This blog post is long overdue, but better late than never, right?
Back in August, before I went to Disneyland, I had the pleasure of running the Annapolis Ten Mile Run with my best running friends. We had a blast, and it definitely deserves its own blog post, so here we go!
Since the race was on a Sunday, we decided to use Saturday to explore the city. We drove up on Friday night, and arrived at our perfect Airbnb in time to crash before our busy day.
Saturday
We planned ahead of time to go for a run around the US Naval Academy. We thought this would be a great way to see one of the highlights of the city and we were not disappointed! The views were gorgeous, we got a nice shakeout run, and we got to tour one of the coolest sights in Annapolis. Pro tip if you decide to ever visit: You will have to go through security after you park, so be sure to bring something to hold your ID while you walk around! Since we were running, we put all of ours in one water bottle holder.
Afterwards, we enjoyed a nice Starbucks breakfast by the water while we people watched. Annapolis is an extremely dog friendly city, so there were a bunch of people out walking their dogs. It was a perfect place to spend our morning!
After we ate, we went back to the house to shower and head to our next adventure, a tour of Heavy Seas Brewery. The tour is about an hour long, only $8, and includes a souvenir tasting glass. The beer was excellent and it was the perfect way to relax before a race.
After our tasting was over, we headed over to the expo, which is held at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The expo is entirely outdoors, which was a first for me. There were the usual expo events: bib pickup, vendors, etc., but instead of a participant shirt, we were given a bottle opener. Annapolis Ten is unique in the fact that you only get your shirt (well, sweatshirt) if you finish, so we left a little empty handed but that was fine knowing what was waiting for us the next day.
There was only one thing left to do before the big race: dinner. We compared our options and settled on Galway Bay and were not disappointed! The deciding factor was that it was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives so, if it’s good enough for Guy Fieri it’s good enough for me. I ordered a Caesar salad with Old Bay Shrimp and it was the best salad I’ve ever eaten. If you’re ever in the area, be sure to give it a try!
Sunday
Leading up to the race, I was so worried about it being hot (it was August after all). Luckily for us we got a small break in the weather and it cooled down just enough for us to have great racing weather.
The race started at 7, so we knew we would have some time before the coolness burnt off and we would get really hot.
The course was great, and not nearly as hilly as I anticipated. I have this feeling that people from Lynchburg have a different perspective of what “hilly” is, and this was one of those instances. The only real “hill” was a bridge, and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
The rest of the route took us through some residential areas, and maybe because I’m writing this almost a month later, nothing particular sticks out in my mind.
Even if the course doesn’t stand out in my mind, I’m very impressed with the photographers they had out to capture us. The entry fee included free photo downloads, so I was able to keep them all!
We finished, got nice cool, wet towels to wipe the sweat off, and enjoyed some popsicles while we waited for our jackets. I wore it the rest of the day to celebrate!
I enjoyed the race and would definitely come back and run it again in a few years. There are are lot more new (to me) races that I would like to do in the meantime, but I definitely enjoyed my weekend with friends!
Leah Elizabeth 