Falmouth Road Race - Race report

the way i'm going to go on about this you'd think i'd run a marathon or something.

last night my landlords had a rager of a party in the backyard.
they were playing outkast & justin timberlake very very loudly.
it was still going on when i got up (notice i didn't say "woke up", that would entail sleeping) at 4:30 this morning.my dad picked me up at 5.
he'd had to stay up all night. i already had arranged a ride courtesy of the extreme generosity of a good friend/part-time superhero, but my dad insisted on taking me, i believe for the following reasons.
1) he hates the idea of me imposing on anyone who isn't in the family (understandable).
2) he felt bad about saying he'd take me and then forgetting (the forgetting is TOTALLY understandable, he and mom were kind of homeless. been there, dudes.)
3) i think he sometimes still thinks i am 14 and shouldn't have friends who are boys.
needless to say, dad was a loopy mess for the entire day, but he's generally funniest that way.

anyway, i was overly paranoid about getting there on time, and we ended up getting to the buses before 7am. there was NO traffic. so i got on the first bus which took me to the starting line, where i had approximately 3 hours to wander around, do nothing, and get really nervous. luckily, i happened to walk by a small church right as the morning mass was starting, and hung out in the back for a little bit. there was one other runner there, so i didn't feel extremely weird, but weird enough not to stay for the whole thing. still, i left with the usual sense of calm that accompanies such ventures.
that left me with about an hour and a half to stretch, use the toilet eight times, lie around on the grass, listen to other people's conversations, and barge through ridiculous crowds of people with reckless disregard for human life to try and deduce the source of where everyone was getting those free bananas (no luck).

the wheelchairs took off first, and then the elite runners (those people don't even touch the ground. they hover. it's unreal.) with close to 11,000 runners, it was more than a little congested at first, but the use of several different starting groups helped. the streets were lined with spectators, and the Hood blimp hovered above as we waited at the start.
honestly, i didn't think i was going to finish. i'd never run more than five miles, i'd been lax in my training for the past couple weeks, and i was exhausted and starving. i gave myself permission to take walk breaks if i needed to, and as long as i finished, i'd be satisfied with that. but then the gun went off, and so did i.
the race course is so gorgeous i can't even describe it. after we went up the first hill and past the lighthouse, it was a beautiful view of the ocean and then into the woods for some much-appreciated shade. after that it's pretty much all ocean again for awhile until the last mile or so which is residential and then back around another lighthouse and down a hill to the finish.i remember telling myself that i could easily do 5K and then if i had to walk, i'd walk. that went by pretty quickly, so i told myself i've done five miles and if i do just a little bit more, i can walk. next thing i know i'm passing the 6 mile marker, and when i got to the final hill (it's a doooooozy) i realized i was going to finish the whole damn thing and started grinning like an idiot. then i saw my dad on the sidelines and had to wave at him and jump around because he didn't see me. it was all downhill to the finish, which was marked by a gigantic american flag hoisted into the air by a crane. it was beautiful, and i started to tear up a little, and next thing i know, i was done and i'd finished a 7.1 mile road race without stopping or walking (except for drink water/walk fast breaks of a couple seconds, choking doesn't help anyone run faster).
i am capable of so much more than i ever thought.
1:11:24

i hear tell that the winner ran the thing in 32 minutes or something absolutely insane.but you know what was really amazing? the blind runners, those with Down Syndrome, with various disabilities, running with guides helping them to the finish. the people with knee braces on who were pushing through it anyway, the older folks who shuffled their way from start to finish. even, as my mom would so graciously say, "all the fat girls". they have more determination and perseverance in their little fingers than i do in my whole body. they were all truly inspiring. and

the spectators were amazing. they lined the streets for nearly the whole course, handing out water and spraying us with their garden hoses. rows of young children waited with their hands outstretched as if we were all famous athletes. if there's anything that keeps a sista going, it's a little-kid-high-five.

after it was over i wandered around in a haze collecting race shwag and eating popsicles. the RMH folks had a cookout, and we went to that for a bit, but dad was about to pass out so we headed home.

hilarious dad moment - dad : "I probably should lock up the car, I have half my wardrobe, a TV, and a Winchester rifle in there". (this is true, he did have all of those things in the car).