I can’t say enough good things about today’s race. The Queen City Marathon is a small event in Cumberland, Maryland about 2 hours West of Baltimore. A marathon (42.2km, 26.2mi) and a metric marathon (26.2km, 16.2 mi) started the first 5 miles out and back on the very flat C&O (Chesapeake and Ohio) canal towpath and then sent us up a gradual incline on the Great Allegheny Passage Rail Trail for about 11 miles and turned around to finish the last 11 miles down the same gradual decline. The beautiful sites of a turn of the century trade city nestled into the Alleghenies, enthusiastic support at every single aid station, homemade soup after, and it benefits a charity providing clean water for drinking and hygiene in the developing world. This is why I love small events. It was another disappointing finish, but a finish nonetheless. I seem to be chasing 5:00 more than 4:00 these days. 17 states left for the second go around. Fun fact: Cumberland is known as the Queen City because it was once the second largest city in Maryland. That title now goes to Columbia.
