Each runner has own unique training method
Runners come in all shapes and sizes. So too do their preparation routines for races such as Saturday’s 19th annual Baltimore Running Festival.
To be fair, there are some common threads. Many of the competitors will log a certain number of training miles to brace themselves for the rigors of the marathon’s 26.2-mile route that begins at South Paca and Camden streets near the Brooks Robinson statue outside of Orioles Park at Camden Yards and ends on East Pratt Street near the Transamerica Building at the Inner Harbor.
Steps will be taken to ensure that each runner’s health and strength is at or near its peak. And every fabric of clothing and piece of equipment will be checked and doublechecked to avoid any unforeseen disasters. But the marathon embraces differences. “We have one finish-line structure for a reason,” said Dave Gell, a spokesman for Corrigan Sports Enterprises, which is helping to coordinate the Baltimore Run
ning Festival. “The Baltimore Running Festival celebrates runners of all ages and abilities. Our Pratt Street finish line hopefully serves both as the completion of a goal, and the start of even bigger things to come for every runner.”
Here is how several participants of Saturday’s marathon approached preparing for the race:
Avoiding dad bod
On his race bio, Andrew Madison wrote that he opted to run in this year’s Baltimore Marathon because he “wanted to take a crack at winning it before the dad bod sets in.”
Madison, a 32-year-old Catonsville resident who works as an actuary for Medicare in Woodlawn, has not run in a marathon since the 2016 New York Marathon, saying he decided to wait until his 15-month-old son Lochlan could sleep through the night.
“I was like, ‘Yeah, I think I can function and train hard again,’” he said.
Madison said he runs six to eight miles during his lunch break from Monday through Friday, 15 to 20 miles on Saturday, and eight to 10 miles on Sunday.
The other part of the equation is his diet. Since cutting out chili and other greasy foods, reducing the number of nights he has grilled meats, and trimming his alcoholic intake to a single beer per week, Madison said he has lost about five to six pounds from his 6-foot-3, 180-pound frame.
“When you cut out trash, in a few weeks, you feel a whole lot better,” he said. “I definitely lost some weight after doing that. In a marathon, that adds up when you’re trying to run quickly.”
‘I feel pretty nervous’