In the beginning of the year, I signed up for the 13 in 2013 challenge. You could sign up to run 13 races of a specific distance, or choose a variety.
I race a lot and wanted to make it a challenge, but didn’t want to limit myself to a specific distance since that would affect marathon training. I decided I wanted to do 13 races of half marathon distance or longer.
I didn’t have my race schedule fully planned out, and at one point thought it might be tricky to fit them all in. But I kept adding races throughout the year, and even ended up with a bonus race. I even had a surprisingly low number of events at my minimum 13.1 distance — only two!
- Ragnar Florida Keys (my total = 18 miles) — 1/4-1/5/2013
- Shamrock Marathon — 3/17/2013 4:10:12
- Kent Island Metric Marathon (26.2K/16.3mi) — 4/14/2013 2:35:38
- Country Music Marathon — 4/27/2013 4:20:54
- North Face 50K — 6/1/2013 7:42:31
- Rosaryville 25K Trail Race — 7/21/13 3:13:51
- Endless Summer 6-Hour Run — 7/27/2013 31.41 miles
- MD Heat Race 25K — 8/3/2013 4:02:44
- VA Beach Rock ‘n’ Roll 1/2 Marathon — 9/1/2013 2:14:00
- Rock ‘n’ Roll Philly 1/2 Marathon — 9/15/2013 2:01:51
- Howard County Striders Metric Marathon (26.2K/16.3mi) — 9/21/2013 2:46:03
- Annapolis Striders Metric Marathon (26.2K/16.3mi) — 10/6/2013 2:43:58
- Atlantic City Marathon — 10/13/2013 4:41:16
- Marine Corps Marathon — 10/27/2013 5:43:44
I usually do a lot of races, but this year was just crazy. I’ve previously only ever done two full marathons in one calendar year, and I did four in 2013. Plus two 50Ks (Endless Summer 6-Hour I got past the 50K mark). I would have added a third if I didn’t get injured during fall marathon season!
Below the half-marathon distance, I also raced:
- Shamrock 8K — 3/16/2013 (Yes, the day before the marathon, for the Whale Challenge)
- Cherry Pit 10 Miler — 4/7/2013
- Columbia Triathlon — 5/19/2013 (Olympic Distance 1500m swim / 25-mile bike / 10K run)
- Baltimore 10 Miler — 6/15/2013
- Father’s Day 10K — 6/16/2013
- Women’s Distance Festival 5K — 7/13/2013
- John Wall One Mile — 7/20/2013
- Dog Days 8K — 8/4/2013
- Charles Street 12 Miler — 8/10/2013
- Iron Girl Sprint Triathlon — 8/18/2013 (1000m swim / 16-mile bike / 3.3-mile run)
- Annapolis 10 Mile Run — 8/25/2013
- Patuxent Run for the Refuge 5K — 9/29/2013
- Camp Letts Turkey Chase — 11/28/2013
- Celtic Solstics 5 Mile Run — 12/14/2013
- Anniversary Run 15K — 12/8/2013
And while not technically a race, it still deserves a mention:
- Amish Country Bike Tour 100K — 9/7/2013
And this isn’t a race either (no time, just a little over a mile), but it came with a T-shirt and got me out of my comfort zone:
- Santa Speedo Run — 12/21/2013
Phew!
It seems I may have gotten my numbers mixed up. 31 in 2013?
I enjoyed this challenge, but I will not be signing up for 14 in 2014. I have to make sure I’m healthy and injury-free for my first half ironman triathlon! I am signed up for Raleigh June 1, and will not let myself do anything longer than a half marathon until after the race!
I’m happy to stick to shorter distances for now, and will gradually build mileage again when my running club’s half marathon training group starts up in a few weeks. But I’ll just be there for the company, I may not always do all the mileage.
It’s actually nice that I’m not training for any races for a little while!