Cape Elizabeth, Maine
Saturday, August 6, 2022
After my two previous attempts to run this race failed, mostly due to the COVID pandemic, the third time (this year) was the charm. This race typically opens on a spring morning at 7am and sells out in mere minutes.
Cape Elizabeth is about a 3 1/2 hour drive from Westerly, without traffic. Bib pickup race morning was only allowed if absolutely needed and pre-arranged. Therefore, ideally one would stay in the Cape Elizabeth vicinity the night before. But having just recently spent ten days on a European vacation, and now waiting to the last minute, we were looking at hotel prices for the night mostly around the $500 mark. So we did indeed arrange for bib pickup that morning at the Cape Elizabeth High School, but that would close at 7:15am as would shuttle service from the high school to the race start. Leaving a buffer of 45 minutes for checking in and showing required COVID-19 vaccination proof, I wasn't interested in leaving Westerly by 3am or earlier.
The compromise between a high hotel or airbnb price and a long morning drive was driving up Friday night and staying in Andover, MA, reducing the Saturday morning drive time down to a more manageable 1.5 hours and the hotel price, even with including a surcharge for Brady, down to a more reasonable price of about $200. Had a nice pasta dinner (shrimp scampi for me) at a nearby restaurant and got to bed at a reasonable hour. We were up and out the door right about 5am, and got breakfast sandwiches from Dunkin' on the way. Not ideal breakfast fare, but good enough for a 10K race. So far, so good.
Undue stress: The drive was uneventful until we got onto the Casco Bay Bridge, heading south from Portland towards Cape Elizabeth. We had only four miles to go, with a straight shot down the main road (Route 77), and the GPS showed an ETA of 6:40am. Sounds perfect with a buffer built in. Or so we thought. The traffic on the bridge came to a stand-still and barely creeped forward, as the ETA kept ticking up minute-by-minute. It was stop and go the full four miles, and long story short, instead of arriving at 6:40 and being comfortable, we pulled into the high school parking lot at 7:05am (ten minutes before bib pickup was scheduled to close and last scheduled shuttle bus). I was nervous and worked up. Fortunately Matthew and I got out as Jana went to park the car. We ran up to the nearest high school building. Locked. We asked a race volunteer where the bib pickup was, and she said she didn't know and directed us to another volunteer across the street. Off and running. The second volunteer told us bib pick-up was around the back of the building behind him. OK, off and running. Where? We went completely around the building. Nothing to be seen. We came back to the same volunteer and told him we couldn't find the bib pickup. A third volunteer told us completely different instructions going down in a hill in the opposite direction. OK, off and running. The third instruction was the charm. But we only have a few minutes to spare now. How long is the bib line and will we make the last shuttle bus? The line was almost nonexistent and we were able to quickly check in and show vaccination proof in order to get our bib. Ran back up the hill and boarded the bus. At 7:15am. Whew! (Note: Jana would later tell us she saw runners boarding for at least another twenty minutes, but obviously we didn't know that at the time.)
The bus was quick for the roughly 3-mile trip to the start. Dropped our bag, went to slightly shorter porta-jon lines, and went for about a 2-mile warm-up. The lowlight of our warm-up was seeing Full Frontal Nudity Guy, who clearly didn't go far enough away from the road to take care of his stuff. Temps were in low 70s, but humidity was a drenching 100%. Glad I had a separate warm-up shirt from my race singlet. Got back to the bus drop-off point with not a lot of time to spare. Surprisingly ran into Chris Garvin, as I figured we'd never see him. We changed into our race singlets, checked in our bags, and the three of us then wove our way through the crowds for the 1/4 mile to near the starting line, and then kind of pushed our way through the crowded corrals. In a bonehead move, I had put my race hat into the bag and checked it in. No time or room for strides. Two minutes to the start.
Mile 1: I was somewhere around ten rows back in the crowded start. Based on the difference between my gun time and net time, it only took me six seconds to reach the start line. I stayed on the far left shoulder for two reasons: 1) it meant less passing and weaving, and 2) there was more shade on the side of the road than in the middle! I would say I saw the leaders for 1/2 mile, but it would be more accurate to say that I saw the lead vehicle and its big clock for 1/2 mile. Mile 1 split 5:47.
Mile 2: Early in this mile, I knew I had no shot of besting my 10K PR (36:22, 2012). Side note is that it was set at the Christmas 10K in Newport, which is rumored to be a short course, and my Garmin has never recorded more than 6.15 miles on that course. So should I just drop this particular PR? I'd rather beat it fair and square on a certified course, and as 36:22 works out to an average 5:51 pace, I feel that's not out of the realm of possibility.
