Running a race around all the general areas of the Cross-Island Trail on Kent Island, Maryland

Saturday, May 15, 2010 - This was last Saturday and that is when I did the inaugural Queen Anne's County Police K-9 Chase 5K in Stevensville (on the Kent Island area of Queen Anne's County), Maryland. This took place at the Terrapin Nature Center area towards western Kent Island right after the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. There is a well-paved and well-shaded trail that runs along Maryland State Route 50 on throughout much of Kent Island called the Cross-Island Trail, and up until this Saturday, I had pretty much done a race on every area of the Cross-Island Trail. However, I had never been to this western section of the trail around the Terrapin Nature Center. That was until God helped me find out about and participate in the inaugural Queen Anne's County Police K-9 Chase 5K.
The race started and ended on the Cross-Island Trail, though just about all of it was on these natural and gravely trails going off the Cross-Island Trail. There was a lot of shade on this course, which was great for me because I feel like this spring I have been more sensitive to the heat and having challenges adjusting to it. Although this race did not really take place ON the Cross-Island Trail as much as I thought it would, I would still say that I had run in the general area of the one area of the trail that I had not run. We had covered quite a bit of ground around it throughout the race.

So when I got there I was one of the first people there (I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to get there in case I hit traffic around the Bay Bridge or got lost on an area of Kent Island I had not been too before). I definitely did not want to miss out on running a race around the only area of the Cross-Island Trail I had not done a race around (not like this has been a goal for me over the years to do, but once I realized that this was the only part of the Cross-Island Trail I had never run on, and then I saw this race, I made it a priority to do so). I left myself plenty of time to stretch and warm-up. However, when I started jogging really short and easy to warm-up, my mouth was feeling dry and I felt pretty tired and that if I got into the race I might get heat exhaustion or something like that. I started praying about it, and I resolved to make this the second race-in-a-row where I would run with a water bottle (a little over a month ago on Saturday, April 10, I had run the inaugural Hills of Milltown Challenge 5K (which I heard was more like 3.45 miles, and I had run with a water bottle about half-way through that hilly course, and that had been my last race before this one in Queen Anne's County). Earlier in the week, I decided to slow my goal at this race from trying to run under 21 minutes to running under 22 minutes, though now I was willing to let that fly out the window and just worry about getting through the race. I really hoped I could finish, preferably without negative incident or feeling really cruddy afterwards. I just kept on drinking and praying. I took like three water bottles from the cooler, one of which I decided to run with and that was about no more than half-full of water by the time I had finished drinking out of it before the race began.
One really notably interesting thing about this race was that since it involved the Queen Anne's County Police K-9, people could run with their behaved dogs on a leash. And believe me, there were a few runners with dogs who got ahead of me by a pretty solid margin.

And on that note, the race started in a pretty tight bottleneck as we ran off of the Cross-Island Trail onto this slighty narrower gravel trail off to the side of the Cross-Island Trail. This worked well for me, because it made for a slower start and I wanted to start slow to pace myself well. The first several minutes I focused on getting into a pace where I could enjoy the energy and not slow up too much to take swigs of water from the water bottle. We took the trail through the woods towards this small beach right by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. About half-way to the beach, this young gentlemen sped past me holding onto his dog's leash, because his dog was bounding ahead of everyone. I was like, "dang, if they keep going that pace, they might win the race!"
As we neared the beach, I hopped over a really small sand dune and I was on the sand. We angled to the left as we entered the beach and we ran on the sand for a really short time before picking up a gravel trail again to run along the outskirts of the small, quiet beach. At this point, I felt like I had slowed because my mouth was feeling fairly dry and I knew I had quite a ways to go, and I felt pretty vulnerable to having the heat really get to me. Since I was going slow, I should have really slowed enough to enjoy the beauty of the placid waters and the feel of the nice sea breeze. Though, there was a larger part of me I think that wanted to press on to make sure I finished. I felt like around this point, the best I could hope to finish this 3.1-mile distance race would probably be somewhere between 23-and-25 minutes thereabouts.
Not long after that point, I was running on this sandy or maybe gravely portion of trail parallel to Route 50, head east. I felt myself huffing and puffing, and knowing that I still had quite a while to go before finishing, I prayed aloud that Jesus would help me through. Within a minute afterwards, the course made a left turn and we ran on this grassy surface down a straight stretch. It was on this stretch heading back towards the woods that a strong breeze came up. Just then, I remembered something that my girlfriend Kay had told me a little over a month ago in regards to my allergies and the pollen in the air, something about trying not to breathe through my mouth (and I am pretty much a mouth breather) too much outside with allergens about, especially in windy weather. Thinking of this, I suddenly felt compelled to close my eyes very briefly as I ran and breathe through my nose. After that, I quickly opened my eyes and before I knew it I was almost to the end of the grassy stretch, and getting closer to the woods. I was catching up to a few other runners (one of which was that gentleman who had running really fast with his dog and blew by me within the first mile of the race). I remember telling that gentlemen that it took real talent to run like he was running with his dog. Somehow, God had blessed me with the ability to tell him that quite coherently when I was running.
And from then on, I felt like God was really helping me power through the rest of the race!
I did not notice much dryness in my mouth after that. In fact, I felt more energized, and I began to pick up the pace.
Sometimes the funny thing about running on trails with a lot of turns and bends is that runners can be less than one-hundred meters behind you or ahead of you (and if you are like me and are used to wearing glasses), yet it may seem like they are miles away from you. Well, once we reached the end of the grassy stretch, I had gained the lead of the pack I was in (not the race, there were probably still many runners ahead of me at this point). There was an ambiguous looking course marker at a junction where the trail either went straight or right, and I had a hunch based on blue ribbons I saw on the right, that we were supposed to angle right, so I ran right and followed the trail through the woods. It did not take long for me to pick up the pace and put some distance between me and the few other runners I had passed back where that fairly heavy breeze hit (and it did feel good as it was getting hotter out). However, after I had made that turn to the right, I did not see any signs of course markings or other people around. At this point, I would not have been surprised if I had been supposed to run straight instead of right, and it would probably only be a matter of time before I saw something or saw someone who would confirm my suspicion that I had taken a wrong turn and that I was probably going to be in this race for longer than I thought I would be.
I think I had started praying about it in probably real jarbled words as I ran, and as the trail wound left, a couple of folks on bikes came from the other way and I asked if they had passed other runners and they said yes. I was so happy to hear this, because this suggested that I had probably been going the right way all along. Not long after going by those folks on their bikes, I saw a course marshal standing by the parking lot where I parked which was also near the entrance of the Cross-Island Trail. They pointed that I run left to make a small loop back through some of the woods to come up the gravely trail towards the finish line area (the one where we had started this race on).
After making this left turn, the grassy trail ahead straightened out long enough for me to see several runners not much further ahead. With renewed energy, I was started to close the gap on them before the course started bending towards the right. After that there were several more turns, and then a course marshal handing out water (I think). Then, very shortly after that, there was a right turn and about 20-30 yards ahead of me was the finish line. Seeing that and seeing that I could actually finish it in under 22 minutes, I bolted towards it and up the slight hill to cross the finish line strongly in 21:48 (well that's what my watch said, yet they got me in around 21:58). I had now run a race in all the areas of Kent Island, Maryland's Cross-Island Trail, and I was very grateful to God to have finished that race, and not only that, but to have finished feeling healthier than when I began.
After catching my breath I looked down, and in my hand I still held my water bottle. This could very well have been the first race I have run carrying a water bottle the whole way through. Another "milestone" race for me :)

