I got sucked into the Maryland Women’s Distance Festival this year.\u00a0 All across the state, there are women only 5K races (no, I wouldn’t call a 5K a distance race, but I love that it gets new runners out there).\u00a0 If you do four, you get an award at the end of the season.\u00a0 I like awards, so you know I’m in.<\/p>\n
My first race of the series was the Run for Roses in Wheaton.\u00a0 I don’t run a lot of races in this area, even though this is technically my local running region.\u00a0 I really liked this race though.\u00a0 Inexpensive and friendly.\u00a0 And chip timed!<\/p>\n
I hadn’t looked at the course beforehand, so I didn’t realize how hilly it was going to be.\u00a0 Typically, I don’t mind hills, but there were some steep downhills on gravel paths, and that was more scary than fun.\u00a0 I definitely walked down those hills.\u00a0 But aside from that, the course was beautiful.\u00a0 It was held in Wheaton Regional Park, which is amazing.\u00a0 I want to go back just to stroll.\u00a0 At times, I felt like I was in Epcot during the Flower and Garden festival with all of the educational signs pointing out veggie bearing plants and homes for various types of butterflies.\u00a0 It was really a gorgeous course.<\/p>\n
At the end of the race, everyone received a beautiful rose (mine still looks great days later) and a cute printed finisher’s certificate – something that will probably get recycled in my home, but an awesome memento for a first-timer.<\/p>\n
I finished in a reasonable amount of time – right around 40 minutes.\u00a0 Not my fastest by far, but not my slowest either.\u00a0 I was just taking it easy (or trying to) and enjoying the run, but I struggled to keep my heartrate down.\u00a0 One of the perils of running in the summer.\u00a0 Just something I have to keep an eye on.<\/p>\n