Race #39 - Falmouth 7 Mile Road Race - 48:46

I know I have written in previous blogs about past races that the weather was great, but today was absolutely spectacular. This course is probably one of the best of any race I have ever run. Race time temp was about 75 with a slight breeze and the crowds wonderful. I was fortunate to be given an elite number which landed me in the first corral with all the Kenyans, Frank Shorter, Bill Rodgers, Meb and Joan Benoit Samuelson, not to mention countless other very fast runners.

I left the Pier 7 Condos in South Yarmouth at 6:30am to catch one of the hundreds of buses to take the runners to the start in Woods Hole. I parked at John Wesley United Methodist Church about a 1/2 mile from the buses. I boarded one of the buses at 7:30 and was at the start by 8AM. It was two hours before the start so I had plenty of time to kill. I knew I would see elite runners as well as former elites, such as Shorter and Rodgers. I got myself a cup of coffee and just relaxed at the front and stalked the elites for a picture. I got to see the start of the Achilles runners and the wheelchair competitors. I made friends with other runners such as Brian who has run all 36 previous Falmouth races.

The organization was superb and with 10,000 runners, that's not easy to do.

After a fly over by the Coast Guard and Air Force, the gun was sounded and the elites were off. I was about 15 feet behind them and planned to run sub 7's for the 7 mile race. It didn't seem like a difficult task but the course is full of little hills. In fact I caught up with Bill Rodgers of Boston Marathon fame at the start and ran with him for the first 400 meters. As I sped ahead, I heard him caution me that the initial 3 miles was full of hills. I ran this race 15 yeas ago so I was well aware of the hills in the beginning and at the end. It was hilly but also in the shade because the next 4 miles was basically flat but in full sun. Not sure which I liked more.

I hit the first mile at 6:53, second mile at 6:52 but I wasn't feeling comfortable. The hills were getting to me. Mile 3 was 6:59, 4 - 6:59, 5- 7:00, 6-7:00 and mile 7 was 7:02. I felt like I was running even splits early on but thought I was going faster in the later miles. In fact, I pushed hard at mile 7 knowing I didn't have much time to give back if I wanted to go sub 49. The last 1/2 mile was rolling hills with a nice sized hill just before the finish which I hit hard but paid for the last 250 yards. I was happy with going sub 7's and knew I pushed as hard as I could. The crowds were great along the course as there was lots of water.

The post race party in a park near the finish was to notch with hot dogs, Cape Cod chips, Bear Naked snacks and other FREE goodies. Cigna was the main sponsor and they were great, handing out all kinds of stuff.

I would run this race every year if I lived nearby. Great course, great people, great sponsors and very scenic.

I now have the balance of the week to spend on Cape Cod to run and bike.