Stavros Beach Run 2021

Friday, September 10, 2021

Westerly, RI

I used the auto assign bib number feature in RunSignup,
and since I apparently registered first,
I got this assignment, which I'll keep as a momento.

34th annual Charlie Stavros Memorial On the Beach Run.  This was my 19th straight year running this race.  Besides being unique in that I don't know of a single other beach race around here, it is one of my annual favorites.

I just love the event from start to finish, including the post-race festivities, which we were allowed to resume this year!  Unfortunately, the downside of wearing my two hats of both Race Director and race participant keeps me so busy the entire time that it just seems to be over in a flash, and with it, the end of the summer evening racing events.

After helping with start/finish line setup, I got about a 3/4 mile warm-up on the beach before it was time to get runners to the start and give quick pre-race instructions to those gathered. With SNERRO's downsizing and departure from the RI race scene, this would be our 3rd race that we were on our own to time.  By now, we had more familiarity with the timing, bib tear-off collection, and the timing clock we would bought early in the summer.  It all went like clockwork (yeah, terrible pun).  Well almost.  With everyone lined up and ready to go, I was alerted that the timer didn't have the timing machine needed to start.  Oops.  I embarrassingly kept everyone waiting while I ran to my car to get the timing machine.

Giving some brief pre-race remarks before the start.
Nice to revert to a mass start after 2020!
(All pics courtesy of Jana,
unless otherwise noted)

Start:   With a wide starting line I had made by dragging my heel on the sand, there was plenty of room for me to line up in the first row.  I asked Nick Bottone if he would take the honor of starting the race, which he was happy to do.  

Finish line chute, including our new clock,
just before the start of race

Mile 1:  I was waiting for a number of high schoolers to blast past me at the start, but it didn't happen this year like it did in so many of the past.  A more disciplined group?  Once positions quickly settled, it was three high schoolers, then teammate Dave just ahead of me (in 5th) and teammate Nick alongside me or just slightly behind.  I knew the top two guys (Jake Serra, Nick Cozzolino) were legit, but I didn't recognize the 3rd high schooler in a blue and yellow singlet.  The 3rd high schooler and Dave were both wearing shoes, but that didn't stop Dave from running a straight line right through the water!  Mile 1 split was 5:40!  Very fast for me running barefoot on the sand, although to be fair slightly aided by a 10mph wind out of the NW.

And we're off

A group of 63 of us head out towards Weekapaug
on a beautiful evening

Mile 2:  About this time, I could no longer hear Nick's footsteps behind me, but I was gaining slowly on Dave and "Blue & Yellow" as I approached the turnaround (Weekapaug Breachway).  As I rounded the cone and thanked Eric (probably more of an incoherent mumble) for manning the turnaround, Dave was just ahead of me.  I quickly caught up to Dave and went past him as he said, "Good job" and gave me a thumbs up.  I generally tried to pick a straight line tangent right along the shore where the sand was hard, but as the mid-packers were coming directly at me, sometimes I had to skew slightly into the water or slightly higher up on the beach.  Towards the end of Mile 2, I caught up to Blue & Yellow, but he was much higher up on the beach, presumably because he got tired of having to run up on the beach each time a wave broke?  Mile 2 pace 6:05.

Mile 3:  The finish line was in sight, but I knew not to fall for that false apparition that it is right in front of me.  I also didn't want to keep looking at my watch to see the distance, so I relied on other factors to gauge remaining distance.  For example, when I heard my watch beep, I knew I had a mile to go (obviously) and when I got to the iconic A-frame house, I knew there was "only" a half-mile to go.  My pace felt fine despite my heavy panting, and this was not the time to be complacent as I had no idea where my competitors were, so I picked it up ever so slightly.

I watched in the distance in front of me as Jake crossed into the finishing chute and then Nick C, albeit they were both way ahead of me.  As I came up close to the chute myself and the clock came into focus, I was very surprised to see it showing "17:41" and ticking away.    Is it possible to get under 18?!!  I hugged the shoreline as long as possible before heading into the softer sand at the chute.  Turns out I had plenty of time to make it under 18.

Pic courtesy of Bob Kerwin

Sub-18!

Final result:  17:54, 5:58 average pace!  3rd out of 63.  Full results here.

I looked up my past results, and found that not only was this the first time I had broken 18 minutes in this 3-mile race in 5 years, but even the first time I had gone sub-18:15 in five years!  (I ran 17:46 in 2016, and my fastest time on the course was way back at the tender age of 50 when I won the race in 17:26.)  Very happy with a sub-6 pace tonight in the sand!

Watching the finishers come in after me, it turns out that neither Dave nor Blue & Yellow were chasing me down (30 seconds and 1 minute behind me, respectively), but Nick was just ten seconds behind me!

Some of the Team WTAC runners out there today

I finished my 19th consecutive Stavros Beach Run, but for perhaps the first time in the 19 years, did not dive into the ocean.  That's OK.  I'm able to run and that's most important.  Caught up with a number of runners and volunteers alike post-run, and for the first WTAC race since before the pandemic, we were able to have real food!  Enjoyed some pizza and an orange while mingling and listening to Nick and then Jeanne Stavros speak.

Always fun mingling on the deck post-race.

Nick Bottone handing Jeanne Stavros a hand-carved
piece of driftwood as a race memento

And then I turned my attention to starting to clean things up, and there was so little to do because our awesome volunteers had already cleaned up pretty much everything and stacked a number of the supplies right next to my car.  Awesome!  I locked up the beach pavilion and was just about ready to leave when the town recreation director (who also ran in the race) stopped by and asked if I needed anything else.  Just a great group of people at the race, from the always polite and appreciative group of runners, to the awesome volunteers we get, and the town rec staff that allow us to use the pavilion each year for this event.

I love and now look forward to my favorite season of running (fall), but there is something sad about the end of the summer fun run races.  Sigh.

The sun sets on another great summer racing season,
literally and figuratively.
(Pic by Paul Gray)