Run to The Rock

On Saturday Heather and I were up real early to make the trek down to Plymouth MA for the Run to The Rock. This event is pretty cool, you have three races, a 5k, a 10k, and a half marathon which all start at the same time in different parts of town and run towards downtown. The finish line for all three races is right at Plymouth Rock. The finish area is right on the waterfront which is a great venue for the post race cookout and awards ceremony.

Heather dropped me off at the half marathon start and she headed off to the 10k start. I checked in and got my number and then it was time to head out for my warm up. It was raining pretty good as it had been all morning. The goal today was to get in a long mileage day and a good workout during the race. So my warm up was 5 miles easy on the first part of the course, I felt pretty good warming up despite the very wet conditions. While warming up I ran into Dan Yifru, he is training for Chicago and is a very good runner. I also knew that Steve Infacelli was running the half, so I knew the field of runners would be pretty solid at the front. After my warm up I got changed into my flats and headed to the starting line. There I chatted with Steve and Dan to find out that we were all looking to run a workout as we are all preparing for a fall marathon. My goal for this "race" was to keep a pace around 5:40-5:45 for the first 7 to 8 miles of the race then pick it up a little bit to close out the race strong. This course is rolling hills almost the whole way, so if I could keep my goal pace on this course I would be very happy.

As the race went off four of us went right to the front. Steve, Dan, a guy I didn't know, and myself led out race and into the down hill first mile. Things were pretty comfortable and everyone seemed good with the pace. The first mile past in 5:34 with Dan and Steve leading our group of four. This was a touch fast but it was OK as most of the mile was downhill. The next mile we settled in and started hitting the rolling hills that this course has plenty of. Our next mile passed in 5:49. We all stayed together as we made our way to the third mile which passed in 5:55. It was here that I went to the front, I figured that I wanted a pace a bit closer to 5:40, so I picked it up a bit expecting at least Steve and Dan if not all three guys to come along. Before I knew it there was a small gap and I was on my own. Not exactly what I wanted, but I felt comfortable so I went with it. I figured this would be a good test of my concentration and pacing abilities while on my own. The fourth mile went by in 5:30. I was surprised it was that fast but I felt great. The rest of the race was pretty much uneventful. I even picked it up at the end and finished very strong, which I was very excited about. My splits are below.

Mile 1: 5:35

Mile 2: 5:49
Mile 3: 5:56
Mile 4: 5:31

Mile 5: 5:32

Mile 6: 5:40
Mile 7: 5:33

Mile 8: 5:35
Mile 9: 5:37

Mile 10: 5:40

Mile 11: 5:42

Mile 12: 5:28

Mile 13: 5:19

Mile 13.1: 0:31

Total time 1:13:29

Also want to say congratulations to Heather on a great race and a new PR for 10k! This despite being led off course half way through the race and running a bit of extra mileage. Nice job "girling" the whole men's field!

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Results

I do feel the need to mention that this race had some issues this year. Runners on both the half marathon and 10k courses were either led off course or ran off course due to lack of course marking or lack of volunteers at turns. There were also a number of water stops that had no volunteers. The good news is I talked to the race director and she was more than happy to hear my concerns and the concerns of others. I hope that she can work to bring this race up to the proper standards in the future because it could be a great event!