But it is today. The humidity is doing a number on me and the clammy air is soaking my singlet and shorts. A young girl flies by me, and I wonder if she will be able to keep that pace. She will, as the 16-year old finishes in 36:28! Mile 2 split 5:59.
Mile 3: This was my favorite mile. Early in the mile, a roadside band was blasting out Tom Petty's "Running Down a Dream". Besides have the word "running" in the title, like VH's "Running with the Devil", this song is also very motivating!
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| While I can't place the exact location here, I feel reasonably confident it was somewhere between Mile 0 and Mile 6. Is that helpful? --- The few shaded sections were less awful than the direct sun parts. But I still look pretty miserable here and I imagine drenched by now. |
The mile is net downhill, and only turns uphill towards the end of the mile. I felt like I was running pretty fast and surprised to see this mile split was 6-flat. OK, half-way done. Hold on and do your best.
Mile 4: Jana and Brady would be watching during this mile, and try as I might, I never saw them. I remember being distracted by (or rather attracted to) a water sprinkler on the course right near the high school where they'd be, and that could've been the spot where I missed them. Just past the high school, the course makes a hard right onto Shore Road and it's nice to see the signs that we're just over two miles away from Fort Williams Park, where the race will end. Mile 4 split is 6-flat again.
Mile 5: We get a little respite here with another net downhill mile. There is about a 50' drop down to the water. I notice I'm passing some of the same runners that were passing me on short uphills. I'm drenched and counting down to the finish. Mile 5 split 5:52. And that's with the downhill already factored in. Not great.
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| Mile 5. The one place on the course where it goes right along the water. (Official race pic) |
Mile 6: My worst mile, by far. Often in the final mile just knowing the "end is near" is enough incentive for me to push it in hard. There are a few hills in this mile, and they are only small rollers of not more than 40', but they're enough to do me in. I feel like so many people are passing me in this final mile. We turn off into Fort Williams Park, and there is one final small uphill to add insult to injury. Mile 6 split 6:25. Yikes.
Finish: Finally at the Mile 6 marker, the course turns downhill once again as we head towards the water. I see one guy with gray hair and fearing he may be in my age group, I chase after him. I catch and pass him, as well as many more. Much like Vermont, we turn off the pavement for a very short sprint on the grass to the finish line.
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| Sprinting to the finish. What kind of bizarre angle is my left foot at? |
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| Done. |
Final results: 37:20 gun time, 37:14 net time. average pace 6:00. 124th overall (out of 5,364 finishers). 2nd in age group (out of 174). Official results here.
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| One of those newfangled fancy scoreboards that scans your bib and then displays your results. |
I crossed the finish line, and after catching my breath, asked the older looking guy (whom I passed) his age. He replies that he is nowhere near as old as I think he is! Is this because 1) he gets this type of remark often?, or 2) because he looks at me and decides he's nowhere near my old age? His age is 38. Boy, was I off on that one.
I try hard to stay out of the sun. I retrieve my hat for at least some sun protection as we head towards the food offerings. They are really good! I come back for watermelon seconds and thirds before continuing on to sample other food. Chocolate milk! Delicious and protein rich. I love it when races have chocolate milk. I will end up drinking two of these and get two of the small containers of Maine blueberries they are giving away. Now that is unique! The only food I did not like was the mango pineapple drink that Dunkin' was giving away. Made me pucker up. The ocean floor is very rocky here, but I end up submerging myself in the ocean to cool off, while waiting for awards.
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| Casco Bay. With the first of many runners to take to the water. This was refreshing! |
After picking up my award (a $25 gift certificate to LL Bean), we headed towards the line where buses would bring you back to whatever parking lot you came from. Only this line was just so long. So Plan B was a trail run of four miles back to the start. It should've been fun, but I was beat, we were awkwardly carrying our gear bag, and I was still in racing flats. Made the best of it, although I felt badly that we really held up Jana and Brady quite a bit. By the time we get back to the high school. it's after 11am, which means they had been at the high school for four hours now. Fortunately, they're great supporters.
Random reflections:
- The course is really good.
- The organization and communication is top-notch. (Well, except for the bib pickup directions miscommunication.)
- The race logistics are pretty difficult, including really congested roads arriving, long lines for buses returning, and difficult to self-seed in a very deep race like this.
- The starting area is non-descript, but more importantly, the finish area is beautiful with the ocean and a lighthouse right there.
- The post-race food was very good.
- Free photos are a great touch. I run so many races that I seldom purchase race pics anymore unless it's something really phenomenal (like Laugavegur Ultra in Iceland), but I have no problem with the race organizer paying professional photographers out of our race entry fees even though it likely increases the entry price.
- This was one of the most miserable weather conditions I've ever encountered in a race (moderate heat plus drenching 100% humidity) and for that I suffered. Obviously out of the hands of the race organizer.
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