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.

Dear fellow humans born into white privilege,

Many of you by now are aware of the story of Ahmaud Arbery, a young 25 year old man of color, who was senselessly gunned down and murdered, by two white men in Georgia on February 23rd, 2020, while out for a run. His crime, being black while running and allegedly in their minds, matching the description of a robbery suspect from the area. They saw him and intentionally chased after him in their vehicle, and shot him dead. For running, while black.

Yesterday would have been his 26th birthday. 

I learned of this story, as many others did, via social media. Earlier in the week, the hashtag #justiceforahmaud started popping up, along with the tragic story of this young man, followed by the video of his death, which I still cannot and will not watch. 

Like many, I had the question, “Why is this now just making the rounds on social media, almost two months after the event occured?”

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.