Yesterday I ran my 3rd Survivor Harbor 7 race in downtown Baltimore. This event also marked the inaugural race for the Blue Crab Running Club.

We had 100% attendance with everyone of us sporting our brand new running club shirts with an adorable logo courtesy of Jeff’s aunt. Checking out the picture it is hard to believe that between the three of us we have lost over 300 lbs isn’t it?

The race started in its usual fashion with the crowd of runners parting like the red sea to make room for a bagpipe band to walk up our ranks. It really is a moving experience and gets to more excited to run than you would think.

We started out running up a slight grade before making a left hand turn and heading into Fort McHenry. I usually end up having a slow mile as we run this loop because it is such a fascinating place to run through. So much history…

After exiting Fort McHenry I spotted my father and Tawanda’s husband, Allan, standing on the side of the road. They had gotten stopped by a cop as the race ran by. This made me nervous that they wouldn’t make it to the finish line before we did.

Shortly after exiting the Fort I lose Tawanda going up the only hill in the race. I knew I was slowing her down and that she would have a better pace if I wasn’t pulling her down. She definitely proved me right by finishing over 10 minutes before I did. Jeff had parted ways with us just after entering the Fort for a pit stop and I knew traveling at the pace that I was he would catch up with me soon.

Soon after passing Dad and Allan I heard Jeff coming up behind me. We stuck together doing a run/walk routine making our way into the Inner Harbor. While passing by the Maryland Science Center Jeff took a quick snapshot of me as I tried to ham it up. I rather like the way it turned out. 🙂

We made our way across the promenade. I think this is my favorite part because this is the only race in Baltimore that is permitted to run on the promenade. Despite the cobblestone entrance it is a fun place to run. We made our way towards the Legg Mason building where we had the pro photographers get a snap shot of us as we ran past the building. We made our way out of the Harbor and towards Little Italy. Shortly after we made a left hand turn right into the sun. At this point the heat really hit me hard and Jeff went ahead without me. I looked down and my fingers were swelling up – a sure sign that I was dehydrated.

I started drafting a few girls shortly after mile 5 and they asked me about the Blue Crab Running t-shirts. I explained the story of our little group and we talked about races that we all have ran and recommended to others. At about mile 6 the one girl said we needed to run the last mile. I took her upon the challenge only taking two short breaks as we passed the water stop at 6 1/4 miles and as we went up a hill before the first of two lefts heading into the finish line. The last water stop actually passes right by the finish line and I was able to see my father who pointed out Jeff out in front of me and as I was leaving the area I heard Tawanda yell my name as I ran on by. That gave me a pretty good boost to push through to the finish. I felt like I finished strong and even though I ended up with a 13:02 per mile pace I felt like I did well considering the circumstances.

I am very thankful to Tawanda and her husband who handed me a cold sparkling water at the finish line. I held it to my forehead before opening it and drinking it down. I found food, but never did find any water at the finish line. We didn’t spend too much time hanging around. We all piled into my mom’s Element and Dad drove us back to where Jeff and Tawanda had parked. I didn’t really notice it until I got up and sat in the front seat. I turned an apologized to Dad as I noticed the smell of sweaty bodies that had permeated the car, lol. I imagine he is probably used to it since he drives me back and fort to just about all of my races.

Despite the heat I think I will continue to do this race. You can’t beat the scenery and the people are all fantastic! Especially when you are running with great friends like those of the Blue Crab Running club.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 9th, 2008 at 6:34 pm and is filed under Blue Crab Running Club, Race Report. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.