Thursday, September 13, 2018
Westerly, RI
I just had such a fun time. I know I probably say that after a lot of races that I run, but for all its simplicity of 1.5 miles out, 1.5 miles back, there is something unique and fun about this race on the beach at low tide at end of summer that really makes it one of my annual favorites.
Planning: As with all of our club races, we start the planning the November of the previous year, in order to get on calendars, start the sanctioning/insurance process, secure our timing company, etc. In the case of this particular race, it also means looking up tide charts to find the optimal post-Labor Day weekday to hold the race. With big storm surges today, we couldn't run at the lowest hardest spot on the beach, lest we be running in knee-deep water when the waves came in. But it all worked out.
Race day: I got there later than I would have liked (story of my life), but we still had time and ample volunteer help to get set up and ready. In fact, of all of our club events, this one is the easiest to put on. No course marking, no bibs, facility includes tables, chairs, and bathrooms comes pre-setup for us, courtesy of the town. The town has been a fantastic supporter, and we open the beautiful pavilion and restrooms for use. I kept my pre-race remarks to a bare minimum, and we started the race promptly at 6:00 sharp.
Off we go: With the uttering of the word "GO!" from Way, we were off. More than half of tonight's runners were aged 18 and under (57%, actually, but I won't quibble). I give you that fact as it set the stage for what inevitably happened at the "gun": despite my start on the front line, a plethora of high school runners just blew by me like I was standing still. My immediate fears that the rest of the field would soon blow by me and I would finish in the back half were, fortunately, unfounded. After a mile, I had gradually moved up to 10th place.
Picking off runners: I caught up to Tyler as we were getting to Seaside, with the 1/2 way turnaround in sight, and went past him. He put up a fight, and ended up re-taking me. I didn't want to use a lot more energy with more than half the race to go, so I let it go. His resurgence didn't last too long, as just before the turnaround, I caught and passed him again for good. Saw Steve and Polly at the turnaround, and now had eight WHS runners ahead of me.
I caught John Turo next, but based on Tyler putting up a fight and John coming back to repass me at Bottone Mile last month, I didn't take it for granted. I ran by myself for a while and slowly edged up on Sebastian. With about 1/2 mile to go (didn't look at my watch, but I know where the 1/2 mile mark is from swimming here), I was right behind Sebastian, and when a big wave came in pushing him up on the beach to run around it, I took advantage of the fact that he was shod and I was not, and I ran through the ensuing wave in a straight line and passed him. Something resonated from school about the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Six runners ahead of me and closing in slightly on Aaron. Didn't know if I would be able to take any more runners, as they can all out-kick me. Came up on Aaron with the town beach (finish) now clearly in sight in front of us, and decided my attempt to pass him would have to be swift and even accelerating. I did just that and never looked back. I was gaining also on Sam (5th place) and Colby (4th), but just didn't have enough room to execute.
Final results: 18:40, 6th overall. First non-high-school runner.
Post race was a blur. I congratulated the people immediately ahead of and behind me, as well as my next adult competitor, new WTAC member Eric Ciocca, who will be sporting his new WTAC singlet at Chicago Marathon next month. Colby said he felt I was coming after him, which was interesting. After a jump in the ocean, some brief remarks on the microphone, catching up with runners and the Stavros family, and sampling all the awesome food, it seemed the night was over and it was time to clean up. Such a fun night. I just love this event.
Looking back across the years: Post-race I got a text from Matthew saying that he had run the race the prior twelve years straight. Hmmm. Got me thinking, and I went back and checked my own history on this race. I had thought the Blessing was the only streak I had going, where I've run Blessing all 16 years since I took up running at age 39. No, it turns out that I've also run Stavros sixteen years in a row! Well, I'll be. (I don't know what I'll be, but I'll be.) In those 16 years, I've placed second 4 times, and won the race outright once in my 3-mile PR of 17:26. Here's to the next 16 years straight of running Stavros!
Westerly, RI
I just had such a fun time. I know I probably say that after a lot of races that I run, but for all its simplicity of 1.5 miles out, 1.5 miles back, there is something unique and fun about this race on the beach at low tide at end of summer that really makes it one of my annual favorites.
