The "Keys" to the Race

Beach to Beacon 15th Anniversary 10k

This is my second year in a row getting into the B2B and for a race that sells out in 5 minutes, I felt pretty darn lucky to get in again.
Last year was awesome even though I did not "race it" as it was just before Timberman 70.3 so instead, I spent the day with two dear friends and we were going for a THREEPETE this year.

Dawn
Stephanie
and
Moi!

Only diff was this year, Dawn would be running instead of spectating and watching the super fast Kenyan's finish in 28 minutes.

Plus, as Dawn's BFF and Coach, she was actually not giving an option, she was RUNNING. Her life has been jam-packed-busy-crazy this summer and she has not had a ton of time to train but with Rev 3 Maine breathing down our necks, it's go time!

It was a pretty comical morning with the three of us. Last year Stephanie ran a 47:13 with NO TRAINING. Seriously, she would run on the treadmill on occasion but never really did any run training. Now with 2 marathons under her belt she was ready to rumble with last years time. However, a nagging back injury, a couple hours of sleep and a particularly spicy dish of nachos the night before had other plans for Stephanie on race morning. Let's just say she was suffering the American version of Montezuma's Revenge all morning.

Dawn was not too excited to be running either. The temps were hot, the humidity was awful and this course has got some good hills--mostly the last 2 miles. She was feeling anxious and dreading the run.

I had just suffered a couple craptastic runs myself and there is always that nagging fear of injuring myself for a fun race with a big race right around the corner. I was not interested in tagging any 10k PR's. Then I came up with a brilliant idea.

at the start with Dawn and "Angry Bob"

Dawn and I have never raced together. EVER...so today would be a good day to run side-by-side. I told Dawn that I would pace her, stay with her every step of the way and we would finish this race hand-in-hand!! She loved the idea so a pact was made. NO MATTER WHAT, I'd stick with her :)
Stephanie did not have a plan other than to visit as many porta potties as she could before the gun went off.

This is the largest road race in Maine with  thousands of runners each year. It's a pretty big deal and they get some amazing running talent from all over the world to run. This is a point to point race and getting in and out of the venue can be a bit of a challenge. One of my bootcampers, Erin, was also running and lives very close to the race finish area at Ft Williams. Erin so generously offered for us to park there and then she would drive all of us to Cape Elizabeth High School where the shuttles were taking runners to the start.
PERFECT!!

me, Stephanie, Erin and Dawn hanging out by the long line of Porto-Potties

We had no issues getting to Erin's house, plenty of time to get to the high school and to the start line. All was running smooth...until Dawn realized that took her car keys with her to the school and they were sitting in Erin's car--6 miles from the finish line. Talk about a plan spoiler!!

Dawn then asked if the race route went by the high school and Erin confirmed this. Dawn then informed me that we would STOP during the race, run into the parking lot of the high school, find Erin's car and then run back to the race course.
I thought she was joking.
She wasn't.
We discussed this the entire shuttle ride to the start and then while waiting to start.
She was dead serious.
...and she did have a point. We would have to wait an hour or more in line, in the heat to get a shuttle back to the school just to get the keys and then make our way back to Erin's house to get the car. With the entire area closed off, this would be a logistical nightmare.

Looks like we were stopping. During a race.
Who does that??

It was pretty cool walking around the mass of people at the start; I ran into some friends-both new and old.

with Doc Michelle rockin' her Peacock skirt.
She flashed me during the race, it was a highlight of the day!
Check out her BLOG 
Nothin' average about this Tough Chik

I could not believe my eyes when I ran into "Jims" and his lovely wife, "MrsR". I had the pleasure of working with both of them when I worked in medicine. "Jims" (as I used to call him) was so instrumental in my own personal journey to health and I was so happy to see them both. "MrsR" did not even recognize me at first--but there are not enough words to express just how nice it was to see them both.

It was so crowded we did not even have a warm-up...ooops! Looks like the first few miles would be our warm up (oxymoron because we were already sweating! lol )

Dawn was aiming for 9:30 to 10:00 minute miles for this race but I knew she could do a tad faster than that so we paced out around 9:00's and it was a comfortable effort. I was chatting away, looking at this and that since there is so much crowd support on this course.

run run run

We ran through one section just after the halfway point and the song "Call Me Maybe" was blaring. Dawn and I maybe danced a bit and sang along. We were chugging away and nailing solid 9 minute miles within seconds....boooya! Then we approached the school where the keys were in Erin's van. Off Dawn went to get the keys, I stopped the Garmin since I wanted "actual running time" and not race time due to this little stop. While she got the keys, I went pee behind a building (huge surprise there, huh??). Then it was back to running. I think we lost 2:30 for that pit stop but saved ourselves over an hour later.

Dawn was so solid and consistent those last few miles on those hills and I was very proud of her! We crossed the finish line holding hands and it was all very awesome.

This year the post-race festivities were not as cool as last year but they did have medals to celebrate the 15th  Anniversary of the race. They also had a booth where you could get a commemorative photo from the race as well.

Dawn, Stephanie and Me post race and all smiles!

We walked back to Erin's house and plopped ourselves into the ocean for a bit and made our way home. It was a great day and I hope I can run again next year!
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