Eden Mill 5-Miler in Harford County!!

Hey there, this time I got it right in my attempts to run an event in Harford County! You may recall in my entry "A little 'Slip Up'" that I thought the PopPop & Pinhead Trail Scramble was in Harford County, but it was actually in Baltimore County. At that race I met a cool guy named Scott Smith who directs the Eden Mill 5-Miler and he told me about it, and that's the race I ran today in Pylesville, MD!
It was a really nice race, although due to some stuff goin' on on the roads, it was a little shorter than 5 miles (one runner's odometer gizmo read that we covered about 4.8 miles). Either way, I was glad to be out there getting a Harford County running event in, and on nice cool morning (it was just under seventy degress I think) that was just great for running. The course was kind of hilly going out and back, but most of it was in the shade on these gravel back roads, so it was a good idea for a summer race.
I sorta think I started out too fast, 'cause one of the runners who was near me most of the race had a gizmo that measured distance as well as time, and he said that we had gone through the first mile in about 5:55 (definitely faster than I intended since I wanted to build into it). I managed to keep up with the lead runners for most of the race too. We came to the half-way turnaround point, and I went through it in about 15:25 (I thought that the best I could hope for with that would probably be a 30:50, still faster than my expected 32-33-minute finish since I was tired from yesterday). After the turnaround, we went down a couple of big hills and then the pace picked up, and I was suprisingly able to hang with the leaders. The gentleman who won the race, Jose, took off soon after the halfway point and I barely managed to finish second with a time of 30:35 on my watch as I crossed the finish line. I was definitely happy that I ran negative splits, my second half mathematically workin' out to about 15:10. I know it wasn't a full five miles, but it was still a pretty solid race and I appreciate it when I can run negative splits like that. I did not even get cramped up as much as I normally do during these longer races. Perhaps now things are really starting to look up again for my distance running.
The group that put this on was the Renaissance All Sports Athletic Club (http://www.rasac.com) and it's R.A.S.A.C. for short. They mainly have their events in Harford and Baltimore Counties. There were some really nice people that I met there,, and I would look forward to seein' 'em again at other events (and I'm hoping to maybe return to this one again next year too, 'cause I really liked the course, even though the surface had some gravel).
Wow, I am certainly blessed to have gotten twenty of Maryland's twenty-three counties in within four months of officially challenging myself to this goal back on Sunday, April 1. I have also run in Baltimore City, making it twenty-one out of twenty-four of my goal areas to run running events in completed!!!! It's only the first day of July, the seventh month of the year, leaving me six months to get the rest of this done! This is amazing, and I am definitely relieved to have gotten all the Maryland Eastern Shore Counties in as well! I think I'm gonna go try to make my high school geometry teachers proud and go find the slope of a cantaloupe! HAHA! Well anyway, I'm hoping that sometime in the near future I can find some running events to do in Calvert, Frederick, and Prince George's Counties before 2007 is over. It is certainly realistic, and I'll be praying that things continue to work out!!!
I will hopefully be able to get some very scenic pics I took from Harford County this morning up on these blogs sometime soon. Unfortunately, my camera's software is actin' a bit odd! Oh well. I'm lookin' forward to goin' to San Diego tomorrow for almost a week to see my relatives over there and possibly even run a local road race there too! we'll see what happens, I'm lookin' forward to some fun with my brother, cousins, and other relatives. I'll try to send some updates every now and then while I'm there if I have computer access.
I hope everyone enjoys their weekend and the upcoming Fourth of July, thank you for reading :)

Running Events I have done this year as of Sunday, July 1, 2007

Maryland

Allegany County
- Queen City Striders Junior Striders Cross Country meet (1 mile and 2 mile) – Tuesday evening, June 19, 2007 – Paris N. Glendenning Park/Frostburg
- One mile race – 2nd overall – 5:51
- Two mile race – 7th overall – 12:37

Anne Arundel County
– Governor’s “Non-Bay Bridge” Run (2.93 miles) – Sunday, May 6, 2007 - Sandy Point State Park/Annapolis – 8th overall (1st in 20-24-year-old age group) – 18:09 (clock), 18:07 (my watch)

Baltimore City
- Survivor Harbor 7-mile/3-mile – Sunday, June 10, 2007 – Baltimore City – 2nd overall (3-mile run) – 17:56 (clock), 17:53 (watch)

Baltimore County
– Patapsco State Park Avalon area trail race (a little over 6 miles) – Sunday, May 13th, 2007 – Near University of Maryland-Baltimore County/Arbutus area – 18th overall – 58:03

– PopPop and Pinhead Trail Scramble (about 5-6 miles) – Saturday, June 9, 2007 - Perry Hall/Gunpowder Falls State Park area – 5th overall - 52:14

Calvert County – Nothing yet

Caroline County
- Adkins Arboretum Arbor Day Fun Run (10K) – Saturday, April 21st, 2007 – Ridgley – 1st overall – 37:59 PR (Personal Record/best time in that distance!!!!! J)

Carroll County
- Westminster Road Runners Club (W.R.R.C.) Predicted Time Four-Miler – Saturday, March 10, 2007 – Westminster/Bachman Valley area – 2nd person in, 14th closest to predicted time – 25:34 (my predicted time was 27:00, I was 1:26 fast, whoops J-)

- Andy Hayes Memorial 5K Run – Saturday, April 7, 2007 – Westminster/near Farm Museum – 2nd overall – 18:47

Cecil County
- Fair Hill Natural Resources Management Area (N.M.R.A.) Fools Frolic 22K (I ran the much shorter 5-6 mile route) – Sunday, April 1, 2007 – Fair Hill/Elkton – First person in, but it was not much of a race, just pretty much me and another gentleman chillin’ and chattin’ our way through – 1 hour, 21 minutes, 55 seconds

