Race Report – Frederick Half Marathon

Titanium Girl Challenge – Complete!

This weekend, I ran the Frederick Half Marathon in Frederick, MD.  This race was part of a dual bonus bling challenge.  Run Iron Girl and Fredrick and get the Titanium Girl medal.  Run Frederick and Baltimore (in the fall) and get the Maryland Double medal.

Clearly, I couldn’t say no.  Actually, I was already registered for both Iron Girl and Frederick when Titanium Girl was announced, so it was a medal for nothing!  Except for being crazy and being willing to run two halfs within 7 days.

But onto the race itself.  Having just run a race the week before, I definitely had something to compare it to.  And I would say that Frederick was a much better race.  Corrigan Sports puts on incredible races, so I’m not surprised.

The course was awesome.  Not flat by any means, but the course support was incredible.  Lots of water stops and lots and lots of community support.  It was great to see that sort of support after the editorial in the Frederick newspaper earlier that week trashing the runners for “blocking” people from attending church.  There were tons of people out cheering and lots of kids handing out candy, water and fruit.  It was great to see.  (If only someone had been out there with a hose spraying the runners…)

Kim and I ran together after losing Jen early on (speedy girl) and losing, then catching, then losing Monica, and we just took it easy with a 1:1 pace.  She had been on her feet the day before and I was recovering from a killer cold (note – running a half marathon does not speed recovery) so we just went out to have fun.  We chatted most of the way and finished in a surprising 3:03.  Not bad for a race when we weren’t “trying.”

Expo was tiny, as is to be expected, but the race premium is awesome.  Instead of the standard t-shirt, the premium for this race changes every year and this year it was a zip up jacket!  It’s thick sweatshirt material, embroidered with the race logo and absolutely awesome.  I’m slowly getting to the point where I can outfit myself entirely in race gear.

I will definitely be back for this race.  Iron Girl remains questionable (partly due to the course, which is just too hilly to be enjoyable), but the crowd support at Frederick just makes this race incredible.