Becoming an Iron Panda: Survivor Harbor 7 (or 5K)

Sunday was the Survivor Harbor 7 mile and 5K race benefitting the Ullman Cancer Fund.

In case you didn't notice, it has been ungodly hot. Like crazy hot. Training on the sun hot.
I had already run a 5K on Saturday, then spent the rest of the day outside. I tried really hard to convince everyone to help me hydrate and carb re-load with margaritas and fajitas, but for some reason no one else was up for that plan.

The Survivor 7 was the culmination of the Cancer to 5K program that Holly heads up. I was supposed to sherpa Jess, but then she broke her ankle. I was then supposed to sherpa Cindy but she came down with a knee problem. At this point I was free to enter the 7 miler and run a longer but not long run for the marathon training program. All I thought about Saturday was 1. sucks to be the people at Eagleman. and 2. thank God I didn't switch into the 7 miler. I like the heat. I like running in the heat, but I am so happy I didn't have to on Sunday.

Anyways, the race was in Baltimore. Same deal as Saturday, wake up, force myself out the door. Remembered the HRM this time. UnderArmour tank top and Adidas running skirt easy, breezy, beautiful. I met up with the CT5K people at Can Row after taking a detour through a rather "scenic" part of Baltimore. Then we piled onto very late and oddly not staggered buses to head to the start line.

This is where I had to will my patience into existence again. We hung around at the start line for like an hour minimum waiting to start the race. By the time we started I had already drank my entire bottle of water I had brought with me, and there was no water available there. Everyone else was in the same situation. Already hot, sweaty, and not really feeling great. And, I was starving. I had wolfed down a Luna bar and a half plus half of a Nutrigrain bar on the way there. I didn't bring anything with me, thinking hey a 5K, can't take that long. I didn't plan on sitting around for an hour and a half before running.

In the meantime, we took team pictures, they warmed up, we cheered on the wheelchair racers, and the front runners for the 7 miler.

Since I didn't have a plan other than not to get heat stroke, I tagged along with Beth's entourage. We joked about it being like running with the president since she was protected from all angles. And met an awesome girl I'll hopefully get to run with out in Alexandria sometime.

Several issues for the race directors to think about for next year:

Point to point races are a logistical PITA. Please rethink this.
Maybe it's not a good idea to have everyone sitting around in the heat for an hour before the race starts.
Really ridiculously cruel to make the wheelchair participants come screaming down the hill towards the water then have to make a left hand turn. Over cobblestones. Kind of a dick move. There were several times when I thought someone was going to fly into the water or slam into the stone wall. Really it sort of says, we have a category for you, but are going to make you wish you hadn't signed up.
Thank you for adding the extra water station. However making it more obvious and putting on the RIGHT would have averted some of the incidents.
Perhaps directing everyone to park in the garage and then routing all of the runners in front of that garage is unsafe for everyone involved.
Making people run over speedbumps at the finish line is also kind of asking for trouble.
Maybe you shouldn't start the 5K at the busiest point of the 7 miler.

I am happy to say that both races learned from the ATM's mistakes and had extra water stops, misting tents, and seemed to be aware of the heat danger. There were no less than three people who crossed the finish line only to projectile vomit.

The race finish was thankfully across the street from a Coldstone and a Starbucks. Coldstone would have made bank had they been open. Starbucks had a continuous line for like three hours. Nothing like a latte and a croissant for the long drive home. And thank you race director for giving me directions home that did not involve parts of Baltimore I have no business being in, I'm looking at you Yahoo maps. One other cool thing about the Survivor 7, they have categories for cancer survivors. I think one of the CT5k'ers won their age group.

Thanks to Holly for a great program, always being Susie Sunshine, and organizing everything. Congratulations to all the CT5K participants, you guys are awesome for finishing on such a tough race day.