Falmouth Road Race - 2012

On Sunday, I participated in the 40th running of the Falmouth Road Race.  An internationally known and well-attended race with well over 10,000 registered participants.  This was my 4th time running the road race.  It was a great day and I am very happy with how everything went this year.

I had been training well for it and was hoping to get in to the finish in under one hour.  I had done a 7 mile training run a couple weeks prior and clocked 59:59.  Close!

I took Saturday night off from work in the hopes of getting a good sleep in.  My plan was to get up at 4:30 am, have some coffee (I had 3 cups!) and get myself together.  I was picking up an old friend between 6:45 and 7:00.  Rather than Mrs dropping me off and meeting me later after the race, we decided I should park in town and walk to the buses.  I also wanted to get there fairly early after the bus debacle last year.

The weather forecast had gotten considerably more, er, interesting in the days prior to the race.  Sunday morning I checked the radar to find a huge mass of heavy rain coming from the south west.  And rain it did!  I picked up Jeremy just before 7:00 and we headed for the Main Street area.  This is an easy walk to where the buses are.  We arrived at the public parking lot near the library and the rain seemed to get heavier.  We waited it out, ate our bagels and chatted.  Jeremy's wife had found a disposable rain poncho in their baby bag and I realized that I had a roll of black plastic trash bags in the hardware kit I keep in the car, so I could easily make something to keep me at least somewhat dry prior to the race.

We noticed that the entire road adjacent to the school was closed and lined with school buses.  Apparently there was a change in how and where the buses would be loaded.  We found this to be much easier and well organized.  The rain had let up so I didn't need my bag until after we were in Woods Hole when it picked up a little bit.  I actually got a little bit of a chill.

We visited with a friend and then parted ways.  I had gotten a good number placement so I was in the second wave of runners to be released after the elite runners.  There was a slight delay due to flooding on the course that the town DPW took care of with pumps.  The rain stopped prior to the race and it didn't rain again the entire race.  It did, however get warmer and very humid.  I was not chilled for long.

The run went very well, and my placement kept me from getting log jammed in the tighter areas in the first two miles.  I was going quite well and at a good pace.  I felt great for the entire run and finished in 56 minutes, 44 seconds.  Well under my goal of 60 minutes.  A great day, though the medical crews were kept busy with heat related emergencies

I only had my cell phone camera with me and that was not working well since it was damp and the lens kept fogging up, but here are a few pics.

 Very wet in Woods Hole waiting for the start.

 Runners beginning to gather behind the start.

 The 40th running meant a medal for all finishers!

 Flag over the finish line in Falmouth Heights.

Crowds of racers, family and friends.

Back at home after a wonderful day!

Oh, and had some suds to celebrate my successful run.

A couple 5ks, a marathon relay and maybe Falmouth In The Fall, which is the same route as Falmouth Road Race, but with only a few hundred runners.