the person not running them are so much fun. I'd say more fun than actually running the race except that I'm already planning my next marathon because of this weekend. Baltimore is a great city for runners and so welcoming to the 20,000 of us who descended on her for the weekend.
I was there in support of my close friend F who was my race mommy for my first marathon last year and who was doing the 26.2 for the first time in about 6 years. She's been the only running partner that I am completely compatible with (pace, distance, random discussions of historical clothing, choice of show tunes, etc.) and I was more than happy to return the favor. We all stayed at our friend K's place, right at mile 1 of the marathon. After F was safely deposited at the start, the rest of us had a leisurely breakfast and cheered all the runners from the doorstep. I then ambled the four miles or so to my designated meeting spot at mile 16.
I walked over to the start where I got to watch the 5 k runners for a few minutes, then I wandered over to the piers, talked to a few women about to start the half and got to see the USS Constellation, the Lightship Chesapeake, and the Coast Guard Cutter Taney among other ships and pretty boats. I made my way back to the course in time to see the front runners at mile 13 and marvel at their form and speed. They run 26 miles faster than I can run my 30 second intervals. I chatted with the band at mile 14 and got to flirt a bit with the lead singer. I continued up the hill, cheering madly for all the runners passing me to mile 15, met several sets of parents cheering on their daughters, and finally to mile 16 where I was to wait for F and join her for as long as she wanted me around. I spent about 45 minutes there waiting for her, right across the street from another band and watching as the half marathoners and the marathoners merged into one beautiful mass of runners. The weather was glorious, sunny and 60, perfect weather for a nice run through the city. I cheered everyone, explained about the race and what was going on to some of the spectators around me. By the time I was getting hoarse from yelling, I finally saw F coming down the hill toward me.
Then the really fun part of the day started. She was looking great and moving along at a terrific steady pace and all I had to do was keep up and chat with her and get to see some of the best parts of Baltimore. And if I couldn't keep up, that would have been fine, too as that would have been just as good a boost for her as having me there. Miles 16 and 17 were uphill, then a wonderful downhill. Somewhere around mile 20, one of the spectators was offering to buy all of us the first round at the American Bar around the corner. There was a wonderful block party at mile 22. Going around the lake and seeing all the runners before and after us was awe-inspiring despite the wind picking up and blowing right in our faces. Everywhere the leaves were turning beautiful red and amber, everyone was in amazingly good spirits, runners and spectators alike. F never hit the wall and pumped out the miles like a machine, I supplied a few GU as needed, we saw her sister and our wonderful hostess at mile 25, I cheered encouragement and peeled off just before the chute just before 26 and F finished strong, negative splits for the last two miles (I think, I didn't even bother to turn on the chrono function on my watch). We met back up at the family reunion spot and I negotiated us to the lightrail and we got back to the house where we all ate more cookies and chatted and napped and eventually made our way to Dukem where we ate approximately our body weight in Ethiopian food followed by ice cream.
All in all, a great day and marathons from the perspective of the person not running them are so much fun. I'd say more fun than actually running the race except that I'm already planning my next marathon because of this weekend. Baltimore is a great city for runners and so welcoming to the 20,000 of us who descended on her for the weekend.