RACE REVIEW:FALMOUTH ROAD RACE

"If you want to run fast. You gotta run fast."

~ Steve McKenna

Last Sunday I lined up (safely and wearing a mask) with about 6,000 runners for the 49th Annual Falmouth Road Race.  It is a huge event; well known throughout the running community as one of the top races of the year for a number of reasons including, but not limited to, the amazing location, enthusiastic spectators and solid cash prizes for pro and masters athletes who place.  Clearly, they were not able to have an in-person event in 2020.  That said, I did sign up and run it virtually on my own which gave me a guaranteed entry into the 2021 race.  I've always had this one on my bucket list but have never been able to get in so I was super fired up that I would get to experience it live this summer.  It should be noted that the size of the field was paired down from it's usual 11,000+ and all the necessary Covid precautions were put in place to ensure a safe experience.  Having never done it before, I have nothing to compare it to but even with all the security measures in place, it did not disappoint.  My friend and running partner, Steve, has family down in Falmouth and has been racing it for the last 22 years with various members of his crew.  He has talked it up every summer since I've known him and when he found out that I'd managed to get in he promptly invited me to join in on the McKenna family festivities that take place throughout the weekend. Sign. Me. Up.  About a month before the race I received an email from the pro athlete manager who let me know that I'd been identified as one of the top ten Masters (age 40+) in the field and thus was invited to participate in the elite start so that I'd be in a position to earn the Masters’ prize awards.  Ummm okay??  Obviously I couldn't say no to this but at the same time it made things just a wee bit more intense.  Like, I started getting nervous on the spot and continued to be nervous daily right up until I lined up to take off.  That's a lot of time being nervous.  My coach told me to try and relax.  That "being seeded just makes it easier to run fast without fighting the masses."  So, I did my best to chill out.  And in the meantime I focused on the fact that I'm currently training for Boston and had a lot of other work to do.  And this helped.  A little.  This and having a lot of good friends who also told me to calm down because it was going to be fine.  And then, boom, it was August 14th and time to head down to Falmouth.  Giddy.  Up.  

I got to the expo around 1:00, grabbed my number and my commemorative mug, met up with Steve and geeked out a little bit with some Falmouth-themed photos.  How could I not?  He's a good friend, isn't he?  I spent some time meeting new people and chatting with friends from home who were also in town to race including the ever sweet and sassy Anoush who always looks good in pictures, damn her.

After the expo, Steve and I grabbed some lunch and then went over to the track at Falmouth High School to watch the high school and professional men's and women's mile races.  The temp was probably in the 80s but with the humidity it felt like we were standing in an oven.  The fact that these athletes could turn it on and race their brains out in this weather just totally blows my mind.  A couple hours later, having sweated through my entire outfit, we made our way back to Steve's aunt's house where we would be spending the night.  

My mantra for training these past few weeks has been GET GRITTY so I thought it only appropriate to sport my GRIT top for the race.  I set everything out and then sat my ass down and didn't move for a few hours as I was totally drained from the sun.  As I vegged out the rest of Steve's friends arrived in various groups and by the time I made it back downstairs to be social we had a full house consisting of Steve, his girlfriend Ashton, Frankie, Courtney, Cook, Lauren and Ashleigh (five of his friends from URI) and me.  Steve's parents cooked us dinner, bless them, and we all ate and relaxed before turning in for the evening around 9:30.  Well, okay, I turned in.  The rest of them, all significantly younger than me, stayed up until normal human bedtime.  No idea when that is.  

I woke up around 5:45 to an absolutely gorgeous morning.  The humidity had dropped substantially which was such a gift.  The above photo is the view from Steve's Aunt's backyard.  Stunning.  Mrs. McKenna and Ashton had gotten up earlier and made a Dunkin' run for those of us who were racing.  I mean, just....wow.  I really have no words.  Absolute rock stars.  Both of them.  The rest of the crew started waking up and coming out from all the various crevices of the house and then around 6:30 we all made our way outside to the lawn for the traditional pre-race photo.

After this we hopped on Steve's cousin's boat and headed over to Woods Hole where the race would be starting.  This was also such a treat first because it was ridiculously cool to arrive by boat but also because driving in by car would have been virtually impossible and we would have had to trek pretty far on foot to get to the start if we hadn't had this option.  So, cousin Max, too, is a total rock star.

Now it was around 6:45am and we walked over to the tent to drop bags and hang out until the race began.  There were quite a few professional athletes sitting under the tent and I tried hard to act cool and unphased which I'm one hundred percent sure I failed at.  Story of my life.  I left on my own to get a warmup in at 8:00 and then got back and made some last minute adjustments to my gear before walking over to the line around 8:40.  We got a motivational speech from the great Molly Seidel and a fantastic rendition of the National Anthem and then promptly at 8:50 the elite women were off.

