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Traveling Runner
My Successful Attempt at Running a Race in All 23 Maryland Counties in 2007
By Noah WoodMarch/April 2008
For the Washington Running Report
On Saturday, September 15, 2007, as the sun was rising over the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, I dashed across the finish line in the North Beach 5K in North Beach, Maryland to take third with a time of 18:48. While the finish time was not extraordinary, this one was perhaps the most special of all because I had just run a race in Calvert County, the last county in Maryland that was needed to complete my quest. I set out to run in a running event (a race, prediction run, triathlon, etc.) in every county of my home state of Maryland. There are 23 counties in Maryland and, wanting to run one in Baltimore City as well, that was 24 goal areas. Being from Columbia in Howard County, I was in a fairly central location and would not have to travel any more than three hours or so in any direction to a race in Maryland.
I have been running for a more than ten years now, starting out as a sprinter for the Howard County Junior Striders and then getting into longer distances when I ran cross-country and track and field for Hammond High School in Columbia, (class of '02), and at Salisbury University (class of '06) where I typically ran the 8-kilometer/5-mile distances in cross- country. For track, I usually ran the 1500 meter race as well as the 800 meter race. In addition, I would be on the 4 x 400 meter relay team and it was there that I broke one minute in the 400 meter distance for the first time at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, VA in the spring of 2004. My PR in the 400 meter distance is about 59.1 seconds, which is pretty good considering I ordinarily run longer distances.
In addition to running competitively in college, I participated in a lot of the recreational races that occurred on campus as well as races every now and then on the Eastern Shore. After graduation I continued to run and moved back with my family in Howard County. Since then, I have been a part of the Howard County Striders and the Eldersburg Rogue Runners (Carroll County based), and have been frequenting many races, usually between Carroll County and the Eastern Shore. On Saturday, March 24, 2007 I ran the Race to Impact 10K around the Kent Island area on the wonderfully shaded and fairly flat Cross Island Trail, and after running that I realized, "Wow, I just ran a race in Queen Anne's County, a county that hardly has any year-round races." If someone were to try and do one in every county of Maryland before this year was out, I had just gotten in a really difficult county, and I was soon inspired to run with that idea!
At first overwhelmed but personally challenged by the idea (some of those counties on the Maryland Eastern Shore only have maybe three to four races all year), I started digging. Using such databases as the Washington Running Report, Racepacket, and MarylandRunning. I was able to find a lot of races and running events throughout the state. I started a blog and journals on my experiences in case someone else wants to follow in my footsteps. It took some research, prioritizing, planning, organizing, and some prayer to make sure it all worked out. My approach became rather aggressive throughout the first month because I realized it would be smart to focus on the Eastern Shore counties first since many of them would be difficult to find races in. Whenever a running event would come up in a Maryland county I had not run in yet, I would make it a priority to get that in first, even if I had to choose it over another race I intended to do. I did not want to leave too much to chance, as I was working as a substitute teacher and as a service clerk at Safeway (which required me to work evenings and weekends, when a lot of the races took place), so I knew it would be best to get in what I could when I could. Looking back, there were some really great experiences. I broke 38 minutes for the first time in a 10K at the Adkins Arboretum Arbor Day 10K Fun Run around the Ridgely (Caroline County) area. Some of my other favorite races were the Dog Days XC 8K in Anne Arundel County, the Inaugural Grantsville Days 5K in Garrett County, the Eden Mill Five-Miler (it was a little shorter I think, perhaps 4.8 miles) in Harford County, the Centennial One-Mile Fun Runs and the PRE-Season XC 5K Race at Oakland Mills High School in Howard County, the National Trails Day Run in St. Mary's County, the McCready Health Services Foundation Founder's Day 8K Run in Somerset County, and the Tim Kennard Five-Mile River Run in Wicomico County. During this time I was inspired to not only travel around Maryland to do races, but outside the state as well. I ran races in all three counties of Delaware, a 10K on the Fourth of July in San Diego while on vacation, and the Hugh Jascourt Memorial Four Miler in Washington, DC. Those were definitely some fun times. I also joined the "Fifty-Plus" Club for people who aspire to run at least 50 races per year and, by their standards, have run 59 races for 2007 at the time this is written. I have enjoyed the support and encouragement of the the Howard County Striders, the "Fifty-Plus" Club, as well as other running clubs and newspapers. Of course, my friends and family have been pretty supportive too and some of them even made it to the North Beach 5K to see me complete this Maryland-wide running feat.
