As mentioned in my Love Run race review, I may have gotten a little over zealous upon completing my first half marathon in 2015, and immediately signed up for ALL the races upon returning home from California.

I still had no clue that a challenge to run a half marathon in every state existed at this point, but knew of the Baltimore Marathon from when my parents lived aboard their sailboat there. 

Many of my weekends were spent visiting them at the marina in Inner Harbor East, which has a running/walking trail that follows the waters edge for miles. I had absolutely no excuses to skip my runs, with it being one step outside the marina gate, and who would want to with the views.

The walk up and down the dock was quite lengthy, so there was no hiding the fact that I was out running from all of our friends along the way. At least one or two people would stop me every run, to ask if I was going to run the Baltimore Marathon that was held in the fall every year. Pft! No, thanks! Running a marathon is crazy talk, and at this point I still hadn’t cracked the 10 mile mark yet. 

Fast forward a year and a half later though and my mindset had changed. I had now run two other half marathons, just started running regularly with a local running club, and made the bold decision to sign up for the Philadelphia Marathon (yes, all 26.2 miles). More about that at a later date.

The training plan I was following from Hal Hidgon, suggested racing a half marathon a couple of months out from your full marathon, just to gauge where you are in your training. I quickly remembered the Baltimore race everyone kept asking me about, and now knowing they had a half marathon distance, it seemed like a fun option, so I signed up. 

The majority of my time spent in Baltimore was in or around the Inner Harbor area. Because of this, I was greatly misinformed or uneducated if you will, about just how hilly the city of Baltimore really is. Don’t mind the fact that I drove through “Brewers Hill” to get in and out every time I visited, or ate in areas called “Federal Hill” or “Mount Vernon”. Seriously, you think I would have caught on to this at some point. But nope.

Note: This is a mishmash of both the 2017 and 2019 races – Yes, it’s that good that we continue to go back every year possible!

With three half marathons behind me, and finding myself in the middle of training for my first marathon, I made the very last minute decision to sign up for the Wineglass Half Marathon with my friend Heather, aka Meatball, and her family. 

It was so last minute in fact, that the race was already sold out and I was put on a wait list.

Their family has been running various distances at this race weekend for years, and assured me most people end up clearing the wait list, so I would likely make it in. 

I knew absolutely nothing about this race other than “it was super fun, and you get glass medals at the end”. Um, okay. Sold!

I feel as though I should mention that I had already signed up for the Baltimore Half Marathon that was only 21 days later. Anyone who knows me now, knows I wouldn’t even bat an eye at this scenario currently, but back then, this might have been one of the dumbest things I have ever done.

Over summer, I took a trip with friends out to a very remote town in North Dakota called Medora, to participate in a trail half marathon. As some of you may know, I am currently participating in a challenge to run a half marathon in every state. North Dakota was state number eleven!

While there, we spent a few days hiking in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and per usual I photographed everything in sight.

The day after our race, we drove an hour up to what is called the North Unit of the park, as it has the most unique landscape compared to the other two units. It was also rumored to have the best chance of finding herds of bison.

Many runners describe being in a happy and euphoric state after completing a run, which is commonly known as a runner’s high. As you push your body, it releases endorphins, a natural painkiller, to override the discomfort it is feeling. Well folks, my endorphins must have been on overload after my first half marathon, because I signed up for a second one within days of returning home from California. Clearly I had already forgotten about the pure agony felt the last few miles of the race, let alone my not being able to stand up on my own or get up and down stairs without crawling like a toddler in the days following.

Since I had just spent a ton of money flying across the country for my first half, it seemed like a wise decision to find one closer to home this time. I hadn’t yet discovered the local running club or joined the zillion and a half groups on Facebook to get ideas, but had heard about the Philadelphia LOVE Run Half from a high school friend who was already signed up. They had held their inaugural event that spring.