I felt pretty well after the race. I drank water and I was able to hang out outside talking to people all the way through the awards ceremony. It was great to meet people and see this one gentleman I had not seen for about a year-and-a-half at least. The heat did not bother me then and I felt quite amped that I ran on the Cross-Island Trail on some parts of it I had not seen by Kent Island High School, and a little beyond to where the Cross-Island Trail goes through Old Love Point Park, and then I turned around. On that walk-jog, I prolly did not put in any more than 3 miles round-trip. It was such a nice morning. Afterwards, I stopped at a deli to pick up lunch, before driving back over the Bay Bridge to meet up with Kay. As I was leaving, the area was growing more crowded in celebration of the Kent Island Day, which happened to be taking place that same weekend!

So I am quite happy about that race! As a result, I finally ran in the one area of the Cross-Island Trail I had never been too. I did find out from a couple of people who ran that race that their odometer on their i-pod-like devices (or whatever they were), said that the course was like 2.9 miles in length instead of the advertised 3.1-mile/5k distance. That did not surprise me or irk me; I thought that running under 22 minutes was a little fast for how relatively chill my pace was towards the beginning. That said, I think my finish time would have been a little over 23 minutes had I kept going at that pace for a 5K, and that would have been more believable of a time for the effort I felt I put into that race. Whether or not they lengthen the course a bit to an actual 5K distance, I think it is a swell race and I hope they have it in the future, because I would probably be quite interested in returning to it. This race helped me feel more confident that God-willing if I keep at running, perhaps later on this spring/summer I can run some 5k distances in under 22 minutes, and hopefully improve from there. I think God treated me much better with this race than I deserved, especially with that burst of energy the last 6-or-7 minutes or so of the race. I was not expecting that, and again, I am was blessed to be a student of God's lesson that He is in charge and in my weakness, He is strong :)


Races I have run on the Cross-Island Trail on Kent Island (Queen Anne's County), Maryland


- Saturday, September 23, 2006 - Inaugural "Run for the Sun/Son" Two-Mile Run - Old Love Point Park, Stevensville - Winner - 13:49 (first mile was about 8:58, and the second was about 4:51)


Saturday, March 21, 2007 - Inaugural Race to Impact 10K Run - Chester - Winner - 38:51 (after finishing this race, I gained some inspiration to try racing in every Maryland county before 2007 was over :)

Saturday, December 8, 2007 - Jingle Bell Run 5K (it was actually a little shorter than a 5K) - Kent Narrows - Winner - 16:29


Saturday, May 15, 2010 - Inaugural Queen Anne's County Police K-9 Chase 5K (around 2.9 miles) - Terrapin Nature Center area - Stevensville - 10th overall - 21:58.9 (as of finishing this race, I have run a race in all the general areas around the Cross Island Trail :)