First, this was by far the most beautiful, scenic course I have had the pleasure of running. York, Maine is a quintessential New England town filled with a rugged coastline, breathtaking views of the ocean, and even a lighthouse. I'm very happy with my choice to select this race to check off Maine from my 50 states list. For anyone who is counting, Maine is our 20th state!
The course began at the unassuming York High School. We quickly exited out of the parking lot, after a short speech by Kathrine Switzer, ran a short street before making our way onto Long Sands. The road opens up to this majestic scenery along the ocean that is awe-inspiring. I felt like I could run forever surrounded by this beauty. Around mile 9 my legs would send my brain an entirely different message! Our first loop circled around Long Beach, Weber, Ridge, then depositing us back onto Long Beach Avenue.
From Long Beach (mile 3) , we had a clear view of Nubble Lighthouse. It looked so far away, but was only a couple miles. We ran along the shoreline, past beautiful cedar shake homes. When we reached Ocean Avenue Extension, we were high above the shore but the views continued amazing me. When we finished the second "loop" we had completed nearly 8 miles. At around mile 7ish I actually (and foolishly might I add) thought that I might PR because I was a few minutes faster than I normally am at that point in a race.
The third and final stretch continued along Long Beach Avenue while going in and out of a few neighborhood streets. It was at this point that I really felt the inadequacy of my training. At mile 9 I coated my left calf with biofreeze. At mile 10 I coated both my lower quads right above the knee (damn throbbing pain). At mile 11 I reapplied the left calf, although at this point my sample packet of biofreeze was severely dwindled. I walked most of the last mile to mile and a half, and was grateful to have made it across the finish line. When I saw Megan about 100 yards before the finish I was almost in tears telling her I needed rubbed down stat! She's definitely my kid because she snapped at me saying, "get your ass across that finish line because you only have 100 yards. We can talk later!". That's what I needed so I trotted across the finish and heard Kathrine Switzer announce my name.
My only real criticism of the race is that they had too few water stops and had Gatorade offered only at mile 11. Unfortunately, one water stop rampur of water and the mile 11 stop ran put of Gatorade. I liked the family atmosphere because Bridgetgot her face painted and a clown made her a balloon in the shape of a dog. However, damn, if I didn't miss my post-race beer!
Final pathetic stats:
finish time 2:45:24 or 12:37/mile
yep, even the turtle passed me!
way to go Robin! Sorry your legs were hurting so bad-I do think it is injury talking rather than lack of training - I have an awesome new doctor (chiropractor) if you want a referral for some pain relief on your road to recovery. 20 states! awesome!
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