Falmouth Road Race

Last weekend, Brad and I joined our favorite friends for a weekend of camping and racing on Massachusett's famous Cape Cod. I delivered my annual moan n' groan camping routine the Friday we left for the Cape (it should come as no surprise that I'm not a camper); however, by the time we made it to the campsite, set up, and headed out for delicious pad thai, I was thinking less and less about my sleeping accomodations and more and more about the fun weekend ahead.

After our morning run to the beach, we spent Saturday on Martha's Vineyard, walking around town, lounging on the beach, and listening to Kit relay the latin names for all sorts of creatures while Rod simply tried to save an injured butterfly. We relaxed so much that we barely had time to grab ice-cream before we had to head back to Falmouth to watch the Falmouth Mile, an elite mile race fielding some of the fastest American milers. A few hours later, full from an outstanding Italian dinner and 5 s'mores, I crawled into Brad's tent and fell asleep within seconds.

Race day began with a hurried and frenzied 15 mile per hour car trip to the buses that take us to the start of the race, followed by a runner's dream...watching dozens of elite runners warm up and stretch before the race. Falmouth Road Race is amazing - it is comprised of about 10,000 runners (one must be chosen from a lottery to race) with the top 20 or so being incredibly fast. Since we all had fast qualifying times (non-elite fast qualifying times, that is), we were chosen to start in the first corral with the hot shots.

The race was mediocre, at best, for me. I'm not in phenomenal shape right now, coming back from a bum leg that has plagued me for the past few months (since the Boston marathon), but I was able to feel a little competitive over the 7 mile coastal course. Brad ran amazingly, as evidenced in the top picture (photo by Robert Onchaga from www.coolrunning.com). Everyone else on my team, the Greater Boston Track Club, ran well, posting times consistent with their current fitness levels.

We spent the afternoon at the Bradley's house, bbqing and lounging in their backyard. By the time late afternoon rolled around, we were all sleepy, sore, and excited to get back to Boston (I was excited to get back to my own shower and a comfy bed!). The second picture (photo by Keith Bradley) is of all of us in the Bradley's front yard, about to leave the Cape to return to Boston.

Overall, a very successful weekend. Great talks, lots of laughs, good friends, fantastic food, and seashore running...life doesn't get much better!