- Run4Fun 5K Run/Walk – Sunday, June 3, 2007 – Elkton – 5th overall (1st in 20-29 year-old age group) – 19:29

Charles County
- Civista Health Services Run for Wellness 5K – Sunday, May 20, 2007 – LaPlata – 5th overall (1st in male 20-29 age group) – 19:14 (clock), 19:08 (chip)

Dorchester County
- Dorchester Family YMCA Healthy Kid’s Day Fun Run (1.9 miles, mainly flat cross country) – Saturday, April 14, 2007 - Cambridge – 1st overall – 10:54 (ran negative splits too J)

Frederick County – Nothing yet

Garrett County
- 1st Annual Grantsville Days 5K – Saturday, June 23, 2007 – Grantsville – 8th overall (3rd in male 20-29 age group division) – 18:37 (clock), 18:36 (watch)

Harford County
- 2nd annual Eden Mill 5-Miler (4.8 miles approximately) – Sunday, July 1, 2007 – Eden Mill Park, Pylesville – 2nd overall – 30:37 (clock), 30:35 (watch)

Howard County

- Howard County Striders (H.C.S.) Weekly Winter Series (a.k.a. “Operation Iceberg”) # 3: Atholton High School 5 Kilometer – Sunday, January 21, 2007 – Columbia – 15th overall – 19:43

- H.C.S. “Operation Iceberg” #4: Thunder Hill Elementary School 2miles – Sunday, January 28, 2007 - Columbia - 30th overall - 20:17

- Penguin Pace 5K – Sunday, February 4, 2007 – Columbia – 8th overall (1st in 20-29 age group) – 18:43.86

- H.C.S. “Operation Iceberg” #6: Thunder Hill Elementary School 2 miles – Sunday, February 18, 2007 – Columbia – 2nd overall – 11:52 (my best time on that course J)

- Outback’s 5K for the YMCA – Sunday, March 11, 2007 – Ellicott City – 9th overall – 18:01.05 (clock), 17:59/18:00 (my watch – my best time on that course :)

- H.C.S. Spring Series Race (“Vernal Velocity) #1: Burleigh Manor Middle School 2 miles – Sunday, April 1, 2007 - Ellicott City/Columbia area – 2nd overall – 10:51 (best time on the course J)

- Inaugural Musical Madness 5K – Saturday, May 12, 2007 – Maple Lawn/Fulton/Scaggsville – 7th overall (1st in 20-29 age group category) – 18:48.71

- Damien F. Massella Run for Recovery 5K – Sunday, June 24, 2007 – Columbia – 52nd overall – 19:58.12 (clock), 19:55 (watch)

Kent County
- 31st Annual Chestertown Tea Party Distance Classic (10 miler) – Saturday, May 26, 2007 – Chestertown – 31st overall (2nd in 20-24 age group) – 1:15:01 (clock), 1:14:57 (watch)

Montgomery County
- Gaithersburg Firebirds Track one mile race – Thursday, April 12, 2007 – Gaithersburg – 3rd overall – 5:04

Prince George’s (P.G.) County – Nothing yet

Queen Anne’s County
- Shore Christian Fellowship Church’s Inaugural Race to Impact (10K) – Saturday, March 24th, 2007 – Chester/Kent Narrows/Kent Island (it was all on the shaded Cross Island Trail) – 1st overall – 38:51

Somerset County
- 2nd Annual McCready Health Services Foundation’ss Founder’s Day 8K Run & 2-mile walk (8K) – Saturday, May 5, 2007 (El Cinco de Mayo) – Crisfield – 1st overall – 31:58 (ran faster there this year than last year J)

Saint Mary’s County
- National Trails Day 5K (it was a little more than that, probably closer to 3.5 miles) – Saturday, June 2, 2007. – Historic St. Mary’s City area – 1st overall – 21:38

Talbot County
- Oxford Day 10K – Saturday, April 28, 2007 – Oxford – 1st overall – 38:35 (big improvement over last year’s time here, and a well-paced race on a relatively short amount of sleep J)

Washington County
- Tom Ausherman Memorial Series #1 (2-mile/1-mile) – Tuesday, June 5, 2007 – Hagerstown – 6th overall(2-mile race) – 11:36

Wicomico County
- Salisbury University Track & Field’s Seagull Home Opener Meet – Saturday, March 3, 2007 – Salisbury
- 1500 meter run – 7th overall – 4:48.7
- 800 meter run - 2nd overall – 2:12.5
- 4X400 meter relay (alumni team) – 4th overall (1st alumni team) – 4:01.5

- 4th Annual Tim Kennard 5 mile River Run and 3 mile walk – Sunday, March 4, 2007 – Salisbury – 14th overall (3rd in the 20-24 age group division) – 31:25 (clock), 31:14 (chip – Nice performance for me that surpassed my expectations, especially after running three track races less than twenty-four hours ago J)

Worcester County
- Francis Scott Key Family Resort “Dash and Splash” Run/Walk Series 5K Race#3 at Stephen Decatur High School (on the track) – Saturday, June 30, 2007 – Berlin – 1st overall/only finisher – 18:52 (clock), 18:50 (watch) – Finished out the Maryland Eastern Shore portion of my endeavor with this event :)

Events outside of Maryland

Delaware

Kent County
- March Moonlight Madness 5K – Thursday, March 1, 2007 – Wyoming – 2nd overall (1st in male 20-29 age group division) – 18:28

District of Columbia – Washington

- Hugh Jascourt Memorial Four Miler – Thursday evening, June 21, 2007 – Northwest Washington D.C./C&O Towpath area – 17th overall – 26:04 (clock), 26:01 (watch)