The Twin Bridges 8K Road Race is part of the North Carolina Seafood Festival and it is held on the first Saturday in October in Morehead City, North Carolina. I have ran the race every year but once since my first in 2000. The race starts in front of the Beaufort Drawbridge on the Morehead-Beaufort Causeway. It follows Highway 70 West from the Beaufort Drawbridge, over the Beaufort High-rise Bridge into Morehead City, through Morehead City to the Atlantic Beach High-rise Bridge, ending in front of the Bella Pizza & Subs on the Atlantic Beach Causeway. The course is flat and fast minus the two high rise bridges. The bridges never worry me because I've spent a lot of time training on them, mostly the Atlantic Beach high rise bridge since I started running in high school.
My mentor and local running legend, Sonny Hyman, and his wife started the race a long time ago and it is now run by the Morehead City Parks and Recreation. I haven't broke 29 minutes at Twin Bridges but I've ran a lot of sub 30s and I have a lot of top 5 finishes to my credit. This is the only 8K race I have ever ran. My goal this year was to break 29 minutes. This was the first time I've ever ran this race while training for a fall marathon. Since Boston was so hot, I chose to train with my friend Jarrod for my first fall marathon. It was another miserable hot and humid summer so instead of doing a typical 16 or 18 week training plan I chose to do a 12 week plan. This race came on week 7 of my training plan. I was more excited for this race this year because I usually run personal records in shorter races while in marathon training without tapering or taking it easy for the race.
The week before the race my weekly mileage was 71.2. The week of the race consisted of intervals Tuesday on the track (9 miles total with 5x600m in the middle), 15 miles Wednesday, Recovery runs Thursday morning and evening, and Friday was another 6 miles recovery run. I arrived at the starting line around 7am. I ate a Powerbar, drank some water, and relaxed until Anne got there. Anne has the women's course record for Twin Bridges with her 28:05. She's been getting back into racing and I was happy we would be racing together again.
This race had special meaning for Anne this year. It was a day before the one year passing of her dad, Jule Wheatly. Jule never missed any of Anne's races, even when she ran for N.C. State Cross Country. He would travel to all her races no matter where they were. Jule loved the Twin Bridges Race and would routinely come up beside Anne during the race and tell her another girl was gaining on her when no one was near her. He was a character. He cheered for me at races too and I've missed hearing his voice motivate me and fire me up at races.
My mentor and local running legend, Sonny Hyman, and his wife started the race a long time ago and it is now run by the Morehead City Parks and Recreation. I haven't broke 29 minutes at Twin Bridges but I've ran a lot of sub 30s and I have a lot of top 5 finishes to my credit. This is the only 8K race I have ever ran. My goal this year was to break 29 minutes. This was the first time I've ever ran this race while training for a fall marathon. Since Boston was so hot, I chose to train with my friend Jarrod for my first fall marathon. It was another miserable hot and humid summer so instead of doing a typical 16 or 18 week training plan I chose to do a 12 week plan. This race came on week 7 of my training plan. I was more excited for this race this year because I usually run personal records in shorter races while in marathon training without tapering or taking it easy for the race.
The week before the race my weekly mileage was 71.2. The week of the race consisted of intervals Tuesday on the track (9 miles total with 5x600m in the middle), 15 miles Wednesday, Recovery runs Thursday morning and evening, and Friday was another 6 miles recovery run. I arrived at the starting line around 7am. I ate a Powerbar, drank some water, and relaxed until Anne got there. Anne has the women's course record for Twin Bridges with her 28:05. She's been getting back into racing and I was happy we would be racing together again.
This race had special meaning for Anne this year. It was a day before the one year passing of her dad, Jule Wheatly. Jule never missed any of Anne's races, even when she ran for N.C. State Cross Country. He would travel to all her races no matter where they were. Jule loved the Twin Bridges Race and would routinely come up beside Anne during the race and tell her another girl was gaining on her when no one was near her. He was a character. He cheered for me at races too and I've missed hearing his voice motivate me and fire me up at races.
After Mile 1. Photo by Sally Kelly Anne and I did some dynamic stretching followed by an easy 2 miles to warm-up before the start of the race. I felt pretty good but the temperature was warming up fast. There were no clouds so the sun would be right on us the whole way. The air temperature was in the low 70s. I was thankful there wasn't a strong head wind to battle like last year. The race started and I was out fast but in third place as one runner was just ahead of me and another was already pulling away from the field. Most of the first mile is flat until the last quarter when you start to climb the first bridge. I moved into second place just before the first mile marker. I ran the first mile in 5:52, just 3 seconds off sub 29:00 pace.
Anne after Mile 1. Photo by Sally Kelly I still felt strong but knew I had to pick the pace up if I wanted to run down the leader. I think he ran the first mile between 5:20-5:30 so he already had a 20 second plus lead on me. Going down the Morehead City high rise bridge was fast. The course flattens out as you run through downtown Morehead City. In previous years there was pretty good crowd support on the long three mile flat stretch. This year there was not many people out cheering on the runners. There were a handful at some intersections and along the route but the crowd support was noticeably less than previous years. I stayed focused and ran miles 2 and 3 in 5:56 and 5:55. I was slipping off goal pace but I felt comfortable still and planned to pick it up the final 2 miles.
Coming down AB Bridge I didn't think the leader could hold onto the pace he set from the start and was hoping to run him down. He looked like he was slowing as I made the left turn and headed towards the Atlantic Beach high rise bridge. A volunteer told me he was slowing down and to go get him. I tried picking up the pace once I was at the bottom of the final bridge. The 4 mile marker is just before you hit the top of the bridge. I ran that mile in 5:57. I used the downhill on the bridge and the final flat straightaway to the finish to pick up some time. I pushed the final 0.98 miles hard and ran that at 5:33 pace. I still felt really good but I was not able to catch the winner. He had too much ground on me from his fast start. I finished 2nd Overall out of 247 runners in 29:04, a new 8K PR!
Anne running down AB Bridge Anne won the women's race in 32:11. The win was very special for Anne and her Mom. She's been battling hamstring tightness and pain since an injury in a marathon in 2011 when she made an attempt to qualify for the Olympic Marathon Trails. Once she gets back to full strength and speed she will be back to her usual fast times. I've been running with Anne since we met in high school. She's my favorite person to run with and I look forward to doing more races together.
After the race Anne, Heidi, and I did a slow 3 miles cool-down run before the awards ceremony started. I was very happy I ran a PR. I just wish I had broken 29 minutes. I felt too comfortable during the race and should have gone out faster and ran the middle miles faster as well. I will keep doing this race and hopefully win it soon. It took me ten consecutive years of running the Lookout Rotary Spring Road Race 10K before I finally won that in my 10th year.
After the race Anne, Heidi, and I did a slow 3 miles cool-down run before the awards ceremony started. I was very happy I ran a PR. I just wish I had broken 29 minutes. I felt too comfortable during the race and should have gone out faster and ran the middle miles faster as well. I will keep doing this race and hopefully win it soon. It took me ten consecutive years of running the Lookout Rotary Spring Road Race 10K before I finally won that in my 10th year.
Me and Anne post race
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