Amica Half Marathon Relay Race Report
Sunday, October 18th, 2009
One word: Epic.
It all started when Sam’s aunt signed up for the Amica Half Marathon in Newport, RI to celebrate being cancer-free for 10 years. To show our support along the way, a group of us (Sam’s parents, uncle and I) decided to do the marathon relay that went along the same course at the same time.
Looking at the weather forecast, it was supposed to be pretty cold and rainy, so I tested out some race outfit options.
This was one of my favorites (except I obviously be racing in jeans). The tri top/arm sleeve combo is the best combination of ridiculous and bad-ass. Unfortunately I was way too optomistic about the weather forecast and that outfit wasn’t even an option. It was about 40 degrees with 30 mph winds and driving rain. Typical nor’easter. Not exactly tri-top weather. Lame.
Something cool that the relay did was to have all of the relay runners wear a tasuki (think of a Ms. America sash) instead of carrying a baton. There is a pretty cool story behind it too. We made our own yellow tasuki since we were doing it in celebration of Sam’s aunt’s cancer remission (a la LiveSTRONG bracelet).
The marathon relay will be run in an ekiden race style format. An ekiden, a term that originated in Japan and usually referred to as a marathon relay in English, is a long-distance relay, road race. The original concept of the race hearkens back to Japan’s ancient Tokaido (road) communication and transportation system in which stations were posted at intervals along the road. In the race, each runner on a team runs the distance from one “station” to the next, and then hands off a cloth sash, or tasuki, to the next runner. It is considered a great honor to wear the tasuki and, in doing so, represents their team.
I had the second and longest leg. 6.85 miles. My whole section of the course went along the ocean and around all of the mansions that line the Newport coast. It was probably one of the most scenic courses I’ve ever done. It would have be nice if we had better weather to enjoy the views, but you’ve got to work with what you’ve got.
The first transition point (where I started my leg of the marathon) looked almost exactly like this on the morning of the race. (I had to steal this from the internet. Not taken from the actual race site.)
But unfortunately this is the best picture that I could get. But the waves did crash over the road almost like the first one! I promise.
Every time the waves crashed up against the seawall and above the road I threw my hands up in the air and yelled “WOOHOO!” like on a roller coaster or when doing the wave at a baseball game. I’m not sure if the runners around me found it as amusing as I did, but at least I had fun.
Since this was my last planned race of 2009, I decided to leave it all out on the course and see exactly what I was capable of (even though I definitely didn’t train for this race to be on top of my game). I had nothing to save my body for anytime soon, so did a little experimenting.
I started out at about 7:45-8:00 pace, and just held on from there. Just a little bit faster than I would have gone otherwise. I wavered a little (especially when the headwinds practically stopped me dead in my tracks) but was able to hold on and average 7:48/mile to finish in 53:24. WOOT! My goal was to average 7:45′s, but given that this was the worst conditions that I’ve ever run in, I was more than happy with going a few seconds/mile slower.
That is the first time I’ve done sub-8:00/mile pace in a race in a LONG time. Maybe since high school. Granted, the four running races I’ve done this year (including the half ironmans) have all been half marathons or longer, but again, I’ll take it and be very happy. I think I’m slowly leaving the running doldrums and getting faster!
In other news:
Sam’s aunt and cousin finished the half marathon just before the cutoff and I was there to cheer them in. Her determination amazes me.
Sam did the third leg of the relay and rocked it! She was a runner in High School, and that is where she left her athleticism. She is super competitive and made a return to run training during the last few months to run with me in the relay. I’m used to her being on the sidelines while I’m racing and taking most of the awesome pictures that I post here, but I loved being able to pass off the tasuki to her once I finished.
Lots of pics were taken. I’ll post them as they come.
Tags: amica marathon, marathon relay, newport amica marathon, newport marathon, rhode island marathon, tasuki | Posted in Race Reports, Running | 3 Comments »