Planning: As with all of our club races, we start the planning the November of the previous year, in order to get on calendars, start the sanctioning/insurance process, secure our timing company, etc. In the case of this particular race, it also means looking up tide charts to find the optimal post-Labor Day weekday to hold the race. With big storm surges today, we couldn't run at the lowest hardest spot on the beach, lest we be running in knee-deep water when the waves came in. But it all worked out.
 |
| The waves were impressive tonight, and took away some of our low tide runnable area. |
Race day: I got there later than I would have liked (story of my life), but we still had time and ample volunteer help to get set up and ready. In fact, of all of our club events, this one is the easiest to put on. No course marking, no bibs, facility includes tables, chairs, and bathrooms comes pre-setup for us, courtesy of the town. The town has been a fantastic supporter, and we open the beautiful pavilion and restrooms for use. I kept my pre-race remarks to a bare minimum, and we started the race promptly at 6:00 sharp.
Off we go: With the uttering of the word "GO!" from Way, we were off. More than half of tonight's runners were aged 18 and under (57%, actually, but I won't quibble). I give you that fact as it set the stage for what inevitably happened at the "gun": despite my start on the front line, a plethora of high school runners just blew by me like I was standing still. My immediate fears that the rest of the field would soon blow by me and I would finish in the back half were, fortunately, unfounded. After a mile, I had gradually moved up to 10th place.
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| Start of the race. Most are barefoot. |
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| If I'm counting correctly, early in the race with a surge of front runners, I'm quickly set back to 22nd place (red arrow on right of above pic) |
Picking off runners: I caught up to Tyler as we were getting to Seaside, with the 1/2 way turnaround in sight, and went past him. He put up a fight, and ended up re-taking me. I didn't want to use a lot more energy with more than half the race to go, so I let it go. His resurgence didn't last too long, as just before the turnaround, I caught and passed him again for good. Saw Steve and Polly at the turnaround, and now had eight WHS runners ahead of me.
I caught John Turo next, but based on Tyler putting up a fight and John coming back to repass me at Bottone Mile last month, I didn't take it for granted. I ran by myself for a while and slowly edged up on Sebastian. With about 1/2 mile to go (didn't look at my watch, but I know where the 1/2 mile mark is from swimming here), I was right behind Sebastian, and when a big wave came in pushing him up on the beach to run around it, I took advantage of the fact that he was shod and I was not, and I ran through the ensuing wave in a straight line and passed him. Something resonated from school about the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Six runners ahead of me and closing in slightly on Aaron. Didn't know if I would be able to take any more runners, as they can all out-kick me. Came up on Aaron with the town beach (finish) now clearly in sight in front of us, and decided my attempt to pass him would have to be swift and even accelerating. I did just that and never looked back. I was gaining also on Sam (5th place) and Colby (4th), but just didn't have enough room to execute.
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| Just before the finish: Me (back) closing in on Sam (just ahead of me) and Colby (orange), but it is not to happen. |
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| Sam's form is breaking down. I just need a little more runway ... |
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| Still very happy with my finish, and happy to be out here injury free. |
Final results: 18:40, 6th overall. First non-high-school runner.
Post race was a blur. I congratulated the people immediately ahead of and behind me, as well as my next adult competitor, new WTAC member Eric Ciocca, who will be sporting his new WTAC singlet at Chicago Marathon next month. Colby said he felt I was coming after him, which was interesting. After a jump in the ocean, some brief remarks on the microphone, catching up with runners and the Stavros family, and sampling all the awesome food, it seemed the night was over and it was time to clean up. Such a fun night. I just love this event.
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| A crowd gathers at the finish line (between the green "Start" and "Finish" flags) |
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| Frolicking fun post-race |
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| Jeanne Stavros (lower right) serving up the race's trademark pizza. (Jeanne is Charlie's sister-in-law; the race is a memorial to WTAC member Charlie who died in a road race in Westerly in 1993) |
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| Plenty of other food as well |
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| True enough, Eric. On both counts. |
Looking back across the years: Post-race I got a text from Matthew saying that he had run the race the prior twelve years straight. Hmmm. Got me thinking, and I went back and checked my own history on this race. I had thought the Blessing was the only streak I had going, where I've run Blessing all 16 years since I took up running at age 39. No, it turns out that I've also run Stavros sixteen years in a row! Well, I'll be. (I don't know what I'll be, but I'll be.) In those 16 years, I've placed second 4 times, and won the race outright once in my 3-mile PR of 17:26. Here's to the next 16 years straight of running Stavros!
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