2009 Falmouth Road Race. Photo: Cape Cod Times

I ran the 2009 Falmouth Road Race last Sunday. I’ve been wanting to do it for a few years now, but I kept missing the registration deadline. Last year I put a reminder in my calendar to ping me a week before registration opened so that I could be sure to get my name in. It’s a lottery, and entry is only open for 2 weeks, but I got lucky and made it.

It’s one of the greatest races on the East Coast and this year’s 37th running makes it one of the oldest. Named “Best Non-Marathon Road Race in the US” by the NYRR and “Best USA Road Race” by Runner’s World makes it a very cool event to participate in. Even though it’s only 7.1 miles, the prestige and $90,300 prize package regularly pulls in the top names in marathon racing. Frank Shorter, Catherine Ndereba, Bill Rodgers, Grete Waitz and Alberto Salazar have all run in the past.

Who puts a hill in the final 1/2 mile of a race?!

This year pulled in some great talent too. Not that I got to see any of these elite runners for more that 100 yards after the gun went off. With my projected pace I got to line up pretty close — about 10 rows back — however, after the first turn they were long gone and I never saw them again. This year’s winner, Ethiopean Tilahun Regassa , ran splits of 4:28! American Meb Keflezighi and South African Hendrick Ramaala also showed up to run similarly blazing paces.

My fast friend Troy, who came up from NYC to run with me, did get to run with Joan Benoit, the winner of the first women’s Olympic marathon in ’84… until she dropped him at mile three. He ran a 00:42:35.

Happy results for my first time

I kicked out a 00:49:29 for an average split of 6:58 (1) 7:24 due to the crowd (2) 7:05 (3) 6:59 (4) 6:57 (5) 6:56 (6) 6:59 (7) 7:05 the last split actually being 1.1 miles. This put me in at 473rd out of 10,000 (401st male).

I expected to finish farther back over all because of the top international and local talent. I could have been a little faster, but there were four factors that set me back:

1: Achilles tendinitis

I picked this up in my left heel about four weeks ago. It just came on all of a sudden and it kept me off running for about two weeks — the two weeks where I should have been really hammering my training. I write the injury off  to some experimenting I was doing with my running stride and to having tight calves/Achilles from the added biking I’ve been doing. I need to focus on stretching more.

2: The course was incredibly hilly

Nothing super steep or even long, but the first three miles are made up of continuous rollers that really zapped my strength. Then, there’s a short brutal climb within the last 1/2 mile. I was pretty much on the limit when I got there and it took everything I had to not come apart. I’m usually strong on the hills, and they were where I passed the majority of other runners, but, looking back now, I should have conserved early and picked it up on the later flat miles.

3: It was hot!

Not as hot as it’s been in the past, but hot enough to really make it a factor. I love training in the heat, but racing is another story. They had at least one water station for every mile. I think I hit them all. This is something I’d normally never do for a race of this distance. There were also a lot of people standing in their driveways with garden hoses spraying runners as they passed. Normally I avoid these because wet shoes give me blisters, but I hit several along the way.

4: Oh yeah, I have Lyme disease

The two weeks off really set me back, but I think my Lyme symptoms really compounded things. The first run after my short break was a brutal and depressing 3.5 miles that made me feel like dieing. I was so exhausted. The next one was better and they quickly improved after that, but it was rough. I also think the resurrection of some of my respiratory Babs symptoms impeded my breathing.

You gotta do this race!

I highly recommend this race to anyone in the area. It’s probably the best managed and organized race I’ve ever done. It puts every NYRR race I’ve participated in to shame. It’s also beautiful. You run through the trees of Woods Hole and then along the water to Falmouth. Gorgeous.

Finished... finally.

The SWAG at number pick up was pretty lame, but they more than made up for it at the end. There were hot dogs, popsicles, Clif Bars, PowerBars, ShotBloks, orange slices and a variety of other tasty treats.

The volunteers were great and actually into the race as opposed to the bored and sometimes homeless people the NYRRs employ as volunteers. Everyone was super polite and congratulatory. The medical support teams were also out in full force visible watching people for signs of heat stroke and just generally taking care of people. All of this really makes a great difference.

What’s next?

I dunno. I’ve started coaching a group for the NYC Marathon. I was considering running along with them, but with my Achilles issue it seems doubtful. I’ll figure something out.