Across the Bay 10k Recap

The Bay Bridge Run

So, we decided to make another weekend out of a race.   We started by driving to Annapolis to pick up our packets at the Navy Marine Corps Stadium.   It was very cool to be in the stadium and very cold.  Packet pick up was very organizing as well as purchasing the parking pass.  The expo could have been better. It was in the narrow halls of the stadium.  And it was freezing.  I did snag hubby a long sleeve training shirt which I found out later was a good thing. By the time we got there the only men’s shirt they had left was large.  Bummer.  We scooted out of there pretty quickly. 

We headed to our hotel.  And had a nice dinner in Annapolis.  I wish we’d had more time and light to look around a bit.  We headed back and relaxed a bit then hit the sack.

Race Day

The race included 10 waves.  We were wave 6 which started at 8:30.  I was pretty happy not to start at 7:30.  We did head out to catch the shuttle at 7:30 at the Navy Marine Corps Stadium. We were unsure we to expect: we were actually expecting it to be chaos.  We were pleasantly surprised, it was so organized!  They were carefully checking bibs numbers and getting everyone on buses.  We arrived at the Northrop Grumman.  It was a beautiful crisp morning.  We had a lovely view of the bridge.   

Our start was about 10 minutes late, but no worries.  One of my concerns was there were no cups at the water stations so I bought a clip-on portable cup, the Hydra Pouch.  I was determined to use it.   I did.  The water stations had places to fill your water bottles but also water fountains.  Had I known about the fountains, I would have forgone my cup.  We started out.  It turned out to be a bright sunny day.  I was bit over dressed and wished I worn a thinner shirt and capris.  I was steady.  My husband and I ran together for the first mile, and then he went ahead (which is always fine with me).   Running across the bridge was very cool, almost breathtaking. 

I was torn between keeping going and looking at everything.  I caught up to hubby about mile 4.  We got this amazing shot.  My husband put it on canvas for my birthday.  It is one of my favorite pictures of us. 

At that point my husband was slowing down a bit.  He told me to go so I did.   We were heading off the bridge at this point.  A bit of a let down because I still had about 1.5 to the finish.   My official time was 1:09.27 which was a PR for me.  Hubby came in two minutes after me.  We got our medals and headed toward the race party.  They gave us a bag of food and we grabbed our beers and had a seat on the grass.  At this point I wished I’d grabbed one of the silver blanket thingies, it was getting a little chilly.  We walked over to the Paul Reed Smith booth.  Honey played a little guitar then we listen to the band for a bit.  

Paul Reed Smith Band

Post Race Medal Selfie

Then we were ready to head on out.  Getting back to the other side was well organized but took a little bit of time.  As we rode back on the shuttle we got to see the last people on the bridge.  Behind them were police and some of the race day equipment.  We headed back towards home and stopped in Columbia for some post race grub at Uno’s. 

My husband and I were so impressed with the organization of this race.  There were so many things that could of gone wrong and didn’t.  It is definitely a race we would do again!