I was SO excited all year for this race. In February I dragged my husband to the to get postcards with entry codes so we could register early. I also signed up to volunteer at the starting line setup the second that registration opened up.
I went to the expo last Friday and it was pretty similar to last year, only with more vendors. This year some of the vendors included the Tube wearable waistband (with a race-specific design), Charm City Run, and Fleet Feet. This year they had you get your bib, then you had to walk through all the vendors to go upstairs to get your shirt, at which point you got to walk back down and go through the official race store. (This year you could buy finisher gear at the expo and avoid the long lines on race day!)
The next morning I got to help setup the starting area, and it was so exciting to get a first look at everything!!
The night before the race, my parents came up from Northern Virginia to stay the night because my Dad had registered for the race as well. For some reason despite all preparation and reason, my race anxiety kicked in full force. I had a hard time sleeping, and having a cat yelling at the door at 1am didn't help either. She's normally a chatty cat, but it was odd for her meowing to be so insistent. After my husband got up to see what was wrong, I got up to see why she was still complaining, and found that she was fine (naturally.) After that I was dreading when the alarm went off at 5am.
That morning I was glad I had put a bottle of water with caffeinated nuun (this time in wild berry) in the fridge before going to bed. I was definitely thirsty, and the caffeine helped wake me up for the race and I ate my usual pre-race luna bar in the car. It took us about half an hour to get to our exit, and another 15-20 minutes to actually get to the stadium and parked. I was in a hurry for us to get there, so I insisted we wait on using the bathroom until we get to the starting area since I knew there were a lot of portajohns.
Have I mentioned how nice it was that they overloaded the starting area with portajohns? After having to be so strategic with a pre-race bathroom stop for the MCM10k, it was lovely to not have a line to use the bathroom before such a big race!!
Just on the other side of the Northrup Grumman building there was a beautiful sight: The sun rising over the bridge that we would soon be running over!
And of course did the obligatory pre-race selfie.
After the national anthem (which they announced they would be doing before most of the waves so almost everyone would be able to hear it) we were off! The first mile was a breeze. I looked down when my Garmin beeped signifying I had finished the first mile, and I was semi-shocked because it said 10:17! I mostly brushed it off because I usually start races way too fast. Which was proven by the second mile, which took 12:21. This is also where the incline was the worst--the dreaded 3% incline. I tried powering through it, but I knew I needed to pace myself so I ended up starting my walking intervals. I didn't totally mind since it gave me a chance to enjoy the view and get some pictures!
I knew I would have a chance to catch up once the downhill part of the race started. And for once, I was right! My splits just kept getting better, despite having to dodge people taking selfies almost constantly along the bridge, especially when a cruise ship passed underneath. (I was definitely glad the organizers banned selfie sticks!!!)
I kept an eye on my Garmin mostly to make sure it didn't mess up like it did during the MCM10k, but once I kept seeing the splits I thought "Wow, if I keep this up I am going to annihilate my PR!" I couldn't believe it when I crossed the finish line and stopped my Garmin. My finishing time was 1:06:30. I had not only beat my previous year's time by over THREE minutes, I had beaten my overall 10k PR by two minutes. I couldn't get to the medals fast enough. I had worked my butt off for it, and it had finally paid off!
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| I love this year's medal! Right side out, the strap shows the Across the Bay logo and that it's the 2015 medal... |
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| And the backside of the strap shows a Maryland flag pattern! |
Added bonus: This year's medal connects to last year's medal, and will connect to next year's medal as well! (The plan is for the first 5 years to connect together.)
After getting my bag of snacks and bottle of water, I waited with my Mom for my Dad and my husband to finish (we all PR'd!) We then visited the vendors in the finisher's area. I got the obligatory bag of kettle corn from Calvert County Kettle Corn (just the perfect balance of sweet and salty) and picked up some freebies from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and entered a fundraising raffle they had for some fun prizes from the foundation, origin and a selection of local coffee.
Once we had seen all the vendors, we hopped onto the shuttle bus to go back to the stadium. Just like last year, I was amazed watching the amount of people making their way across the bridge.
Then we saw the sweeper vans and knew the race was almost over!
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| Cue the "Jaws" theme music! |
Overall, I thought the race was very well run like last year. I think they made some minor improvements like the availability of finisher gear at the expo, and I loved the shirt in comparison to last year.
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| The front of the shirt |
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| The back of this year's shirt |
Even better--the pictures that were taken along the course are going to be available for FREE!!! This is something that I love in a race since the photos can get expensive very fast. (Usually to download a single picture it starts at $19.) These photos should be available on Friday, and I can't wait to see them. And yesterday I had a pleasant surprise waiting for me during my lunch break--video footage of me finishing the race!! How cool is that to be able to see yourself finish a race? My husband and I had a good laugh at his since you can see somebody trying to take a selfie as they're finishing.
Overall, would I do this race again? Absolutely. And I would recommend it for anybody who wants to try the distance or wants a nearly guaranteed PR. It's also a must run for anybody who grew up going to Delaware and Maryland beaches. There is nothing like running over the bridge that strikes fear into the hearts of many a driver. But PLEASE!!! Be considerate to your fellow runners and don't just STOP in the middle of the course to take pictures. And yes, that was probably me glaring at you from behind in your selfie.
Update on 12/12/15: Interested in doing the 2016 Across the Bay 10k? Use the coupon code AMBFRENCHH16 for $5 off registration!!
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