On Saturday, I ran Beach to Beacon, a little old 10K in little old Portland, Maine, whose traffic in August is a wonder to behold. The male winner ran it in 27-ish minutes. American Molly Huddle took third in the women’s field at 31:40. I placed 5689th, had plenty of time to enjoy the scenery and cheering crowds, and still shook Joan Benoit Samuelson’s hand at the finish line. I think we all know who the real winner was here.
You can see Joanie’s blue-gloved hand just at the left edge of the frame. Trust me. It was attached to the rest of her. And, yes, everyone looked half-drowned at the finish. It was so humid, y’all.
Other ways that I won:
Me and Kelly Roberts (and BAMR Amy with the bunny ears FTW.)
I got to meet Kelly Roberts and, briefly, join her badass lady gang. I toyed with stripping off my tank to join the #sportsbrasquad but realized it wouldn’t have made one bit of difference in terms of keeping cool.
#flatbruce #flatamy #flatcindy
I learned what #flatbruce is. Cindy, in pink, opened her Portland-area house up to us and we had a PJ Party on Friday night. We did not stay up until 3 a.m. talking about boys, however. It was lights-out at 10 p.m. because we are rockstars.
Race swag!
Did you earn a cute Dunkin gift card and a $10 gift certificate to L.L.Bean just for showing up somewhere on Saturday? #winning
Eight shades of awesome.
I got to run on the same course with seven other badass mother runners — Heidi, Donna, Amy, Sandra, Sarah, Francine, and Cindy — whose support I could feel even when they weren’t within arms reach. Just getting to spend time with mother runners is always a win.
My toes; Quinn’s shadow.
After the race, I drove to Arrowsic, Maine, to meet up with the rest of my family, who’d spent the night with friends that my husband and I have known for more than 25 years. Their home in Maine, where they live year-round, is one of my favorite places on the planet, mostly because of the people in it but also a little bit because they are not far from Reid State Park. All beaches should have boulders to scramble on and waves that crash against them.
And the last reason I won:
My newly minted 16-year-old is too cool for pictures.
Two words: Holy. Donut.
All of these positives put the race itself in perspective. Yes, I was gunning for a 10K PR but knew that was out of the question once I was standing at the start in 90 percent humidity. My first mile was close to what my race plan was but I knew I couldn’t hold it when I started to get dizzy and queasy about a quarter mile into my second mile. So I moved on and just enjoyed the race as much as I could. Which wasn’t hard at all, once I made up my mind to do it.
I’ll be heading back up to Portland to volunteer at a little race our Dimity is swim-running. I’ll be at water stop 9 on Chebeaque Island, ready to cheer and hydrate all of the athletes. And, yes, I will hit Holy Donut again on my way home. Priorities.
B2B is one of my favorite races. I wish I knew you were there. It was hot and humid but that doesn’t damper the good vibes from spending the day with your BRFs. From the swag to the crowds to the uphill finish that tests your limits but delivers amazing views – the B2B is a bucket list race for sure! As for Holy Donut…there are no words! Yummo! Hope to see you on Sunday! It will be cooler :)
The humidity has been ungodly this summer. I was lucky my half was in ID which has none. But I’m currently training for the 1812 Challenge & praying the humidity breaks before then — or before my 10k this weekend!
I will be in Maine this weekend, too (husband is doing a century ride for Bike MS, both his sisters have MS).
I thought I was doing ok this summer until this past weekend, had to cut 14 miles short at 13.88, was starting to feel sick and thought maybe it was heat exhaustion. It was ugly. A 70+ year old lady looped around and checked on me twice to see if I was ok, I’m sure I looked rough.
Hard summer for runners this year, even more than normal!
i love our heat and especially the humidity as we are so dry most of the year- granted we are only at 40 and 50% but it’s so cleansing after a run or ride. Congrats on your race. Shaking Joan’s hand must have been aswesome!
“did not stay up until 10 PM talking about boys” has me laughing. We could have braided each other’s hair and painted our nails too . . . I’m kinda out of practice in the sleepover department. Love reading your perspective on the race – it’s a gorgeous setting and the crowds make it fun(ish).
That’s an amazing race report. Sounds like an amazing weekend!