My Next Adventure - The 40th Annual Falmouth Road Race

On August 12, I will be running my next road race.  I was selected in the lottery to participate in the 40th running of the New Balance Falmouth Road Race.  I have read about this road race every year since moving to Massachusetts in 2008.  It is one of New England's more famous races.  I have to admit I never heard about it when I lived elsewhere in the country.  But, since moving here, I have found it is extremely popular and people try each year to win a spot in the race through the lottery.  More people apply for places than can be accommodated in the race, so a lottery is held to select the field of runners. I made my application during the short window of time back in early May.  Much to my surprise, I was selected on my first try.

The story goes that Tommy Leonard, an avid runner and popular bartender in Boston and Falmouth, closed his bar to watch Frank Shorter in the Olympic Marathon at the 1972 Summer Olympics.  Leonard like the rest of the country was interested because Shorter was in contention to be the first American to win the Olympic Marathon since 1908. After Shorter won the marathon Leonard was quoted as saying "Wouldn't it be fantastic if we could get Frank Shorter to run in a race on Cape Cod?" One year later, in the summer of 1973, with the help of a local high school track coach John Carroll, and the town's recreation director Rich Sherman, the first Falmouth Road Race was run by approximately 100 people. The next year there were 445 runners.  Finally in 1975, Leonard's dream came true when Frank Shorter came to Falmouth and joined 850 other runners in the race.  Now 40 years later, I will line up with 12,800 other runners to participate in one of the best non-marathon races in the country.

According to the race's website:

The race is seven miles long and begins in front of the Woods Hole Community Center, near the drawbridge on Water Street. The first three miles are narrow, hilly, winding tree-shaded roads, while the last four miles are open on the flat right next to Martha's Vineyard Sound. A small steep hill lets you know that you are beginning the last half-mile of the race. Once you crest the hill it is "all downhill" to the finish.

I have been training on hills to try and prepare myself for the early hills.  I would like to run the race at an 8:45 per mile pace.  This would mean I would finish in 61 minutes.  I am not sure whether or not I will be able to hit my pace as I suspect the narrow course will limit my ability to hit any pace as there are so many runners.  If I start off and find that this is the case,  I will just run the best pace I can and just have a good time.  I am hoping that the estimated 75,000 spectators who line the course will make it feel like the Boston Marathon which will make it an absolutely enjoyable race.  No matter how I fast I finish, I am going to relish the experience which is really what this sport is all about.

July 9 – 3.10 miles (26:48, 8:39 pace)
July 10 – 3.10 miles (23:48, 7:41 pace)
July 13 – 6.10 miles (53:01, 8:42 pace)
July 15 – 5.10 miles (44:41, 8:46 pace)
July 16 – 3.20 miles (24:46, 7:44 pace) – Speed Work
July 19 – 5.20 miles (41:45, 8:02 pace) – Tempo Run
July 20 – 6.20 miles (54:12, 8:45 pace)
July 21 – 9.20 miles (1:21:09, 8:49 pace)
July 23 – 5.30 miles (47:25, 8:57 pace)
July 24 – 3.20 miles (24:50, 7:45 pace) – Speed Work
July 26 – 5.20 miles (41:29, 7:59 pace) – Tempo Run

July 27 – 6.10 miles (54:48, 8:59 pace)
July 28 – 8.60 miles (1:19:13, 9:12 pace)
July 29 – 9.10 miles (1:19:07, 8:42 pace)

Total Miles: 78.7 miles
2012 YTD Miles: 879.9 miles