Beach To Beacon, a FUN day!

Last March I signed up for Beach to Beacon, along with the rest of the free world, in the same week that I put in my application for GCI. I had decided that if I did 't get into GCI then (for the first time ever) I might put in a huge effort at B2B and win the whole damn thing, beating the elites and Kenyans like it was no big thang.

As we all know I snagged a coveted GCI spot and made that my A race. Once again poor little B2B had to take a back seat to a bigger more badass race. Sorry. But not really because I have no plans to PR the 10K this year....

Knowing that I was still in the "forbidden to run" time period of my GCI recovery I decided that it would be a wonderful day to have the social event of the season and to watch my friends have kickass races. While I ran alongside ALL OF THEM!

A side note on B2B being the social event of the season: Everyone is there. And you CAN NOT find anyone. It was tough enough keeping track of the people in my group let alone FIND anyone!

 

 

 

My SIL Jyoti,  My sister Kate, ME and my BFF Angie!
Jyoti and Angie are racing their FIRST EVER Half Marathons in October so this was a big race for them!

This race is usually twelve million degrees, one hundred percent humidity and blazing sunshine. This year it was cool and cloudy, quite ideal actually but rather humid once you got rolling.

I was pretty excited for this run as my legs felt ready to do something other than yoga and a little biking. I seem to have beaten the ever loving bejeebus out of my little toe at GCI resulting in what might be my first toenail casualty of all time. It was quite painful all week but finally had calmed down. So overall, I was ready to run will ALL the people and take ALL the pics!!

Right after the start.
Angie and Kate moving along!

Kate and Angie set off at a very similar pace so I went with them through the worst of the traffic and congestion that always occurs here. I wasn't sure what pace Ang was planning to maintain but she warmed up well and really picked it up at mile 2- she is really looking awesome at this point and will be more than ready for her Half debut in October. Kate, who claims not to be a runner seemed to run just fine proving that she is a very big liar who lies!! She should probably do a half too, it's what all the cool kids are doing (obviously...)

 

Around the 5K point bad things started to happen!!!

 

Shit. We got passed by the damn lighthouse! NOOOOO!!

Yeah, the moose runner was moonlighting as a lighthouse and he moseyed on past us. I ran over to him... "Look lighthouse" I said "I've really had it with you passing me while driving a huge costume... Enough is enough!" He laughed in a manner that was clearly evil and proceeded to push his lighthouse faster. "WELL" I shouted "At LEAST you aren't a DAMN MOOSE today!!!" "Next week I will be" he trilled, while he ran away to certain victory. Hmmmmph.

And then.....
The camelbak's started running by. NOOOO!!!

BTW: If you are confused about why this had suddenly turned into a truly dreadful day read here: Now you understand!

 

Not to be deterred by moose-men and backpack runners we ran on as Angie continued to pick up the pace and as Kate bowed, waved and blew kisses to her throngs of adoring fans lining the streets of Cape Elizabeth. Good times! At mile 5, concerned that if I finished they would not let me back on course I turned around and ran back to mile 4. At B2B I like to get the most bang for my buck and think that 2 extra miles gave me just that.

 

At mile 4 I found Eric and Jyoti!
And Jyoti was running on pace to PR so I was extra glad I found them!

The tricky thing about Beach To Beacon is that in the last mile or so of the course there are a couple of sneaky hills that can catch a runner off guard. Being the amazing liar cheerleader that I am I told Jyoti that it was ALL FLAT! NO more HILLS! I do not think she believed me which was wise since I was clearly fibbing... She didn't let the hills bother her though and she motored thru the finish for a sweet PR! Definitely on her way to a really great first 13.1 experience in a few months which I'm super excited for!

 

YAY! Photo op with Joan Benoit Samuelson!

So obviously I got my picture taken with Joanie because she is as badass as they come. I went to put my arm around her and it bounced off her formidable muscles- that woman is a rock. I'm gonna have to up my game if I want to grow up to be as cool as she is.... She is also very tiny and I assumed in this picture I would tower over her like a big jolly green giant. Which I do so all of you just be quiet.

 

We all finished and quickly discovered that not only did Angie PR too but my friend Amy was there at the finish! It was a wonderful surprise as she lives in CT and we are lucky to see her a couple times a year. I was very happy that she made the trip to the race and that we were able to spend a little time catching up and eating frozen yogurt bars (again the yasso bar truck made an appearance- those things are ballin'...)

 

The happy finishers!

 

 So a successful day at the races. I'm wicked happy for the future half marathon girls on their PR's! I'm also happy that I was able to enjoy this race in such a relaxed way- I had a blast playing paparazzi, seeing everyone have awesome finishes and taking in the scenery and awesome crowds.
These good things somehow managed to outweigh the pain of being beaten by the lighthouse... That's a tough blow!!