finish on the 50- 10k

back in march i made a decision that is not normal to me: i didnt sign tyler and i up for the beach 2 beacon 10k. ive run that race 9 times and it is by far a "must do" race. seriously, travel up here to the great state of maine for this 10k. you will absolutely not regret it. however, it would cost almost $100 for us to run it, and i just figured we would take a year off & let our spots be taken by hopefully two people who have never run it before (this race sells out in about 8 minutes, no joke).
   **of course all my friends got into the race this year... yes i have like 10 friends, whatever... and so now im a little jealous... but hopefully i can go cheer them all on!!

shortly after not signing us up for b2b, an active schwaggle deal came to my inbox about a 10k that finishes on the 50 yard line of gillette stadium where the new england patriots play. for $17. um YES. so i bought two, and told ty he was running too :) he loves it when i force him to run (sense the sarcasm).

i made him a nice 3 month training program which he followed perfectly (.....nope). but to his credit he is very busy with work and needs his beauty sleep ;) needless to say he wasnt extremely excited when the day actually arrived, it was 90 degrees at 5pm, and we were headed towards the start line.

the pre race beers helped a bit i think...

clearly this is perfect pre race carb loading

in hindsight, it would have been awesome to head down to the stadium and hang out there for the day but we showed up around 4:30 and walked around patriot place for a bit, picked up our bibs, sat in the car (air conditioning is lovely) and then changed and walked out to the start (race started at 6pm). there were a lot of people and a small road to start out on, but it quickly spread out. as we ran through the start line we saw the patriots mascot and patriots player Jerod Mayo with his wife. hes no gronk or brady, but its was pretty cool for him to be there.

watching the kids run
note: our race finishes running out the helmet... SO COOL!

it was so hot the camera lens fogged up on my phone

someone was clearly excited to run

someone is OMGalwaysexcitedtorun!!!

we had just been talking about this episode and then we saw this shirt at the start!

it was pretty hot when we started but the roads outside the stadium were faily shaded and there was a cool breeze. i wont go as far as saying it was "cool", but it wasnt as hot as i had expected it to be (minus the stretch in the parking lot that has just recently been repaved. thanks for that, gillette). we ran thru the parking lot and out of the park on the back entrance that im assuming the players drive in on. then the course weaved through neighborhoods in foxborough.

the only downside i found to this race was discovered at the first water stop.... the water was WARM! ugh. either they did a poor job of cooling the water before the race, or it was just really that hot and we ran too slow to get warm water. this will not deter me from doing this race again, but cold water would have been nice. the volunteers were excellent though, some of them juggling 4 cups of water at a time!

we ran the first mile in 9:15 and then started slowing down after that, which i was perfectly fine with. the back of my leg had been giving me a little trouble and i didnt want to hurt it more, and i loved running with ty. HE did not love running with me though... i kept bugging him to make sure he was ok, and he wouldnt talk to me so i thought he was mad, and i wanted to sing and dance and that was just totally not entertaining to him (im always entertaining to myself, and thats probably it haha). but alas, our marriage didnt end at the finish line and for that i am thankful ;)

coming back into the stadium

just before mile 6 we turned back onto that back entrance road again and i was so excited for the upcoming/ much anticipated finish. we turned a corner and headed into the tunnel....

this pic sucks cuz i didnt want to stop to take it but it was such an awesome feeling!

and as we came out of the tunnel i just took it all in (i had never been to a game before at this stadium)... i can only imagine what its like running out of there with thousands of screaming fans! what a rush! i saw the finish line ahead and i heard the announcers butcher say our names, and we sprinted in for a strong finish! ty looked up and saw us cross on the jumbotron (that i missed, booooo) and he had a huge smile on his face! we didnt make his time goal but after we crossed the finish line he said "this is so cool! i will definitely do this race again!" yes! (and looking at the results he finished one second before me haha. youre welcome for that, ty)

after running through the finish line

then we heard the announcers say that team hoyt was coming across the finish line and i was able to snap this photo. they are simply amazing. (we had passed them shortly before coming into the tunnel)

team hoyt finishing

dont let his silly face fool you, he had a great time!

the jumbo tron showing the finish line

this was by far the best finish line of any race i have ever done, and i was so happy that ty came and was able to experience it with me. we are both huge pats fans and to be able to be inside the stadium and right down on the field was incredible (despite that it really didnt actually "finish on the 50" yard line since the revolution soccer field was out, not the football field markings). i cant wait to do this race again, hopefully next year!