Our local running store, Falls Road Running, runs a series of races throughout the year and the Blue Moon Run is one of those events. Of course, they only hold it every few years, given the rarity of a blue moon. In fact, I think after this one, the next blue moon won't come around until 2015. At any rate, this was my first time running this race. It, like many of the other Falls Road Running races, was pretty informal, although you did have to register. But there were no race bibs, so I'm certain there were numerous people who ran it who didn't pay the affordable $15 registration fee, most of which went to restoring parts of the trail.
The race was a simple out and back route along the North Central Rail Trail and was billed as being six miles total. That was perfect for both A. and me, as we were looking for a six mile long run for that weekend. Since the run was being held at night (under the blue moon, obvi), I really wasn't worried about getting a solid time. I just thought it would be cool running at night.
So we headed out to Hunt Valley, MD, which is about a 25 minute drive from our apartment in Baltimore City, parked and got on the shuttles taking runners to the trailhead, as the parking lot there was too small. I thought there'd be maybe a few hundred runners doing the race. I was wrong. I heard a final tally of over 700 runners! On a trail about 7-8 feet wide. And on an out and back route, which meant two-way traffic. But we got our glow sticks and waited for word from organizers about where and how to line up.
As I said, Falls Road Running events tend to be informal, and much of the time that's fine, as a.) you're running in the daylight and b.) the course can handle the number of runners. Neither was true this time, unfortunately. Nobody made any announcements, although at one point I did see someone with a bullhorn saying something, but it was so garbled nobody paid any attention. People just started lining up on the trail at some point, so we did too. Then suddenly, the pack lurched forward and we went with it, thinking the race had begun. It had...but with walkers up front blocking the trail, traffic backed up quickly.
Much of the first half of the race was stopping and starting and darting around joggers and walkers walking two or even three abreast blocking the trail. Much of the time, I just ran in the grass/bushes on the side to get around them, hoping I wouldn't step on a log or a rock or a turtle. A. and I ran together at the beginning, but I moved ahead after a few moments. But she reported the same frustrations as I had. By the time we turned around, runners were better spaced out, but I still dodged and passed people on my way back who by that time were walking. And I am by no means a speedy runner.
My run overall was good, but tough. After the first two miles, I was able to find some people to draft to pace me a bit so I could find a comfortable level of effort, and that carried me to the turnaround. Unfortunately, the turnaround was not really at 3 miles, but more like 3.5 miles. Which made a six mile run a seven mile run. Not a huge deal if you're already hitting 7 miles or more regularly, but we weren't at that point, so the miles coming back were rougher. Plus it was frustrating because with the darkness, there was no way to gauge where you were on the trail or identify many landmarks. Lighted mile markers (Just a stick with a number and some glow sticks) would have been a great addition.
Making it more burdensome was the humidity. While the temperatures cooled significantly out in the country, the humidity did us in. By the time the race began, temps were well into the 70s, which was an improvement considering that temps in downtown Baltimore that day had risen above 90. But the quick cool down caused fog/mist to form and that humidity got trapped beneath the trees on the trail. It made the trail much more humid than it otherwise would have been, although seeing the moonlight come through the trees and refract off the mist hovering above the tall grass was really cool; like something out of a ghost story. I was soaked through, as if I had been running through the rain, by the time I got to the finish.
Because of the dodging and weaving, and the extra mile (literally!) that I went, my time was north of an hour. But again, I knew going in that running at night with 700 other runners would not yield a PR, and I was fine with that. But the lack of organization at the trailhead created a lot of problems, I felt. Surely someone had to raise a concern about putting 700 people on that trail at the same time without any organization by speed or ability? Capping the race at 500 runners, and organizing them into several waves (fastest to walkers) might have at least made the congestion less acute. And at night, the lack of communication and organization is amplified. Remember, out on the trail, there are no lights at all, so it's pitch black save for the moonlight and glow sticks. You can't assume people will know where to go or what to do; you need to tell them. Apparently, somewhere afterward there was Gatorade, bananas, an granola bars, but we had no way to know that because there were no (lighted) signs or people telling runners about it. So we got on the shuttle thirsty and hungry, only to find some runners get on with snacks. Frustrating.
So, overall, the idea of running on a trail at night is better than the reality. We likely won't do that race again, although with proper planning and communication, it could be a very cool and unique event. As it stands, it was a near free for all with an improperly measured course and little organization beyond the shuttle buses (which ran relatively smoothly!).
No comments:
Post a Comment