beach 2 beacon 10k

ive said it before, but the beach 2 beacon 10k race in cape elizabeth is my all time favorite race. ever. hands down. it was developed by joan benoit samuelson, its in my hometown, its along the ocean, the volunteers/crowd support is amazing... there are just so many things that make this race truly outstanding. im sad it has to be capped at 6000 (up from about 3500 when it first started i think) because a lot of people miss out, but if you are able to get in, you MUST put this on your race bucket list.

ty was out of town for a work golf tournament on thursday and friday, and he didnt get home until about 11:30pm friday night. couple that with his lack of training and someone was not excited when the alarm went off at 5:30am saturday morning. we left our house about 6:15, knowing how bad the traffic has been in the past but had very few issues getting to my parents house, about a mile from the starting line.

my parents neighbor, amanda, walked over and met up with us before my mom drove us to the starting line. it was already in the low 70's and it felt rather humid, so i knew this race was going to be a hot one, although the news said they felt conditions were ideal for a potential course record breaking day. we dropped off our stuff at the baggage bus and met up with some friends, and walked up towards the crowd at the starting line. amanda and i both agreed our nerves were making us feel like we had to pee, so we decided to brave the woods (along with a lot of others not wanting to wait in the line for the bathrooms).

amanda, me, and ty pre race

they coral you in like cattle at the start (see aerial photos below) so it was difficult to get into a good spot, but we found a small opening right around the 8:00pace sign and settled in there. before we knew it the national anthem was being sung, the wheelchair race started, and then the gun went off for the race start. its stop and go for a minute or so, and then we crossed the starting line. weaving in and out of the crowd we settled into a spot and got comfy, running about 7:55s for a few minutes. about a half mile into the race i saw Jen and we chatted for a bit. my goal was to stay around 8s or 8:15s, so i continued on. 

i felt great for the first 3 miles, albeit VERY hot and sweaty. i couldnt even keep my sunglasses on cuz they kept fogging up. i knew a PR was out of my reach by the halfway point so i just enjoyed the scenery, the music and crowd lining the streets, and just kept running. i met up with Terri Ann, a woman i met last year at the first race of 12 in 2010, and chatted with her as we trudged up one of the many hills in the last mile. i told her i felt i needed to walk and she said to me "push through it, just like old times"... and push through it i did. she told me just what i needed to hear at that moment, and i gave it my all.

my finish wasnt my best, but it wasnt my worst either, and i smiled crossing the finish line. 

gun time: 52:23

net time: 51:06 (pace 8:14)

age group place: 90/471

overall place: 1739/5875

splits: 8:01, 8:01, 8:06, 8:09, 8:16, 8:45, 1:48 (yeah, that damn 5th mile bloooows)

                                       

ty made it too 1:06:28

ty and vince, thumbs down to our friend jamie not running with us

me and amanda

a big group of awesome runners

(and i finally met Jen!)

sarah, maddy, brendan, and me

i also "ran" into Hollie at the finish line... she came up to me and introduced herself :) the running community through daily mile and twitter has been so awesome!

the following pics are courtesy of Kevin Morris via helicoptor

starting line

finish line view 1

finish line view 2

hoping to run/walk once more next year, make it my 10th beach 2 beacon race :) care to join me?