June 27, 2013

Baltimore Women's Classic 5K 2013 Recap


I had heard great things about the Baltimore Women's Classic 5K so I decided to sign up about a month ago. It's an all-women 5K that raises money for women's health issue and promotes healthy living for women! I love events that empower women and as a bonus they were offering a sweet medal this year too!


 The race happened to be the day after my first long run in a while during week one of marathon training so I didn't have any big plans since I hadn't been running as regularly or doing speed work. I had picked up my race bib and swag bag the day before which included an awesome women's fit powder blue race tech tee along with some snack samples and coupons. 

I woke up a little later than I would have liked race morning and had my obligatory pre-race breakfast of banana and peanut butter but on a leftover pumpkin spice english muffin I had found in the back of my freezer. Yum! I got dressed quickly, repping my Sweat Pink Ambassador tank, and ran down to Rash Field by the inner harbor as my warm-up (it's only about a mile from me!).  The weather was hot and muggy but it was overcast, so the heat could have been worse. It was so great to see the whole area packed with women runners, some speedy, some first time 5K runners, but all with a whole lot of spirit.  

They had the starting line split by pace signs which is awesome because I hate races where you are forced to walk a bit in the beginning or can't get around a massive crowd of people.  I was up at the front of the 7-8 minute mile pace which was not crowded at all. 

The course was pretty straight forward and familiar because I run in that area all the time, going along Key Highway and looping around back towards the Inner Harbor.  The first mile marker was incorrectly at around 0.69 miles which would have been really disappointing to someone who didn't have a GPS watch or app with them.  I was feeling those inclines and was quickly reminded how little fast running I'd done in the past 2 months. 

 My pace was around 7:10 on average which is great because I had no expectations. As I turned the last corner towards the finish line I noticed my watch said we were not yet close to 3.1 miles.  

Later in the week after the race the BWC apologized and announced that the course was actually only 2.95 miles. My time, like I'm sure others was, was mistaken as a PR because the distance wasn't quite a 5K.  I had my GPS watch so I already knew that immediately, but it must have been a sad surprise to some people.  

Surprisingly I came in 37/3208 women and was 9th in my age division which is awesome for something I hadn't really trained for!

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BWC 2013 race festival village area 

After finishing I was given a rose and my medal by a male volunteer and greeted with a cold towel, lots of fruit including watermelon, bagels, and other food.  I LOVE watermelon any time of day, but have found it is especially delicious to have cold watermelon after a sweaty run! There were a bunch of vendors and local women's health organizations so I walked around a bit. The cold towel felt great and is definitely one of the best ideas I've seen for after a hot summer race! I love all the swag, girl power, and set up of the Baltimore Women's Classic 5K. 

Besides the course distance hiccup it was a great event, and I'll be on the look out for it next year. 

baltimore-womens-classic-2013


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Have you ever run a race that was a shorter distance than expected? How are you doing?


1 comment:

  1. I have not yet run a race that wasn't the advertised distance. That would be irritating.

    This sounds like it was a great race. Love that touch of the cold watermelon at the end. That must have hit the spot!

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