Bay Bridge 10K

Today I ran a "train-through" 10K, after another 29.3-mile outing on Buttercup yesterday:

It's a very early start to gather on one side of the Chesapeake Bay, cross in buses over one of the two spans, and get the race over and done before the start of a massive Bay Bridge Walk.

On the bus on the way over I thought of the 4.4-mile swim that they hold between the spans every year, which still scares the bejesus out of me looking down into that water:


The Governor's Bay Bridge Run is quite a large and popular 10km event. The views from the bridge are fabulous! It's a fairly difficult course - 2 miles UP, 2 miles DOWN, then up over and down a highway overpass before finishing in a waterfront park. It was also unseasonably cold today and I was freezing at the start (50*F and windy), where runners have to wait for about an hour before the gun.

I kept my camera in my waistpack for most of the race, but I stopped briefly to get a shot of this swan on her nest that I always see next to the bridge. Not long after that *jeanne* zoomed past me, clicking photos on her way, and easily striding away! I never found her after the race, though. Maybe she'll have more actual race pictures to show off.

I tried to maintain a fairly steady pace, but was slowed by some steep camber on the highway overpass around mile 5 that was painful to my feet. The 3-mile split (with two miles of it uphill) was 31:46, but the finish time on my watch was 1:08:42. Finishers got quite nice medals this year:

We were also treated to a lovely view of the bridge from the bayside park after the finish.

Some triathletes were supposed to gather for an open water swim here after the race, and I had brought all my things for it, but I was just too darned cold! I was chilled after the race and even when I had returned home it had only warmed to 59*F. It was an ideal day for running, but I wasn't brave enough to risk getting that cold with no place to get warm and an hour drive home.