The Zooma Annapolis Half Marathon and 10K took place the weekend after Memorial Day. My bestie and I decided to make a weekend out of the event. So we booked a hotel room walking distance from the race on Main Street. I met up with my fellow Race Ambassadors on Friday evening for some chit chat and delicious bites are BAROAK

Ambassadors at BAROAK                                    photo courtesy of yousignedupforwhat

After the meet up, I headed towards Level to meet up with Rachel and Justine for more food. On the way, I bumped into my friend Christine and her mama, who were running the 10K in the morning and made plans to meet up and walk over together. Unfortunately, I was a bit nauseous at the time so I just munched on bread and soda water at the restaurant.

The Zooma swag bag did not disappoint. We got a tech tee, journal, and features socks all in a recyclable Zooma bag.

Race morning we were up bright and early. We made it to Dunkin Donuts at 6:10 AM and they were closed. (disappointing doesn’t even begin to cover it. So we collected ourselves and started the mile-ish walk over to the start.

Zooma Race Ambassadors at the start

Course map

Before the start, I met up with some friends running either the 10K or the half. At this point, most of us were already sweating. The humidity was out of control and the sun was shining bright.

The whole gang pre-race.

In our delusional AM state, we thought this was funny. (and I still think it is!) HAHA 7min miles… right away

Thus begins the onslaught on Snaps!

GU… YUM?

1 Mile down… 12 to go!

Mile 3 at the Waterfront. Not sure what I’m doing with my body. 

Miles 1- 5.5 have gently rolling hills and runs through the more historic district of Annapolis. It was beautiful.

Once at the bridge, we could steady feel the heat starting to rise and it definitely started to take it’s toll. By mile 6, I was walking a lot more and walked almost every hill I saw.

OMG. Hills. Hills. Hills.

On the back half of the half marathon the hills were challenging. Like so challenging. Between the heat and the sun, I was spent by mile 8. It was here that I readjusted my goals. No longer was a running for time, I was going to just finish. The last time I was this warm at I race I fainted at the end. In order to avoid that, I began to just enjoy the experience.

Hills from the back half of the course.

Volunteers on the course were fantastic. They were so supportive and had some fantastic signs, like the one below.

Loved the fantastic race volunteers

View from the bridge.

At the end, I am glad that I finished. It was one of my slowest races, but I finished. This was a tough race for me, and it was tough to choose to take it easy. However, I am glad that I listened to my body.

We finished and didn’t melt completely.

Love the Zooma Bling.

After the race we stopped by the Barefoot wine stand for some much deserved libations! Once done, we made our way back to the hotel for showers. We cleaned up and began to hit the town! Annapolis is a fantastic city and it’s the perfect place for a girlie weekend.

Overall I enjoyed the experience and would totally run it again. However, this time I would either run the 10K or prepare on hills a bit more. I would recommend Zooma races to all women. It is such a welcoming group that I am proud to be a part to it.

Thanks Zooma for letting me participate in this race as am Ambassador! I had a fantastic experience.

Have ever run a Zooma race? Ever run a race in Annapolis? Would you do the Half or 10K? What’s your thoughts on hills? Heat? or Humidity?

Disclaimer: I am being providing complimentary race entry to Zooma Annapolis, but all opinions are my own!