Start of the 5K and 10K The 34th Historic Beaufort Road Race on July 20, 2013 marked my sixteenth consecutive year of running my hometown race. The Beaufort Road Race was my first ever road race back in 1997. I have ran the 5K the most but the last two years I ran the mile to take a break from the heat and humidity of the longer distances. I also ran the 10K from 2007-2010. My best 10K time at Beaufort is 37:21 set in 2007. Beaufort is known for being hot, humid, and flat. The 5K is an out and back on the waterfront while the 10K goes down the waterfront and then ends up in the Historic District. If there is a breeze coming off the water you don't usually feel it from miles 3-5 during the 10K because it is blocked by the closeness of the houses in the Historic District.
My summer has consisted of working on getting faster in the shorter distances. I've still kept my weekly mileage at 40-55 miles a week. I've just been doing shorter intervals and fartleks trying to develop a faster leg turnover. I have noticed the benefits during my tempo runs. My tempo pace has improved from 6:05-6:12 min/mile to 5:50-6:05 min/mile and I think the shorter interval workouts have been the reason. The workouts have included 13x400 and 20x200 that was just brutal but I was thankful I had my friend Jarrod to pull me through those final 200s.
Based on my summer training I decided to give the 10K another shot. The winning 10K time last year was over 40:00 and the year before it was barely under 40:00. The winning time in previous years was much faster and winners have ran as fast as 32 minutes in previous years. I thought I would have a shot at winning based on the trend of the last two years but you never know who will show up out of nowhere.
I arrived at the race at 7am with my Dad. I ate my usual powerbar and drank 16oz of water an hour before the 8am start. After walking around and talking to friends I started my dynamic warm-up routine. I then did a 1.5 mile jog as the mile race started at 7:30am. I felt good on the warm-up but noticed it would be a tailwind going out and a headwind for everyone finishing. We had a headwind finishing last year but the one this year was a lot stronger. I met Jamie and my dad before making my way over to the starting line. Jamie had a busy day. She drove back from Myrtle Beach on Friday, then to Beaufort on Saturday, and was driving back to Raleigh Saturday afternoon. She bought the boys, the dogs Justus and Bear to the race.
I lined up at the front of the starting line along with my friends that were running in the 5K and 10K. The race started and I was out fast. I felt good and settled into sub 6 min/mile pace. My plan was to do the first mile in 6:05-6:10 but the sub 6 pace felt easy due to the tailwind. I ran the first mile in 5:50. After watching the leaders in the 5K round the turnaround, I saw just one guy continue straight on the 10K course and he was probably 30-45 seconds ahead. I continued on Front Street but slowed the pace back down because I didn't want to blow up later. The first battle with the headwind started on Lennoxville as we headed towards the three mile mark. I ran miles two and three in 6:18 and 5:58.
My summer has consisted of working on getting faster in the shorter distances. I've still kept my weekly mileage at 40-55 miles a week. I've just been doing shorter intervals and fartleks trying to develop a faster leg turnover. I have noticed the benefits during my tempo runs. My tempo pace has improved from 6:05-6:12 min/mile to 5:50-6:05 min/mile and I think the shorter interval workouts have been the reason. The workouts have included 13x400 and 20x200 that was just brutal but I was thankful I had my friend Jarrod to pull me through those final 200s.
Based on my summer training I decided to give the 10K another shot. The winning 10K time last year was over 40:00 and the year before it was barely under 40:00. The winning time in previous years was much faster and winners have ran as fast as 32 minutes in previous years. I thought I would have a shot at winning based on the trend of the last two years but you never know who will show up out of nowhere.
I arrived at the race at 7am with my Dad. I ate my usual powerbar and drank 16oz of water an hour before the 8am start. After walking around and talking to friends I started my dynamic warm-up routine. I then did a 1.5 mile jog as the mile race started at 7:30am. I felt good on the warm-up but noticed it would be a tailwind going out and a headwind for everyone finishing. We had a headwind finishing last year but the one this year was a lot stronger. I met Jamie and my dad before making my way over to the starting line. Jamie had a busy day. She drove back from Myrtle Beach on Friday, then to Beaufort on Saturday, and was driving back to Raleigh Saturday afternoon. She bought the boys, the dogs Justus and Bear to the race.
I lined up at the front of the starting line along with my friends that were running in the 5K and 10K. The race started and I was out fast. I felt good and settled into sub 6 min/mile pace. My plan was to do the first mile in 6:05-6:10 but the sub 6 pace felt easy due to the tailwind. I ran the first mile in 5:50. After watching the leaders in the 5K round the turnaround, I saw just one guy continue straight on the 10K course and he was probably 30-45 seconds ahead. I continued on Front Street but slowed the pace back down because I didn't want to blow up later. The first battle with the headwind started on Lennoxville as we headed towards the three mile mark. I ran miles two and three in 6:18 and 5:58.
Just after 4 miles After three miles the course enters the historic district. It has the most shade on the course but can feel warmer and more humid in there because the houses block any breeze. I could still feel the headwind running from miles three to four but it wasn't as bad as Lennoxville. It started feeling more hot and humid though. I ran mile four in 6:17 and then saw Jamie and Justus on the course cheering for me. They picked a great place because that part of the course has never had people there cheering for the runners.