Some of the Races Noah Wood Ran in 2007
Allegany County
Queen City Striders Junior Striders Cross Country meet (1 and 2
mile) V 6/19/07 Paris N. Glendenning Park/Frostburg
One mile race V 2nd overall V 5:51
Two mile race V 7th overall V 12:37Anne Arundel County
Governor|s Non-Bay Bridge Run (2.93 miles) V 5/6/07 - Sandy
Point State Park/Annapolis V 8th overall (1st in 20-24-year-old
age group) V 18:09 (clock), 18:07 (my watch)Dog Days 8K Cross Country Run V 8/5/07 V Anne Arundel Community
College, Arnold V 13th overall (3rd in 20-29 year age group) V
32:18 (clock), 32:17 (watch)Baltimore City
Survivor Harbor 7-mile/3-mile V 6/10/07 V Baltimore City V 2nd
overall (3-mile run) V 17:56 (clock), 17:53 (watch)Baltimore County
Patapsco State Park Avalon area trail race (a little over 6
miles) V 5/13/07 V Near University of Maryland-Baltimore
County/Arbutus area V 18th overall V 58:03Calvert County
12th Annual North Beach 5K V Saturday, September 15, 2007 V
North Beach V 3rd overall V 18:48Caroline County
Adkins Arboretum Arbor Day Fun Run (10K) V 4/21/07 V Ridgley V
1st overall V 37:59Carroll County
Inaugural River Valley Run 5K V 8/25/07 V River Valley Ranch,
Manchester V 5th overall (2nd in 20-29 age group) V 19:13
(watch)4th Annual Eldersburg Labor Day 5K Rogue Race V 9/3/07 V
Eldersburg V 7th overall (1st in 20-29 age group division) V
19:35.0Cecil County
Run4Fun 5K Run/Walk V 6/3/07 V Elkton V 5th overall (1st in 20-
29 year-old age group) V 19:29Charles County
Civista Health Services Run for Wellness 5K V 5/20/07 V
LaPlata V 5th overall (1st in male 20-29 age group) V19:08Dorchester County
Dorchester Family YMCA Healthy Kid|s Day Fun Run (1.9 miles,
mainly flat cross country) V 4/14/07 - Cambridge V 1st
overall V 10:54Frederick County
11th Annual Frederick Steeplechasers Run for the Pie 10K V
7/14/07 V Frederick 4th overall (1st in the 20-24 age group) V
42:39Garrett County
1st Annual Grantsville Days 5K V 6/23/07 V Grantsville V 8th
overall (3rd in male 20-29 age group division) V 18:36Harford County
2nd annual Eden Mill 5-Miler (4.8 miles approximately) V
7/1/07 V Eden Mill Park, Pylesville V 2nd overall V 30:35Howard County
Inaugural Musical Madness 5K V 5-12-07 V Maple
Lawn/Fulton/Scaggsville V 7th overall (1st in 20-29 age group
category) V 18:48.71PRE V Season Cross Country Races (5K) V 8-11-07 V Oakland Mills
High School, Columbia V 11th overall - 18:53 (my best time on
the course f)Emerson Community Fun Run (one mile) # 7 V 8-21-2007 V North
Laurel V 1st overall V 5:26 (my best time on the course f)Kent County
31st Annual Chestertown Tea Party Distance Classic (10 miler) V
5/26/07 V Chestertown V 31st overall (2nd in 20-24 age group) V
1:14:57Montgomery County
Comus Cross Country 5K V 8/12/07 V Comus/Dickerson V 10th
overall (1st in age group division) V 20:29Prince George|s County
49th Annual Larry Noel Greenbelt 15K and 3K (15K) V 9/2/07 V
Greenbelt - 13th overall (2nd in 20-29 age group division) V
1:06:50Queen Anne|s County
Shore Christian Fellowship Church|s Inaugural Race to Impact
(10K) V 3/24/07 V Chester/Kent Narrows/Kent Island (it was all
on the shaded Cross Island Trail) V 1st overall V 38:51St. Mary|s County
National Trails Day 5K (it was a little more than that,
probably closer to 3.5 miles) V 6/2/07 V Historic St. Mary|s
City area V 1st overall V 21:38Somerset County
2nd Annual McCready Health Services Foundation|s Founder|s Day
8K Run & 2-mile walk V 5/5/07 V Crisfield V 1st overal l(8K) V
31:5860th Annual National Hard Crab Derby, 28th Annual Mike Sterling
10K V 9/1/07 V Crisfield V 4th overall (2nd in 20-29 age
group) V 41:48Talbot County
Oxford Day 10K V 4/28/07 V Oxford V 1st overall V 38:35Washington County
Tom Ausherman Memorial Series #1 (2-mile/1-mile) V 6/5/07 V
Hagerstown V 6th overall (2-mile race) V 11:36Wicomico County
4th Annual Tim Kennard 5 mile River Run and 3 mile walk V
3/4/07 V Salisbury V 14th overall (3rd in the 20-24 age group
division) V 31:14Worcester County
Francis Scott Key Family Resort Dash and Splash Run/Walk
Series 5K Race#3 (on the track in the rain) V 6/30/07 V Berlin V
1st overall/only finisher V 18:50