Maryland Half Marathon Official Website

The "Nitty Gritty" Details (User Opinions)

Melissa B.
Sykesville, MD

  (05-24-2010)

"Hi All! This was my first Half Marathon and it was excellent! I saw these reviews and I got quite scared!!

However, seeing this was the 2nd annual race, they seemed to improve everything that reviewers did not like.

The shirts black were underarmor with a great design!! There was ample time for packet pick-up (Sat 10-5 and then race day). The medals were huge and awesome!

The course was challenging! There were a few neighborhood hills, ups and downs and then between 7 and 9 a MONSTROUS Hill! However, the last 2.5 miles are downhill, and so it felt so good to make it up the hill and sprint into the finish :)

The horse track sand: They cleared it off. There was still some sand remnants, but the course was clear and solid to come into the finish.

The police support was incredible and I felt very very safe. They had major intersections blocked and they were directing us. One officer said, we just want to keep you guys safe. They also cheered for us.

There were lots of well positioned water stations with water and Powerade! And the along the way groups of people were set up for cheering and support. It really really helped!

I couldn't have chosen a better first race. It was extremely well organized (great website too). There was also a good celebration at the end with lots of free food and goodies to indulge in.


Great job!!

"

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2010

Matt F.
Bel Air, MD

  (08-13-2009)

"Loved the course, very hilly and challenging but beautiful and fun. Not a whole lot of crowd support, and organization, goodie bag, and t-shirt could use a major upgrade. But it was the first year, and I'll run this local half again."

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2009

kristen f.
Philadelphia, PA

  (07-29-2009)

"This was by far the hillest race I have ever run. The two major hills I can remember was in between mile 7 and 8 and again between mile 11 and 12. I also thought that fact that the race ended winding through a horse stable & eventually on a horse track which was lined with VERY soft dirt was a bit daunting. Overall, I'm glad I ran it b/c 100% of the proceeds went to charity and it was very well organized but I'm not convinced I'd do it again given the course. "

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2009

Steve H.
Westminster, MD

  (06-05-2009)

"The course was a little hilly but overall it was a pretty good event; very well organized and raised over $100,000 for the University of Maryland Greenbaum Cancer Center. Good chance I will run it again next year with the hopes of doing some actual fund raising.
Here are some things that stuck out as I ran merrily along:

The course is a loop that starts and finishes at the fairgrounds, running through Baltimore County. The first part of the race heads out of the fairgrounds and turns right onto Timonium Road. Right after mile one the course turns right onto Jenifer Road through mile two and then turns onto May Chapel for a picturesque jaunt through the Baltimore Country Club at Five Farms.

The spectators along the course were great! They were very supportive, shouting words of encouragement and handing out Swedish Fish. Right around mile two, at the bottom of a hill a very nice family brought out speakers to play motivating 70's disco music for us. The song, Games People Play by The Spinners was blasting away as I ran by. By mile three, I was wishing for an ice pick to jab in my ear. The Spinners?

Luckily, the water stop between miles three and four had a very badly needed porta john and the song left me with the morning's Gatorade. A welcome relief, for both.

We jumped back onto Timonium off of Seminary towards the turnaround at mile six, by Joppa Road. As the course winds its way back to the fairgrounds there are two large hills, “The Hill That Wouldn’t Quit” and his brother, “The Hill That Wouldn’t Quit, Either” and a bunch of “Me Too!” cousin hills. It got a little challenging along the way.

The finish was great. The final mile follows Aylesbury Road to cross Timonium Road and back into the fairgrounds. The last quarter mile-ish is on the horse track, finishing right in front of the grand stand. The sand was wet so it was a little like running on the beach but after first running almost thirteen miles of hills. A little challenging but the people lining the track and the crowd at the finish helped you along.

Overall, the race was pretty good for its first year. They were very organized and had ample food and drink at the end. I wouldn’t want to have that as a front or back end to a full but for a half marathon, it is a nice, challenging run.
"

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2009

Tom M.
Baltimore, MD

  (06-04-2009)

"Great course. Some of the hills were a bit intense. The families supporting the runners as they went through the neighborhoods were fantastic!

The after-race music and festivities were very good, too. Free beer for the runners would have been even better..."

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2009

David M.
Reisterstown, MD

  (06-01-2009)

"This was the inaugural run so of course I expected there to be some logistical issues but I must say that I LOVED THIS RUN!!! I thought the course was beautiful. I am a back of the pack runner and my time was actually much better than expected (2:26). A previous reviewer said that this run was extremely hilly. Although I cannot totally disagree, in my opinion there were only two long bad hills in the entire 13.1 miles. The first bad hill was the segment on Thornton Road after the turnaround. It seemed to never end. The other hill that I thought was tough was at about the 10 or 11 mile point going up W. Seminary to Francke. After that hill I felt very tired. All in all, it was a very well run race and I plan to be there again next year. I am attaching my GPS mapping of this race so you can get an idea of how I felt! Go to http://connect.garmin.com/activity/6349098"

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2009

Thomas N.
Baltimore, MD

  (06-01-2009)

"This was a HILLY race. I run out in Timonium MD for a lot of my long runs so I know the roads out there. These guys picked an uphill every time there was a chance. This course made the Annapolis 10 miler and the second half of the Baltimore Marathon look only slightly hilly. The only thing that kept me sane was the fact that this might be good training for the TransRockies. (ha) The race was managed very well with plenty of water and Gatorade stops. There was even pretty good fan support considering it was the inaugural running of the 1/2. The whole event went very smooth.

As a designer I did not like the logo for the race, they did make a nice medal with it. It is "gangster" in size. The largest medal I have earned to date.

I would recommend the race to anyone looking for a challenging, hilly, yet beautiful course. Personally it was not a strong race for me. My unofficial time was a PR for the half in a negative way. (2:04:36)"

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2009