For five years I have woken up on the morning of the Baltimore Marathon and thanked God that I was not running that race.  Because for five years, without fail it has been unseasonably hot on marathon morning.  What possessed me to sign up for it this year?  I am a little embarrassed to admit this, but it was the shirt.

The marathon starts less than fifteen miles from my front door.  So, every year I am faced with marathoners who are sporting the extremely cool Under Armour Baltimore Marathon shirt the rest of the year.  This year I decided I had to have it too.  Was it worth it? Well, yes.  The shirt actually fits, is a true technical shirt and, in the words of my fifteen year old son, is “hot”.  Of all of the marathons, road races, and triathlons I have run, this one, by far, gives out the best race shirt.

And the marathon?  Though not in my top three marathons, it was a well organized blast.  This is one of the few marathons I have run over the years that is put on by a race management company and the advantages of a professional organization putting on the race were clear. 

The race takes advantage of two great Baltimore sporting venues.  The race expo and packet pickup was held at the M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Baltimore Ravens, with more free parking than a runner could desire.  The same parking was arranged for race morning and better yet, that stadium as well as Camden Yards, home of the Baltimore Orioles, opened their restrooms to the runners before the race began.  Real bathrooms, not port-a-potties, are this runner’s dream. 

The marathon is held in conjunction with the Baltimore Running Festival which includes relay teams, a 5k and a half marathon.  I was not sure what I thought about adding so many people to a race that I thought would only have 4000 runners, but it proved to be a real plus on several levels.  First of all, the atmosphere before the start of the marathon was much more festive with so many other runners milling about.  Second, because Baltimore does not have a great base of fitness residents, the other runners and their families brought much needed spectators to the course.  Third, and most importantly, because the half marathoners don’t merge with the marathoners until mile 16, just as we started to hit the dreaded seven miles of hills, they gave us a psychological advantage I had not considered.  Their fresh legs and the fresh legs of the relay runners were not slowed down as much by the hills, they were not walking as much or making it look as pitiful as the marathoners alone may have made the scene look.  I found myself feeding off of their zeal and finishing the race much stronger than I have finished marathons in the past.

The course itself is a city course which leaves a lot to be desired.  Though the organizers developed the course to take in the best of Baltimore, the city is still not the world’s prettiest city.  The roads leave a lot to be desired and the city residents did not show up as heartily as in other cities I have run in. 

That being said, the positives on the course made up for the negatives.  The neighborhoods that did show up were enthusiastic and creative in their support.  As we ran past the art museum there was a nice crowd with music blaring, giving high fives and entertaining us with their dance moves.  And the last neighborhood we ran through before going back into downtown Baltimore, was filled with spectators sporting hula hoops and The Eye of the Tiger blaring from a car topped with a dad dressed in a tiger costume.  If there was a contest for most enthusiastic neighborhood, this neighborhood would have taken the prize.

The best part of the race though by far, was the crowd that lined the road as we came to the finish and ran through Camden Yards into another line of spectators cheering the runners across the finish line.  As I said before, this race doesn’t make my top three marathons I have run, but it did have one of the best finishes of any road race I have run. 

Will I go back?  Probably not because there are so many marathons I want to try.  But I would definitely encourage others to give the Baltimore Marathon a try.