Beach to Beacon 10K

On August 7th Heather and I went up to Cape Elizabeth Maine for the 13th Beach to Beacon 10k. This race is one of the biggest and fastest 10k road races in the world. The race attracts some of the fastest runners not only in the northeast, and the US, but in the world. I ran this race last year and had a blast, I was really looking forward to getting another chance to run this great event. Last year I ran 33:12 good for 44th place overall. I was actually pretty happy with this result as I had just got back to racing after a long layoff due to a hamstring injury. This year I wanted to be faster. I went in with three goals. The first to beat last years time, the second to run 5:18 pace (32:51), the third and my reach goal was to run a personal best.

After waking very early and making the long drive up to Cape Elizabeth Heather and I collected our race numbers and went back to the car to relax. The weather could not have been better for an August race, it was cool, the humidity was low, and there was a slight breeze. Soon it was time to warm up, we did two miles real easy, then threw on the racing shoes and headed for the starting line. Getting up to the front took some time, but we made it with plenty of time to spare and got to see the wheelchair racers go off. We also got to see and hear Joan Benoit Samuelson welcome all the runners to this event that she a large part in getting going.

Then it was time to race! The gun went off and I fought my way through the slower traffic that some how managed to get elite numbers. I actually did a much better job at this than last year and got myself into a good position early on. I tried to stay relaxed knowing that the first mile is fast and that I would get carried along by the large group of runners in front of me. I went through the first mile in 5:02, which was fast, but expected. The next mile I settled in and felt pretty good. I was still slowly passing a lot of guys and elite woman who got out quick in the first mile. I even remember passing marathon great Catherine Ndereba of Kenya at this point. Around this same time I hooked up with a pretty big group of younger, probably college aged guys. I would spend most of the rest of the race with some of this group. We passed the second mile in 10:24 (5:22 mile) a bit slower than I wanted but overall I was still in good shape thanks to a quick first mile. I was feeling pretty good still, but starting to wonder when it would all fall apart for me. Through the next mile the group of guys I was with started to get smaller as quite a few guys went off the back, it probably had something to do with the 5:06 third mile (15:30 overall) we were putting in. After a quick climb up a small hill we hit the 5k (half way) mark in 16:08. At this point I was really starting to feel it. I was thinking that maybe I had gone a bit to quick and that the rest of this race was probably going to hurt a lot. I was also thinking, I could still hit my goal of 32:51 if I just relaxed and ran 16:43 for the second half of the race. I was also thinking about the hilly section in the last mile that was probably going to hurt my chances of finishing near my goal. Over the forth mile the group I was with pretty much disappeared as guys fell off the pace and some picked it up. By the 4th mile (20:51, 5:21 mile) I was pretty much on my own and really just trying to concentrate on keeping my pace up and taking things one step at a time. I was just thinking about getting to the 5 mile mark, which I got to in 25:58 (5:07 mile). Thanks to some slight downhill in the 5th mile I was able to put together a quick mile and I was thinking that I would still have a pretty good shot at a good time if I could just survive the hills late in the 6th mile. The 6th mile hurt a lot. I really tried to get after it and push up the hills the best that I could, but I was hurting. By the time I made it to the top of the hills and made the turn into the fort I was toast. I had 3-4 guys blow by me as I headed towards the 6th mile mark. Which I hit in 31:31 (5:33 mile). At this point I did everything I could to run as fast as I could down the path to the finish, which was slightly downhill. I actually thought I might have a slight chance at my PR (32:34) if I could put together a good sprint to the finish. I hit the line not knowing what my time was....but I knew it was going to be really close to my PR. I would have to wait till the official results were posted.

After watching Heather finish we went for a cool down and then we headed over to the results board to see the official results. I finished in 32:33.7 good for 48th place and a new 10k personal best!!! I was pumped! I really didn't see this race coming out like this at all. I never thought I was even close to PR shape. I guess the miles from earlier in the year and the recent "rest" set me up for a strong run. Even better was learning that Heather also ran a personal best for 10K! So it was a great day for both of us out there.

Results

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I am at about the 1:30 mark.