THE RACE

MILES 1-3 (6:11, 6:14, 6:15)

As you can see from the above photo (where you actually can not see me) I was nestled in behind the majority of these women for obvious reasons, the main one being that they would be running miles in the five minute range and I would not.  But, still.  I felt pretty badass just being around them for those first twenty seconds or so.  By the time we got started the temp had risen substantially and the sun was shining at full steam.  Again, the humidity was nowhere near where it had been for the previous two days but it was still pretty damn hot which really was no big surprise.  Summer running at its finest.  Miles one through three on this course are rolling hills.  Nothing too brutal but challenging nonetheless.  In a big race like this it's easy to get caught up in the excitement of everything and start too fast but also dangerous as the hills are an added force to be reckoned with and flying up them can easily bite you in the ass at the end.  I'd decided, based on the advice of my coach, to put a goal time aside and just go for it as the heat and the difficulty of the course made pacing virtually impossible.  Thus, I tried to ride things out by feel and just focused on the women in front of and around me who looked like they were running at a similar effort.  I kept Steve's ever solid advice in the back of my mind as I worked. "If you want to run fast" he often tells me, "you gotta run fast."  I know.  Revolutionary.  I didn't know the above splits until after the race as I really didn't check my watch but this pace was right about where I've been for my workouts so my body went to what it could handle naturally which I was pleased about.

MILES 4 & 5 (6:18, 6:23)

In addition to throwing time out the window, I was also try my damndest to have fun.  This was not hard to do as the crowds on the streets were fantastic; holding out hoses for us to run under, handing out water and waving signs as we went by.  I'm smiling like this in almost every single one of my race photos so mission accomplished on the whole fun thing.  Miles four and five were along the water.  Beautiful.  But totally exposed.  And hot as blazes.  Like "I could feel my skin burning as I ran" hot.  Steve's family was out at mile 5 which was a much needed boost as I was starting to really feel the impact of the heat by then.  As you can see, I consciously pulled it back a little from an effort standpoint as I was worried that I wouldn't be able to hold on until the finish at the pace I'd been going for the first few miles.  My sweet friends Wendy and Ali were right around mile 6 which almost made me cry as I was really hurting by then and just so ridiculously happy to see them.  I high fived both of them and got myself ready for the final hill.   That's right, my friends.  They put a mountain in the middle of mile six which we had to climb before rolling down to the finish.

MILES 6 & 7 (6:21, 6:18))

Okay, so this is one race photo when I wasn't smiling.  For obvious reasons.  Mainly that I was dying.  This hill was no joke.  And as I climbed, I was getting passed left and right by the elite men's field which had taken off ten minutes behind us. I felt like I was the slow car driving in the left lane and there was nothing I could do about it other than move out of their way which was super awkward as I didn't know which side they'd be passing me on.  All the while, I knew the finish was right after this monster so I gave it everything I had as I powered up and over.   After what felt like an hour but was likely about 30 seconds, I was finally on the other side and flying down toward the finish.  And then, praise be, it was over.

Pain, joy, exhaustion, relief.  All of those feelings and more coursed through my body as I walked gingerly through the finish chute.  I immediately downed two bottles of water and still felt like I had sandpaper in my mouth.  I got to the tent and the volunteers were handing out cold towels.  OMG.  Nothing has ever felt better than this.  I grabbed my bag and sat with the towel on my head letting it drip cold water down my entire body.  I took my phone out and read a text from my coach: "Great job. You got second Masters.  No shame in finishing behind a Kenyan woman who crushed the entire field.  Really solid race."  Well, I'll be damned.  I was the second female master and came in behind (ehh hmm, far behind) the great Edna Kiplagat who, at age 41, won the whole freaking race.  I'll happily take that.  I hadn't known what to expect but I did know that I'd been putting in a lot of miles and had some really good workouts over the past few weeks so I was pleased to see all of this was paying off.  Honestly, I'd just set out to run hard and have fun and I'd accomplished both of these goals so I was more than thrilled.  It didn't hurt that I'd spent the last 24 hours with an amazing group of people who I am now pleased to call friends.  That said, I didn't go to URI as this entire crew did so they may have to vote on whether or not they will let me in.  All kidding aside, I'm 46, I'm still grinding and I'm still getting results.  I see no reason to stop any time soon.  Especially when I'm having such a blast doing it.  Up next?  Boston.  Stay tuned!

Listen to this:

Queen of the Silver City by Glassio

Glassio · Queen Of The Silver City