Annapolis Running Festival Half-Marathon 2024 Race Recap

On March 9th I participated in the Annapolis Running Festival Half-Marathon. This was somewhat of a last minute decision, but I did put in a couple of months of training to prepare to run the half-marathon distance. I ran this as my first postpartum half-marathon after having my second baby last July, and it was also my first race as a masters runner! Overall I had a great time at this race and was happy with how it went. I’m sharing my race recap for anyone who is considering running this race someday!

Annapolis Running Festival Half-Marathon 2024

This was the 2nd year that the Annapolis Running Festival took place. Previously, there was a half-marathon called the Annapolis Running Classic that took place in the fall. I ran this in November 2013. Last time I ran it we had great weather, and this year rain was in the forecast. I did what I could to prepare by running in the rain in the weeks leading up to the race and packing my best gear to get me through a wet run.

Pre-Race

Last month my parents moved to a new house which is about 25 minutes from Annapolis. When I realized they were pretty close and my training was going well I came up with a plan to stay over at their house Friday night with the kids. I had to take a 1/2 day at work to get myself organized, pick up the kids early from daycare, and make the drive down there. It took 90 minutes to get from their daycare to my parents and in total I spent about 3.5 hours in the car that day. Not an ideal way to spend the day before a race!

We got to their house by around 5 and got settled in and ate some pasta and pizza. Luckily the kids went to bed on time with no issues and slept through the night. I shared a room with Madison (8 months) and I woke up a few times probably just from nerves and hearing her make some noises. I got up for the day at 4 am to get ready for the race.

My morning routine included pumping while I drank some coffee and ate some oatmeal and graham crackers, getting dressed, and packing up everything I would need. I left the house at 5:30 (everyone was awake already….) and ate 2 pop tarts on the drive. I got to the race a little before 6. It took about 10 minutes to park and at 6:15 I pumped again and ate a honey stinger waffle. It was rainy, windy, and cold so I stayed in the car as long as I could and used my massage gun.

Running Clothes and Gear

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I wore all Brooks clothes, other than my Balega socks and FlipBelt, for this race and it all worked out great!

• Spark Short Tights
• Luxe Short Sleeve (not pictured- I made a last minute switch)
• Canopy Jacket
• Crossback 2.0 Sports Bra
• Base Hat
• Hyperion Max

Annapolis Running Festival Race Start

Everything was really easy to navigate at the start, with parking being nice and close to the start line and plenty of porta potties with short lines. However, the line up was very confusing. The path to start on was pretty narrow and all the runners couldn’t fit in where we needed to line up. I could see the signs for where each pace should start, but couldn’t get there. Once the gun went off there was no where to go. By the time I started it was about 3 minutes after the gun and no one was in any sort of order.

I realized a few minutes after I crossed the start line that my watch didn’t start. I would later find out that I started it about 2 minutes late.

Miles 1-3

For this portion of the race I was trying to keep a relatively easy effort while making my way through the other runners who were going at a slower pace than me. Since we were not lined up correctly everyone was running different paces. I tried not to weave but really couldn’t avoid it. There were multiple times I almost crashed into someone who stopped to walk. It was hard to enjoy or even notice my surroundings because this took so much focus.

Miles 4-10

Once I got to mile 4 I felt like I could run the pace I wanted and the course wasn’t as crowded. Of course at this point we were approaching the Naval Academy Bridge. This was a really tough portion of the run. Getting over the bridge is the biggest hill on the course, plus the rain was coming down heavy at this point and wind was pushing me back. I slowed down quite a bit getting up the bridge.

Once I made it to the top it felt good to run down the other side. However, the rain and wind were still making it hard to run the pace I wanted. I could see up ahead that there was another hill which was discouraging. Luckily the next set of hills weren’t quite as bad, and once we were past the bridge the wind and rain died down.

Miles 5-10 are an out and back. First we run along a highway and eventually get onto the B&A trail. I really enjoyed the paved trail portion. There was just enough elevation but I wouldn’t describe it as hilly. I was also nice to see many other runners on the course as we were going out and back. The turnaround was just after mile 8, and at this point I started to feel like I could push myself a bit for the last 5 miles.

Miles 11-13.1

We went back over the bridge at mile 11 and the weather was much better this time. The rain was lighter and I didn’t notice the wind. However, the race had really thinned out and there were only a few other runners around me. I was able to push hard knowing there were just a couple of miles left.

As I was approaching the last half mile, I could see up ahead that there was a sharp turn up a small path leading to the stadium. Many runners were stopping to walk because it was so steep and muddy. Not what you want to see at mile 13 of a half-marathon! I mentally prepared myself for it and reminded myself that I was almost to the finish. I carefully pushed up the hill, trying not to slip in the mud.

The last .2 mile were across the parking lot and I was able to find a final kick and push hard. Having no idea how long it was after the gun went off until I started, I didn’t know how far behind the clock I was. I think the clock said around 1:54 as I crossed the finish line, so I figured I was in the low 1:50s.

Annapolis Running Festival Finisher’s Village

My watch said 1:48, but again, this was wrong due to starting it late. I really wanted to know my finish time, but I realized it was raining hard and I was started to get cold. After receiving my medal I grabbed some water and a granola bar and got out of the way. I tried to cool down, eat and drink in the finisher’s village but I realized I just needed to get in my car.

Once I was there I thought I saw a text with my finish time reading 1:51 and change. For some reason this disappointed me, I think because I was hoping/expecting to be closer to 1:50. I tried to just brush it off and focus on the positives. I decided to get a warm coffee at Starbucks at my drive back to my parents, but first I had to pump again on the drive. (It was just about the last thing I wanted to do after finishing a race in the rain!)’

Race Results

A little bit later I realized that the text I saw actually had my time from the Frederick Half 2 years ago. The same company had texted about a race reminder, so I had it at the top of my texts, but the time was from 2022. My actual time was 1:50:29, which is right where I expected to be. This made me feel a little better, especially after realizing I ran this race faster than my last half 2 years ago.

While my PR is 1:41, most of my times are clustered in the low 1:50s. So that tells me I am back to where I was pre-baby. Out of my 15 half-marathons I think this is my 6th fastest time. Also, this was right around my race prediction both from Coros and VDOT. While I don’t always trust race predictions I’ve been using my heart rate monitor on all my runs in 2024 so I feel like I am getting better data now.

Annapolis Running Festival Race Reflections

I’m really glad I was able to make this race happen. I got to check off one of my 2024 intentions (to run a half-marathon) and it got me excited to set some more running goals. While I think I could have run a bit faster, I’m also happy with how this all played out. I think if I wasn’t boxed in early on maybe I could have gotten under 1:50, but I’ll never know.

Here are my splits, according to VDOT. I tried to lap my watch each time I ran past a mile marker so that I would have a better idea of my pace. They still kind of seem all over the place, but I was definitely impacted by the bridge and the slow start.

I wish the weather was a little better, but overall it wasn’t terrible. It would have been nice to be able to stick around for a bit after the race rather than immediately jump into my car get out of the rain. And I think the wind only slowed me down going over the bridge the first time. I’m grateful it wasn’t that bad during the rest of the race!

I also like the timing of this race. There aren’t many Maryland half-marathons in early spring so this is a nice way to start out the season. If it works out with my schedule I’ll plan to do it again other years.

You may also like:
Your Step-by-Step Guide to Improving in the Half-Marathon
How To Set Yourself Up For a Breakthrough Half-Marathon Race
7 Things You Need To Know Before Running Your First Half-Marathon

How do you feel about racing in the rain?
Have you ever signed up for a race at the last minute?

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