After passing Jamie and Justus, a police woman tried to get me to turn left onto Turner Street but the course goes straight. She kept yelling at me to turn left but I yelled back telling her the course goes straight and she should know the course. She was standing just feet away from the course marker indicating the runners to go straight. I went straight because I know the course well. Hopefully she didn't screw anyone up because by turning left where she was telling me would have taken off at least half a mile on the course.
I knew I was all alone in second place overall and the leader was 1:30 or more head of me at four miles. I tried to maintain my current place and just finish in 2nd place. I saw Heidi walking to her car just around 4.5 miles. Heidi won the 5K in 19:56 and had her second baby earlier this year. She warned me the headwind finishing on Front Street was tough. I then saw Bobby Lane doing his cool-down from running a 19:40 5K to finish 5th overall and 1st masters. I passed Bobby just before the five mile park. He encouraged me to keep going strong as I ran mile five in 6:18. After making two right turns I was back on Front Street and running into a strong headwind for the final 0.7 miles.
After passing Jamie and Justus, a police woman tried to get me to turn left onto Turner Street but the course goes straight. She kept yelling at me to turn left but I yelled back telling her the course goes straight and she should know the course. She was standing just feet away from the course marker indicating the runners to go straight. I went straight because I know the course well. Hopefully she didn't screw anyone up because by turning left where she was telling me would have taken off at least half a mile on the course.
I knew I was all alone in second place overall and the leader was 1:30 or more head of me at four miles. I tried to maintain my current place and just finish in 2nd place. I saw Heidi walking to her car just around 4.5 miles. Heidi won the 5K in 19:56 and had her second baby earlier this year. She warned me the headwind finishing on Front Street was tough. I then saw Bobby Lane doing his cool-down from running a 19:40 5K to finish 5th overall and 1st masters. I passed Bobby just before the five mile park. He encouraged me to keep going strong as I ran mile five in 6:18. After making two right turns I was back on Front Street and running into a strong headwind for the final 0.7 miles.
Wind blowing Bear's ears back The headwind on Front Street was tough. It was the toughest headwind I remember in the 16 years I've ran the race. The wind helped keep it from feeling so hot and humid but it was killing my time. I tried running hard to the finish. I ran the final 1.2 miles at 6:25 min/mile pace. I finished 2nd Overall out of 170 in the 10K with a time of 38:38. The winning 10K time was 36:21.
It seems I have bad luck with this race as far as placement goes. In the previous two years I would have easily won the 10K if I had ran it but someone always shows up and beats me the years I run the 10K. I'll keep trying to win this race though. It took me 10 years before I won the 10K at the Lookout Road Race in Morehead City in April.
My friend Katherine ran the 5K just 2 weeks from her baby due date. She's been running the 5Ks in the Beach Runs and ran a Beach Run on Tuesday and then the Beaufort Road Race on Saturday. She's always been active and seeing her running just weeks before her baby comes is impressive!
My friend Melanie tried the 1 mile and 5K double because no one has won both at Beaufort in the same year. She easily won the women's mile but probably ran it too fast. She went out a little too fast and faded in the headwind in the 5K. She finished 2nd to Heidi in the 5K. Still a solid day for her and she'll be running for the South Carolina Gamecocks in the fall.
It seems I have bad luck with this race as far as placement goes. In the previous two years I would have easily won the 10K if I had ran it but someone always shows up and beats me the years I run the 10K. I'll keep trying to win this race though. It took me 10 years before I won the 10K at the Lookout Road Race in Morehead City in April.
My friend Katherine ran the 5K just 2 weeks from her baby due date. She's been running the 5Ks in the Beach Runs and ran a Beach Run on Tuesday and then the Beaufort Road Race on Saturday. She's always been active and seeing her running just weeks before her baby comes is impressive!
My friend Melanie tried the 1 mile and 5K double because no one has won both at Beaufort in the same year. She easily won the women's mile but probably ran it too fast. She went out a little too fast and faded in the headwind in the 5K. She finished 2nd to Heidi in the 5K. Still a solid day for her and she'll be running for the South Carolina Gamecocks in the fall.
Me, Jamie, Bear, and Justus The post race goodies were nice. They had barbecue pork and watermelon at the finish but I can't eat right when I finish running. I fed the free samples of pork to Justus and Bear and they loved it! They were all over the people when they kept bringing food over. The awards were a little bit of a letdown. In the past overall and age group winners have gotten gift cards to the local running store, Athletes Foot, and the medals had your event and place on the back. The medals this year were just plain on the back and for the second year in a row there were no gift cards or anything other than a medal for the overall or age group winners.
Overall it was a solid race considering the headwind. It was great seeing a lot of friends at the race that I haven't seen in awhile. It was nice having my Dad, Jamie, Justus, and Bear at the race too. Justus has been to my races before but this was Bear's first. Bear started as a foster dog but Jamie and I decided to keep him. He's fit in well with us and we've been giving him the best time of his life.
Overall it was a solid race considering the headwind. It was great seeing a lot of friends at the race that I haven't seen in awhile. It was nice having my Dad, Jamie, Justus, and Bear at the race too. Justus has been to my races before but this was Bear's first. Bear started as a foster dog but Jamie and I decided to keep him. He's fit in well with us and we've been giving him the best time of his life.
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