Balimore Women's Classic 5k - 2015

Adam with a sign--made just for me!

It's been a very, very long time since I've posted here! I had almost decided to create another blog, but I got off to such a good start with this one I couldn't let it go.

Last weekend I attended my first race in 2015: the Baltimore Women's Classic. It's an all women race, where men over the age of 18 are not able to run. At first I was a little bit turned off by this, since I didn't think it was fair to exclude anyone from a race (we can't keep all the fun to ourselves!) but once I participated in the race I changed my mind.
The race took place near the Inner Habor in Baltimore. Adam and I drove down together (he came as my personal cheerleader!) and we walked about .5 miles over to the start line. Women--women everywhere! It felt like I was part of a cool club, and it felt really great being surrounded by all kinds of women. All colors, all sizes, all ages, different types of dress--you name it, it was probably there.

My sweaty finish!

I started off in the section where a 11-12 min/mile pacer was situated. This spring I started running again, although I have not started putting in 100% for it just yet. I'd say I'm putting in 40% to improve. Anyway, my running pace is somewhere between 11-12 min/mile, so I figured this would be perfect. We started off, but I quickly realized that number of people getting started was too many, and I went a pretty decent distance (maybe .5 to .75 miles) before I could break away from the crowds and take off at more than a jog. Along the way, all the men who couldn't participate in the actual race lined the route and held up signs. My favorite was "You Run Like a Girl."

I finished the race in less than 40 minutes--which was my goal! Officially, I finished in 34:20:06. Not bad after a jogging start and a serious lack of running lately. Across the finish line I got a medal, a rose, and got to choose from a wide selection of food (bagels, bananas, watermelon, gatorade, and water). After a few pictures and some browsing of some t-shirts, we finished up for the day. If I weren't moving next March, I'd totally run this race again next year!