Beach 2 Beacon 2011

OK, this is just as much for my personal memory as anything else... I know nobody reads this anymore, and most likely those of you who do subscribe to it via RSS feed or something, and you probably don't even run, BUT.

Beach 2 Beacon is pretty much the best race on the face of the Earth. No, really! I have heard about lots of different marathons that are awesome, and 10-milers, and whatnot - but I have fallen in love with this mere 10K, and I think you should love it, too.

First of all, why hello, most wonderful state in the Union! How are ya? You just can't beat Maine's rocky coast, the smell of the ocean (ahem, at high tide, that is), the fantastic views, the lighthouses, the gorgeous homes - all of it. Everything that makes Maine, Maine is in this race. I [heart] it with my whole heart.

Secondly, race director. One fantastic, awesome, inspirational Joan Benoit-Samuelson, who happens to have grown up in Cape Elizabeth, ME, and also happens to be the 1984 Olympic gold medalist in the women's marathon, which happens to be the first year women were permitted to run that distance at the Olympics. She also happens to still be able to complete a marathon in a time frame *well* below four hours, in her 50s. She's amazing.

Hmm, what's next? I honestly don't know where to begin. The amenities? The sheer number of Port-a-Potties at the start line alone was staggering... imagine the food tent! Bananas, watermelon, milk, water, Greek yogurt, cheese sticks, cookies, small candies, blueberries - blueberries!, juice boxes, the list goes on. Fantastic-o. There were free massages. A gigantic help tent, a Results board immediately following the race, an easy-to-find Information area, a Family Meeting area... the swag was incredible. Mugs, water bottles, drawstring backpacks, I can't even remember everything. Seriously, I am just scratching the surface - it was all so amazing! Oh! The t-shirt! It was a Nike Dri-Fit shirt. Yep, I'm serious. Not a diarrhea-colored overstock t-shirt with single color ink, a pretty sweet Nike running shirt. Awesome.

In the interests of containing this post's length to remain somewhat within reason, I will move on to my personal experience.

*Ahem*

I had the pleasure of riding the whole way to Maine with a great friend (and fellow Maine-iac) - it was so much fun, Kate! I was blessed to have had my packet picked up ahead of time for me, so no stress on the night of my arrival - thanks, James and Sue! I had a great, comfortable place to stay - James and Sue again! I am lucky enough to have a husband who didn't mind my taking off for the whole weekend - thanks, Josh! ...and in-laws who were willing to step in and cover the gaps for him as he slept after working a night shift or headed back into work before I got home. I had transportation to and from the race, and I even had a race-day buddy worked into the whole plan - thanks, J, and randomly - DJ! It was all so stress-free and just plain enjoyable. I had been looking forward to this weekend for MONTHS, and it did not disappoint.

We carpooled to the start of the race, hit up the Port-a-Potties, and I warmed up a little. Then it was time to elbow my way to where I wanted to be at the start line. There were little signs with pace-per-mile written on them, and runners were supposed to start somewhat near the pace they want to run. My easy goal was to run better than 10 minute miles, and to finish the 6.2 in under an hour. My high goal was to run somewhere between 8 and 9 minute miles. I squeezed into the area around the 9 minute pace sign. The race announcer was cautioning folks against going out too hard, too fast, and as no stranger to racing, I know adrenaline can really get you ahead of yourself... especially at a huge race like B2B. There were over 6,000 people running! So anyway. The starting gun (or whatever it was) went off, and it took me two minutes to get to the start line from where I was standing. Thankfully the race includes timing chips that are secured to your bib number, so even though the clock at each mile marker was off by two minutes, my personal overall time was correct. The race results show a "gun time" and a "net time," and the "net time" is the more accurate one, based on each person's timing chip. I also have a great running watch that can keep splits for me, and I was interested to see what each pace per mile was. After the third mile or so, I can't do the math in my head anymore. You're trying to remember what your time was at the last mile marker, subtracting the two minutes from the start line, blah blah. It was great to have my watch! Here were my splits:

Mile 1 - 8:05

Mile 2 - 8:12/16:17

Mile 3 - 7:50/24:08

Mile 4 - 7:59/32:07

Mile 5 - 7:43/39:51

Mile 6 - 8:26/48:17

Mile 0.2 - 1:13/49:31

My "net time" via the results page is 49:36, and I'm sure that's accurate. There were two strips of rubber finish-line things on the ground, and I stopped my watch at the first one. I'm sure the actual finish line was the second one, and there's the time discrepancy. Anyway, my pace worked out to a perfect 8-minute mile. I was really happy! After the first couple miles, I thought... I don't know how long I can keep this up. And then after the third mile, I thought - well, that was a 5K, and I still have a 5K to go! Around the fourth mile I was REALLY dragging, and I thought about how experienced marathon runners describe "hitting a wall" somewhere around mile 20, where your legs just feel like lead and you aren't sure you can go on (and ironically, they have a 10K to GO at that point...). I knew that the sixth mile was killer, very hilly, and I was *just* beginning to psych myself out when I turned the corner to THE GREATEST COMMUNITY OF SUPPORT EVER. Honestly, lots of races have community support, and many, many areas of this race have people standing in their driveways, cranking their stereos and spraying us all with their hoses... but somewhere around mile 4 is a major intersection where people just line the road on both sides. It helps that your first name is printed on your bib, just under the number. Random strangers were yelling, "Go, Beth!" - I kept looking around to see who it was, and then I thought, Duh. Ha! Anyway, at that point I kind of teared up a bit. There was a lot of adrenaline flowing, and I was just overwhelmed with how beautiful the race is, how lucky I am to be able to run, to have been able to get to the race, how lucky I am that I had a good half-dozen people working together to get me there. It was awesome.

Then the wall of people disappeared, and in its place were ...hills.

Ha! I told myself that I'd run better than I'd expected to, so far, so even if my sixth mile was 10 minutes, I'd still be happy. I started calculating in my head how fast I could finish. Fifty-two minutes? Fifty? Dare I hope? I just decided to stop THINKING so much and run. People were stopping to walk up the hills, and I was just plugging away. I probably could have run that last mile faster (in fact, judging by the kick I had at the end, I KNOW I could have), but I just enjoyed it. It was a great race, a great day, a great state, I have great friends and family... I finished feeling super happy and just lucky to be alive.

Too much?

Well it's true. I had the best time, and I didn't take one second of it for granted. I almost don't even want to do it again next year because I feel like it could never be as special. This was my third time running it (the others were in high school or college), but it was by far the most memorable and wonderful. You've got to get it on your bucket list.

Yay, Maine. :)

PS - You can see the race results here. I finished 1433rd.

Oh! And check out some of these fantastic aerial photos (hopefully you can view them). Gives you a great perspective of the race!